William C. Goodridge | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1806 |
| Died | January 1, 1873 (aged 66–67) Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Resting place | Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Goodrich |
| Occupation(s) | Barber, merchant |
| Known for | Underground Railroad activism |
| Spouse | Evalina Wallace |
| Children | 7, including Glenalvin |
William C. Goodridge (1806 – January 1, 1873)[1] was a prominent multiracial businessman in York, Pennsylvania, in the mid-1800s. He was a Black American abolitionist and a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Born a slave, Goodridge and his wife, Evalina Wallace Goodridge, started with a barbershop in 1827 and built a significant estate through diverse investments and enterprises, all of which they put at risk as stationmasters in the Underground Railroad.[2]
Among those whose freedom Goodridge helped secure and retain, were the farmers and one fugitive slave involved in the Christiana Resistance of 1851, where black and white abolitionists killed a Southern slaveholder who was pursuing his property in Christiana, Pennsylvania according to rights granted to him by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Goodridge also conducted Osborne Perry Anderson, first lieutenant of John Brown, in his escape to Canada following the failed 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry. Both the Christiana Resistance and the raid on Harpers Ferry were significant events leading up to the Civil War.[3]