F. Norton Goddard

Captain F. Norton Goddard was but lately elected to The Century, but he had here a cordial appreciation of his peculiar and important work. Born to wealth and heir to a prosperous business, a graduate of Harvard (in 1882), with all the attractions and advantages such connections and training imply, Captain Goddard early elected to make his home on the East Side, not in any missionary spirit or as a student of sociology, but, as he often avowed, because he enjoyed the friends he was able to make there. Of a deeply religious nature, with high ideals of civic obligation, he was soon led to enter upon an organized contest against what he deemed the worst evil to which the poor are exposed, gambling, and particularly that meanest and most cruel form of swindling, the game of “policy.” The society he formed and led, after an aggressive and persistent fight, with the aid of special legislation sent the chief promoter and beneficiary of this swindling to prison, and practically broke up the game. In the course of this movement, Captain Goddard came into contact and conflict with certain political influences he deemed hostile to his aims, and he proceeded to oppose them by securing the leadership of his party in his Assembly district, a position he retained with marked efficiency until within a short time of his death. His title of “Captain” was due to an appointment on the staff of Governor Roosevelt, with whom his co-operation was intimate. His was a unique and striking figure in our city life and an inspiring one.

Edward Cary
1906 Century Association Yearbook