Sud ” (2 vols., 1784). — His wife, Isabel, b. in Riobamba, Peru, in 1728; d. in St. Amand, France, was the daughter of Don Pedro Emanuel de Grandmaison, who was corregidor of Otabala at the time of her birth. At the age of fifteen she married Godin des Odonais. When her husband decided in 1750 to establish himself on the banks of the Oyapok, he asked for passports from the court of Portugal to enable him to return by the Napo and Amazon for his family, which he did not receive for some years afterward. Finally the Portuguese government placed a vessel at his disposal in 1758, but as he was about to embark he fell sick, and employed a man named Orcasaval to act in his behalf. Instead of discharging this mission, the latter remained in the Portuguese settlements to trade on his own account, and Madame Godin, guided by rumor, finally set out alone. On arriving at Canelos, where she was to embark, she found it deserted on account of the small-pox. The thirty Indians composing her escort had successively abandoned her on the route, and she had with her only her son, her two brothers, and four servants. They attempted to row to the mission of Andoas, about 450 miles, from which she could easily reach the Portuguese transport, but lost their guide, and were reduced to the most frightful sufferings in the desert. At the end of three days they all died except Madame Godin, who, after wandering for several weeks through a dense wood, was taken by an Indian to the mission at Andoas. All attempts to find Orcasaval were unsuccessful, and so she never profited by the transport which the Portuguese government furnished her. She had still to travel over 3,000 miles to reach her husband, and, after a long time and much further suffering, she arrived at Oyapok, where he had remained several years waiting for his wife. Afterward they embarked for France, and arrived in La Rochelle, 26 May, 1773. The rest of Madame Godin's life was passed on her husband's estate at St. Amand in Berry. Prince Charles Bonaparte, the naturalist, has given Madame Godin's name to a remarkable species of South American birds, the “Chamæpelia Godinæ,” “consecrated,” he says, “to the memory, which can never be too much honored, of Isabel Godin des Odonais, who, alone and abandoned, travelled across the American continent in its greatest width, sustained by her greatness of soul and her martyrdom to duty.” See her life by Ferdinand Denis, based on family documents, in the “Magasin pittoresque” (1854), and “Les voyages dans les foréts de la Guyane,” by Malouet.
GODKIN, Edwin Lawrence, journalist, b. in
Moyne, County Wicklow, Ireland, 2 Oct., 1831.
His father, James, wrote a “Religious History of
Ireland” (1873). The son was educated at a
grammar-school near Wakefield, England, and at
Queen's college, Belfast, where he was graduated
in 1851. He was a correspondent of the London
“News” in Turkey and Russia during the
Crimean war, 1854-'6. In the autumn of 1856 he
came to the United States, and in the ensuing winter
made a journey on horseback through the
southern states, a record of which appeared in
letters to the “News.” He studied law under David
Dudley Field in New York city, was admitted to
the bar in 1859, practised for a few years, and
then went to Europe, owing to impaired health.
He returned to New York at the close of 1862, and
was a correspondent of the “News” and an editorial
writer for the New York “Times” until July,
1865, when he established and became editor of
“The Nation,” which in 1866 passed into the
hands of Mr. Godkin and two other gentlemen as
proprietors. In 1881 “The Nation” was made the
weekly issue of the “Evening Post,” and Mr. Godkin
became one of the editors and proprietors of
the joint publication. He is the author of a
“History of Hungary, A. D. 300-1850” (London, 1856),
and of the work on “Government” in the “American
Science Series” (New York, 1871).
GODMAN, John D., physician, b. in Annapolis,
Md., 20 Dec, 1794 ; d. in Germantown, Pa., 17 April,
1830. He was left an orphan at an early age with-
out means, and after he had been a short time at
school was apprenticed to a printer in Baltimore.
In the autumn of 1814 he enlisted as a sailor in
the flotilla stationed in Chesapeake bay, and was
present at the defence of Fort McHenry. In 1815
he began the study of medicine under Dr. Luckey
in E14zabethtown, whence he soon afterward re-
moved to Baltimore, studied under Dr. Davidge,
filling the place of his preceptor, who was pro-
fessor of anatomy in the University of Maryland,
while the latter was disabled by sickness. After
he was graduated in February, 1818, he practised
successively in New Holland, Pa., Anne Arundel
county. Md., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. In
October, 1821, he removed to Cincinnati, where he
became professor of surgery in the Medical college
of Ohio, and began the publication of the " West-
ern Quarterly Reporter." a medical periodical pro-
jected by Dr. Drake, of which only six numbers
were issued. In 1822 he removed to Philadelphia,
lectured on anatomy to a private class, and de-
voted himself more exclusively than before to
scientific pursuits. He became in 1824 one of the
editors of the " Philadelphia Journal of Medical
Sciences," and was appointed professor of anatomy
and physiology in Rutgers medical college. New
Jersey, in 1826. In 1827 he resigned on account of
failing health and went to the West Indies, and on
his return lived in Germantown until his death.
As a lecturer on anatomy and as a naturalist he
had but few equals among his contemporaries in
the United States, and he was also well versed in
the Latin, French, and German languages. Dr.
Godman had adopted the materialistic views of
the French naturalists ; but, having witnessed, in
1827, the death of a medical student who died a
Christian, he changed his views and was ever
afterward devoutly religious. He wrote articles
on natural history for the " Encyclopfedia Ameri-
cana " to the end of the letter C, and contributed
to the " American Quarterly Review '" and to other
periodicals. He published " American Natural
History," " Rambles of a Naturalist," " Account of
Irregularities of Structure and Morbid Anatomy,"
" Contributions to Physiological and Pathological
Anatomy," " Bell's Anatomy," with notes ; a trans-
lation of Levasseur's " Account of Lafayette's
Progress through the United States," " Anatomical
Investigations" (1824). His biography by Dr.
Sewall.has been published by the Ti-act society.
GODON, Sylvanus William, naval officer, b. in Philadelphia. 18 June, 1809 ; d. in Blois, France, 10 May, 1879. He was appointed midshipman in 1819, and, after serving at sea in various parts of the world, was promoted passed midshipman in 1827, and lieutenant in 1836. He accompanied Com. Isaac Hull to the Mediterranean on the flagship " Ohio " in the years 1839, 1840, and 1841, was
actively employed during the Mexican war, and was present in the bomb-vessel " Vesuvius " at the reduction of Vera Cruz. He was made commander in 1855. and captain in 1861, at the beginning of the civil war. In command of the " Mohican " he took part in the attack on Port Royal by the
fleet under Admiral Du Pont. He placed his ship
