Draft:Chauncey E. Goodrich

Chauncey Enoch Goodrich (CHAWN-see EE-nuhk GOOD-rich; September 19, 1801 – May 11, 1864) was an American Presbyterian minister, but he is better known for his work in horticulture, having cultivated the predecessor to the widely grown Russet Burbank potato cultivar. During his horticultural career, Goodrich also experimented with raising peaches, grapes, sweet potatoes, and other fruits and plants during the cold winter and unpredictable summer. During the potato blight of the 1840s, he shifted his focus to researching the issue. Goodrich is also known for having the first prescription of cylindrical lenses to correct astigmatism in the United States.

Early life
Goodrich was born on September 19, 1801, in Troy, New York. His parents were Dr. Enoch Goodrich and Rebecca (Gale) Goodrich. He was the 7th of 9 children in his family. In early 1806, Goodrich moved from Troy to Elbrige, New York, which was at that time part of Camillus. During the family's first year residing in the new town, they were all struck with an undocumented disease. As a result of this, Chauncey's mother, Rebecca, died in 1806, followed by his father, Enoch, the next year. This left young Chauncey an orphan, and he soon moved into the home of his uncle by marriage, Colonel Nathan Beekwith, in Rhinebeck, New York. He lived in this home until the age of 14, when he went to work with his relatives in a tannery in Brunswick. In 1817, he began his career of working for the church under the pastoral care of Reverend John Younglove, in Brunswick.

Education
In 1820, he entered a course of classical study with a view to the ministry, finishing at Lansingburgh Academy. He entered the junior class at Union College, Schenectady, in 1823. He supported himself during this time with a small patrimony of less than 300 dollars, with other financial assistance from the Presbytery of Troy, the Ladies' Benevolent Society of Troy, and his friends. He graduated in 1825, with a good standing in his class. While in college, Goodrich was a member of the Phi Beta Cappa and the Philomathean Societies. In that same year, Chauncey entered the Princeton Theological Seminary, in New Jersey. It was also reported that Goodrich was having problems with his eyesight. These problems became so severe that they were "...distorting every object, and rendering the study of Greek and Hebrew very difficult." While in seminary, Goodrich not only continued to receive support from the Presbytery of Troy, but he also received support from the institution's education fund.

Career in the Church
In autumn of 1828, Goodrich was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Troy, and then immediately went to teach at Oneida Institute, a manual labor school in Whitesboro, New York. He worked under his uncle, George Washington Gale, who would later found Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois. While there, he often preached at New York Mills. In 1830, Goodrich was ordained by Oneida Presbytery and became the pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Salisbury. His salary at this church was 400 dollars, which is 13 and a half thousand dollars in today's money. Although he reportedly was in constant ill health, Goodrich was said to have only ever missed 2 or 3 Sabbaths. Over the next 12 years, he was a pastor in Salisbury, Fly Creek, Winfield, and Holland Patent. All of these positions were in the state of New York. Goodrich's career as a pastor terminated in 1841. During his later life he also wrote about Pastoral Theology

Astigmatism
Goodrich is credited to have had the first prescription of cylindrical lenses to correct astigmatism in the United States. It was recorded that Goodrich was readily distinguish the transverse spars of ships, but not those that were vertical. Upon trying on a passerby's pair of concave glasses, the masts became clear, but the yards were indistinct. He concluded that the lenses of his eyes were not spherical, but spherodical. There are conflicting sources on exactly who designed the final pair of glasses, but the general consensus is that they were made in a collaboration between Goodrich and John McAllister Sr, an American optometrist. A series of correspondence in 1828-1829 between the two men is often sited as the evidence of this claim.

Horticulture
Soon after the end of his career as a pastor, Chauncey E. Goodrich moved to Utica, New York, where he started a market garden in 1843. Goodrich was not content with the normal routine of sowing and reaping, so he spent his time experimenting with raising peaches, grapes, sweet potatoes, and other fruits and plants not previously grown in the cold winters and fluctuating summers of Oneida County. When blight began appearing on potatoes, he carefully studied the different effects of both climate and cultivation on his crops. Many of Chauncey's plans proved to be either too expensive or unsuccessful. He did, however, gain many premiums from agricultural societies as well as useful knowledge.

He soon found what he thought was the problem with potatoes. The exact content of this supposed breakthrough is unrecorded. Through his brother-in-law, at a cost of 200 dollars, Goodrich procured potatoes from Chile, in South America, where potatoes are indigenous. He figured that breeding potatoes from Chile would lead to a generation of tubers with more vigor. Through many years of research, Goodrich created many potato cultivars and varieties. Many of these could resist rot much better that their original American counterparts.

These varieties include:


 * the early Goodrich
 * the Calico
 * the Gleason
 * the Harrison
 * Garnet Chili

The Garnet Chili was the predecessor to the Russet Burbank, which is the most widely grown potato in North America. One In the months leading up to his death, Goodrich spent much of his time writing 2 important papers on the culture and disease of the potato, embodying all of his prior work and research, as it was all he had the strength to do. He finished these just a few days before his death.

Other Occupations
Chauncey E. Goodrich was the chaplain of the New York State Lunatic Asylum for 19 years.

Personal life
Goodrich married Margaret Tracy Goodrich on April 10, 1830. The couple had 4 children: Anna, Cornelia, Susan, and Rachel Tracy. Margaret was Goodrich's only wife, but her date of death is not recorded.