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John Abram Godfrey (25 Oct 1833[1] - 7 March 1877[2]) was a U.S. State Department Consul, politician and attorney.
As a young man, John A Godfrey was a member of the bar in California served as assistant to Samuel Williams Inge, U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of California from October 1853 to June 1854.[3]
President Franklin Pierce appointed John A Godfrey U.S. Consul in Guaymas, Mexico on June 16, 1856.[4] The United States Ambassador to Mexico at that time was James Gadsden, who had negotiated the Gadsden Purchase in 1853. A dinner was given in Gadsden's honor in Mexico City on August 2, 1856 to express Mexican appreciation for his efforts on behalf of both Mexican and American interests. John A Godfrey accompanied Samuel Inge as honored guests at the event[5] Soon thereafter, John wrote to Secretary of State William L Marcy from Mexico on September 16, 1856 that he was leaving for the East Coast, requesting a five month leave of absence because the interests of the United States were so limited that "his absence would not in any way affect the interests of American citizens"[6]. Guaymas, a coastal town, served at the time as a supply route for the small American population of the Southwest.
John was subsequently admitted to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in May 1856[7] and to the New York bar in November of that year[8] on the motion of his brother-in-law, Judge Philip J. Joachimsen.
He spoke in opposition to the political agenda of the nascent Republican party at a large meeting at the Cooper Institute in 1860[9] and was elected Master of the Godfrey Lodge of the Masons in 1861[10]. The name of this lodge was changed to the Dirigo Lodge on June 5, 1862. John returned to the Southwest in December 1863 as a hired member of a party to assess the Arizona Mining Company, then owned by a Colonel Samuel F. Butterworth. Several members of the group were killed in an attack upon them by Apache Indians[11][12].[13]
John delivered a speech in Philadelphia in 1864 on behalf of General George McClellan during the 1864 presidential campaign[14]. He was granted authority on October 17, 1863 by the New York State National Guard to raise a regiment but was unable to do so. This authority was later officially revoked on August 4, 1867.[15] He never held elective office.
His legal work in New York included large real estate conveyances in mid-town Manhattan, directorship of the Safeguard Insurance Company[16], NYC Commissioner of Deeds[17], Secretary of the New York Bar Association[18] and litigation against Mary Todd Lincoln to collect $9,620 for capes and sables purchased from December 1964 to May 1865 from William Moser, a fur merchant located on Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan[19]. As an officer of the Bar Association, John Godfrey supported the important issue of the day of retaining a system of judge election by the people in opposition to those who favored appointment of the judiciary [20].
He was a Major in the New York State Inspector General's Department as of 10 May 1867 and a Lieutenant Colonel in the New York State Adjutant General's Department, 2nd Brigade, 1st Division effective January 28, 1870[21].
Colonel Godfrey was sued for $5,000 for malicious prosecution in 1871 by a General John E. Bendix[22]. The New York Times on Oct 8, 1871 reported that John Godfrey was relieved at his request from command of the N.Y. Second Brigade at that time. He was later granted a pension by the 44th Congress.
John Godfrey married Mary Alice Macaulay on March 26, 1868 in New York City[23], unofficially changing his middle name at that time from "Abram" to "Augustus". John died of pneumonia at his home in New York City on 7 March 1877[24] and is buried in Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. He was survived by his wife, his six year old son Macaulay Sutton Underhill Godfrey and five year old daughter daughter, Lily Alys GODFREY Baker.
- ^ March 27, 1860 U.S. passport application
- ^ City of New York Health Department certified death certificate
- ^ California Land Commission record accompanying H.R. 547 December 13, 1854 Serial Set Volume No 808
- ^ U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARA). Series Citation Office of the Chief Clerk; Applications and Recommendations for Appointment to the Consular and Diplomatic Services, Record Group 59 (State Dept Records). Also H.R. 240 Forty-fourth Congress
- ^ "Charleston Courier (Charleston, S.C.) August 19, 1856".
- ^ The Western Historical Quarterly, Volume 1, No. 3 July 1970, p.p. 291-304.
- ^ "Daily Union (Washington D.C.) May 29, 1856 p.3".
- ^ New York Tribune (New York, NY) November 14, 1856, page 8
- ^ "New York Times September 17, 1860 page 5".
- ^ Annual Historical Report of the One Hundred and Twenty-Second Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York (May 5, 1903)
- ^ Harpers New Monthly Magazine (Volume XXX) December 1864-May 1865) pp 283-295
- ^ New York Times March 12, 1864
- ^ Manuscript Journal of John A Godfrey
- ^ Mammoth Printing Press, Philadelphia 1864 published transcript of speech of Honorable John A Godfrey of New York in Philadelphia: "George B. McClellan for President and George H Pendleton for Vice President"
- ^ "New York Times August 4, 1867 page 5".
- ^ New York Times, July 6, 1858 page 7 and The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 26, 1858, page 1.
- ^ "New York Herald, March 20, 1866, page 10 and the New York Times March 29, 1866 page 2".
- ^ "New York Times, November 2, 1873 page 3".
- ^ Original detailed invoice of William Moser to Mrs Lincoln.
- ^ The New York Times (New York, NY) November 2, 1872 page 3
- ^ "March 30, 1949 letter of record from the State of New York Division of Military and Naval Affairs of the Executive Department, Albany, NY".
- ^ The New York Times November 5, 1871.
- ^ NYC Marriage Records 1829-1940 in NYC Municipal Archives. FHL microfilm 1,544,130
- ^ The Health Department of the City of New York Certificate of Death # 258994