Robert Hale Ives Goddard
Robert Hale Ives Goddard (1837–1916) was a prominent banker, industrialist, U.S. Army officer, state senator and philanthropist.
He was born in Providence, Rhode Island on September 21, 1837 to William Giles Goddard and Charlotte Rhoda Ives Goddard. He graduated from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1858.
On January 26, 1870, Goddard married Rebekah Burnet Groesbeck of Cincinnati, Ohio, and they had three children: William Groebeck Goddard, Madeleine Ives Goddard, and Robert Hale Ives Goddard, Jr.
Goddard served with distinction in the Union Army during the Civil War. He enlisted as a private in the 1st Rhode Island Detached Militia (aka. 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry) on April 17, 1861 and was mustered out at the end of the regiment's term of service on August 2, 1861.
Goddard was commissioned as a lieutenant on September 11, 1862 and served as an aide-de-camp to General Ambrose Burnside. During the war he fought at the battles of Fredericksburg, Cumberland Gap, Blue Springs and Campbell Station, at the sieges of Knoxville and Petersburg, and was present for Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. He was promoted to the rank of captain on March 11, 1863 and received brevets (honorary promotions) to major and lieutenant colonel for gallantry and meritorious service during the siege of Knoxville, Tennessee and the assault before Fort Sedgwick, Virginia.
Goddard resigned from the Army at the end of the war on July 3, 1865. Goddard was elected a Companion of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), a social and patriotic organization for officers who had served in the Union armed forces during the Civil War.
His brother, William Goddard, also served in the Civil War as a major in the 1st Rhode Island Infantry. William Goddard was breveted to the rank of colonel for meritorious service during the war and, like his brother, was a member of the Loyal Legion.
After the war, Robert H.I. Goddard served as military aide, with the rank of colonel, to four governors from 1874 to 1883. In 1874 he was elected commander of the 1st Light Infantry Regiment - a chartered militia unit whose membership was largely from the leading families of Providence. Goddard led the regiment when it went to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in July 1876 as a member of the Centennial Legion of Historic Military Commands. Goddard remained in command of the 1st Light Infantry until his resignation in 1883.
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