William Goodrich House

The William Goodridge House
William C. Goodridge's grandmother was a slave owned by Charles Carroll, who had been a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Carroll sold the woman's daughter to a Baltimore physician. William was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1805. He was a light complexioned mulatto. His father was presumably the physician, although historians have never conclusively identified the physician as the father.

At the age of six, William Goodridge was sent to York, Pennsylvania to apprentice in Reverend William Dunn's tannery. Goodridge was assigned to remain with Dunn until his 21st birthday. William was unexpectedly released earlier than his 21st birthday. In 1821, at the age of 16 he left York. It is unclear where William Goodridge spent the next two years. It is clear that during the two years between 1821 and 1823, he married a Maryland woman named Emily and learned to be a barber.

Goodridge returned to York in 1823 and a year later opened his own barbershop on Centre Square. At that time, most York barbers were black. African-American barbers in that era were patronized by customers of both races. William gradually achieved an uncommon level of success. Due to his ability as a businessman, William Goodridge became a wealthy man whose business interests exceeded those of merely being a barber. By 1845 he owned a confectionery which sold candy, jewelry, and woven hair. He bought and sold animal hides to tanneries. He started York's first newspaper distribution business. He owned a dozen buildings and built a five-story structure called Centre Hall which was the tallest building in the city. Goodridge also became involved in the railroad business. The Goodridge Reliance Line of 13 railroad cars served 20 Pennsylvania communities. Goodridge's assets and personal holdings probably exceeded the $50,000 figure, a huge sum of money in the mid-nineteenth century.

Goodridge's connection to the Underground Railroad involved both his railroad business and his family home at 123 East Philadelphia Street. Becoming involved with the Underground Railroad meant undertaking a great business and personal risk to a man of William Goodridge's wealth. He had a great deal to lose if his activities were detected. The number of fugitive slaves who passed through his home was substantial. His home was often under surveillance by slave-catchers. He hid the escaping slaves in one of two places, a straw lined trench located under a building at the rear of the home, or he hid the slaves in a small secret room at the rear of the basement.

Goodridge also used his business interests as locations in which to hide fugitives. There were secret panels on the third floor of his five-story variety store located on the York Centre Square. These panels served as hiding spots for runaways to avoid capture. He also made extensive use of his railroad holdings to assist fugitives in their escape. His rail cars were frequently used to hide and transport slaves eastward to Columbia or as far as Philadelphia. Among those he aided on his railroad cars were three men who participated in the resistance at Christiana in 1851 and Osborn Perry who had fought beside John Brown in his raid on Harper's Ferry.

When the Confederacy invaded York in 1863, Goodridge and his family fled to Minnesota. Southern slave-catchers attempted to kidnap him, but did not succeed. He died in Minneapolis in 1873.