Charles Carroll Goodwin Papers

Charles Carroll Goodwin was born on April 4, 1832 near Rochester, New York. In 1852, he travelled west and settled in Marysville, California where he operated a sawmill, taught school, and studied law with his brother Jesse. He was admitted to the bar of California in 1859 and started a law practice in Plumas County.

Goodwin came to Nevada around 1860. He was appointed Probate Judge for the Territory and when Nevada was admitted to statehood in 1864, Goodwin was elected one of the first state district judges, serving the Fourth Judicial District for Washoe and Roop Counties for three years.

C. C. Goodwin entered the field of journalism in 1863 as editor of the Washoe Times in Washoe City, Nevada. When his term as District Judge expired, he reportedly edited the Inland Empire, a newspaper in Hamilton, White Pine County, Nevada. He joined the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise in 1873 as assistant editor and, after the Enterprise moved into new quarters following the 1875 Virginia City fire, Goodwin was named chief editor. He remained with the Virginia City paper until 1880 when he left Nevada for Utah and the editorial charge of the Salt Lake City Tribune. A Republican, Goodwin ran unsuccessfully for Congress from Nevada in 1872. He also maintained an active interest in mining during his time in the Silver State.

C. C. Goodwin spent his remaining years in Utah. Here he pursued a journalistic career as chief editorial writer of the Salt Lake City Telegram and as editor of Goodwin's Weekly, a magazine founded by his son, James Tod Goodwin, in 1902. He continued his interest in politics and was a member of the constitutional convention preceding Utah statehood, but he lost his bid to become a U. S. Senator from the new state in 1896. Although he was widely known as a journalist, C. C. Goodwin is well remembered for his stories about people and events during Comstock mining days in Virginia City. The Comstock Club (1891) and The Wedge of Gold (1893) were both full length books recalling that period. A later work, As I Remember Them (1913), contains reminiscences and biographical sketches of men he had known in California and Nevada. Goodwin also wrote poetry, stories, essays and speeches expounding favorite topics such as Mormonism and the re-monetization of silver. He was a popular orator and frequently returned to Nevada for speaking engagements.

C. C. Goodwin died in Salt Lake City in 1917.