Lavinia Goodell

The first woman lawyer admitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court had to fight for that status, overcoming opposition from the most powerful legal figure in the state. Lavinia Goodell (1839-1880) was also one of the first female trial lawyers in the United States, a nationally-respected writer, a Vice President of the Association for the Advancement of Woman, a candidate for Janesville City Attorney, a successful lobbyist, a jail reformer, and a temperance advocate. Yet she is undeservedly obscure. Another woman’s likeness adorns her spot in books, on the web, and at the Rock County Courthouse. Lavinia Goodell: The Private Life and Public Trials of Wisconsin’s First Woman Lawyer aims to secure her rightful place in history.

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“I am greatly interested in Roy and like him.”

Lavinia Goodell, January 1876

Lavinia Goodell had a reformer’s nature and throughout her life strove to help those in need, whether it desperate to extricate themselves from abusive marriages or young men who had run afoul of the law. Although Lavinia generally had good instincts about peoples’ nature, she sometimes expended energy trying to help someone who was simply beyond help. One of the most bitter disappointments of her life…
Continue Reading “I am greatly interested in Roy and like him.”

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“I am studying law.”
Lavinia Goodell, March 7, 1872
After moving to Janesville in the fall of 1871 to take care of her aging parents, Lavinia Goodell spent the first few months organizing the household and settling into her new home, but by the start of the new year, she was ready for new challenges. In early March she wrote to her cousin, Sarah Thomas:

Since you have told me so much – I will tell you what I…
Continue Reading ‘I am studying law.’

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“I run for City Atty. on Temperance ticket today.”
Lavinia Goodell, April 6, 1875

In April of 1875, 45 years before women won the right to vote, Lavinia Goodell ran for Janesville City Attorney on the Temperance, or Anti-License, ticket. It is unknown when she made the decision to run. Her diary entry for election day reported, “I run for City Atty. on Temperance ticket today. Don’t know how many votes I got, but N got elected, which I…
Continue Reading ‘I run for City Atty. on Temperance ticket today’

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“Petition denied.”
One hundred fifty years ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued one of its most famous – and infamous – decisions. The afternoon edition of the Tuesday, February 15, 1876 Wisconsin State Journal contained a list of the opinions the court had handed down earlier that day. Two of those opinions were written by Chief Justice Edward Ryan. The first was a routine matter: the denial of a writ of mandamus. The second was the denial of Lavinia…
Continue Reading ‘Petition denied.’

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Where is the line to be drawn between “you may do this” and “you must not do that”?
Henry Ward Beecher, March 1876

One hundred fifty years ago, Henry Ward Beecher was one of the most famous men in the United States. The Brooklyn, New York Congregationalist preacher was a lifelong proponent of equal rights for women. He was also a personal friend of Lavinia Goodell, Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer. (Read more about Lavinia’s relationship with Beecher here.)…
Continue Reading Where is the line to be drawn between ‘you may do this’ and ‘you must not do that’?

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“Whoever heard of a woman so rich as to be possessor of both a mind and heart?”
Lavinia Goodell, 1870s

The William Goodell family papers housed in the Special Collections and Archives of Berea College in Berea, Kentucky contain a draft of a short story written by Lavinia Goodell titled “A Partner With Capital.”

First page of “A Partner With Capital”

The story is undated, but following Lavinia’s signature at the end is the notation “Janesville, Wis,” which would…
Continue Reading ‘Whoever heard of a woman so rich as to be possessor of both a mind and heart?’

Lavinia Goodell, March 18, 1863

Lavinia Goodell lived 150 years ago, but some topics being discussed in today’s press would be familiar to her. A case in point is a recent New York times article about a poetry anthology titled “Book of Rhymes” that was written by the author Charlotte Bronte when she was 13 years old.

Charlotte Bronte

Bronte wrote the poems on tiny scraps of paper and stitched them together. The little volume sold for $1.25 million…
Continue Reading ‘What a splendid woman Charlotte Bronte was!’

“First principles were never more important.”
William Goodell, January 1866

During Black History Month, it is worthwhile examining some of the writings of Lavinia Goodell’s father, Reverend William Goodell, a lifelong abolitionist.

