Bible Encyclopedias
Goodrich, Chauncey Allan, D.D.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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Goodrich, Elizur, D.D.

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was born in New Haven, Connecticut, October 23, 1790. He graduated at Yale in 1810; was tutor in Yale College from 1812 to 1814; and in 1816, having completed a course of theological study, was installed as pastor of the First Church in Middletown, Conn. On the accession of Dr. Day to the presidency of Yale College in 1817, Mr. Goodrich was elected professor of rhetoric and oratory in that institution, but relinquished the office in 1839, to accept the chair of pastoral theology in the theological seminary, a position which he occupied until his death — a period of twenty years. In 1820 he was elected president of Williams College, but declined to accept that honor. In 1835 he received the degree of doctor of divinity from Brown University. "In 1814 he prepared a Greek grammar, which passed through several editions. In 1827 he superintended the abridgment of Webster's Quarto American Dictionary. In 1829 he established the Quarterly Christian Spectator, which he edited for nearly ten years. In 1846 and 1847 he prepared revised editions of Webster's Dictionary, and in 1856, the university edition of the same work. In 1852 he published his admirable work on British Eloquence, which has been extensively circulated, both in England and America. Besides performing the literary labor involved in preparing and editing these various works, Prof. Goodrich was prominently connected with many of the most important benevolent societies of the country. At the time of his death he was laboriously engaged, as one of the 'Committee on Versions' of the American Bible Society, in preparing a new edition of the English text. As an instructor, Prof. Goodrich was enthusiastic, untiring, and effective, always impressing himself upon his pupils, inspiring them to the highest effort. He guided them to imitate models of clear and eloquent thinking, and taught them to express their own thoughts in a chaste and manly style. As an officer of the college, he was singularly active and energetic, never shrinking from any duty or responsibility, and always making the interests of the institution the object of his own personal care and anxious solicitude." He died at New Haven, February 25, 1860. — New York Observer, March 1, 1860; New Haven Journal; Congregational Quarterly, 1860, page 241.