William Goodell - Lavinia's father
Rev. William Goodell

During the Civil War years, William Goodell was the publisher of The Principia, an anti-slavery newspaper. Lavinia assisted in all aspects of the publication process from writing articles to preparing the papers for mailing to serving as editor-in-chief in her father’s absence. By 1865,…
Continue Reading ‘First principles were never more important.’

Lavinia Goodell, December 1874

In December 1874, six months after her admission to practice law, Lavinia Goodell kept busy not only running her law office but also speaking to temperance groups. Several days before Christmas, Lavinia wrote to her sister saying that the previous week she had accepted an invitation to lecture at Whitewater, Wisconsin. She said, “I was considerably alarmed at the prospect but concluded to accept. I shall have to learn to speak if I am going…
Continue Reading I felt ‘set up’ by my success

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Lavinia Goodell, October 1879

In the fall of 1879, Lavinia Goodell wrote an article for the Woman’s Journal titled “How it Looked to a Lawyer Half a Century Ago.” In it, she lauded the progress women had made during her lifetime (Lavinia was born in 1839) in gaining more rights.

Lavinia noted that in 1837, Timothy Walker, a professor at the Law Department of Cincinnati College delivered a course of lectures on American Law that were published in book…
Continue Reading ‘Married women today are not the abject slaves they were fifty years ago’

Welcome to the Lavinia Goodell State Law Library
On September 30, 2024, the Wisconsin State Law Library, located in the Risser Justice Center just off the Capitol square in Madison, Wisconsin, was named in honor of Lavinia Goodell, Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer.

As Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley noted in her remarks at the naming ceremony, Lavinia cherished libraries.  In 1867, when Lavinia was living in Brooklyn, New York, her older sister, Maria Frost, was preparing to…
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“It is real fun to be a lawyer.”
Lavinia Goodell, August 21, 1874

The early days  of Lavinia Goodell’s legal practice were busy ones.  After being admitted to practice law on June 17, 1874, she was eager to get to work and was willing to take on any clients who wanted to hire her. Lavinia’s diary entries and letters make clear that she was throwing herself into her practice with great enthusiasm and she truly enjoyed being a lawyer.
Continue Reading ‘It is real fun to be a lawyer’

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When Lavinia Goodell was admitted to practice law in 1874, she paved the way for other Wisconsin women to follow her into the profession, and follow they did.  The next two women to take up the practice were Lavinia’s Janesville cohorts Kate Kane – in 1878 – and Angie King – in 1879.  Other Wisconsin women soon joined them.

The Wisconsin State Law Library has developed a digital timeline of women who shaped Wisconsin’s legal landscape.  The timeline may…
Continue Reading Wisconsin State Law Library Launches Digital Timeline of Women Lawyers

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Join Wisconsin’s legal community in celebrating 150 years of women in the law. Here are four ways that you, your law firm, or local legal community can recognize the significant contributions women have made to Wisconsin’s legal history.

Governor Proclaims June 17 as Wisconsin Women Lawyers Day

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lavinia Goodell becoming Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer, Gov. Tony Evers has proclaimed June 17, 2024, as Wisconsin Women Lawyers Day.

The proclamation praises Goodell for pioneering…
Continue Reading Making History: Four Ways to Celebrate 150 Years of Women in the Law

Governor Proclaims June 17, 2024 Wisconsin Women Lawyers Day
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Lavinia Goodell becoming Wisconsin’s first woman lawyer, Governor Tony Evers has proclaimed June 17, 2024, Wisconsin Women Lawyers Day.

The proclamation praises Lavinia Goodell for pioneering a path for women in the legal profession across the state and for facing the many obstacles thrown in her path with unwavering resilience. It recognizes the lasting impact of women lawyers on the fabric of the…
Continue Reading Governor Proclaims June 17, 2024, Wisconsin Women Lawyers Day

You May Pay Twice for Being Too Nice: When You May Have to Pay On an Original Check After Issuing a Stop Payment Order and a Replacement Check

“Little by little, but all the time, we are gaining essential rights.”
Woman’s Journal, March 1877

March 8 is Women’s History Day. By happy coincidence, March 8 is also the anniversary of the day that Wisconsin’s governor signed into law legislation drafted by Lavinia Goodell allowing women to practice law in the state.

After Lavinia’s petition to be allowed to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court was denied in early 1876 (read more about that here), Lavinia drafted…
Continue Reading ‘Little by little, but all the time, we are gaining essential rights.’