Mrs. William D. Godman
Hannah Augusta Dexter, wife of the Rev. William Davis Godman, died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 8, 1905, aged seventy years. She was the granddaughter of the Hon. Samuel Dexter of Boston, Mass., who was prominent in public affairs at the beginning of the last century, being Secretary of the Treasury under President John Adams. Her father, The Hon. Samuel W. Dexter, moved to Michigan in its early days and settled near Ann Arbor. The village which grew up about him was given his name, Dexter, and his beautiful home became the refuge of pioneer Methodist ministers. Mrs. Godman was the fourth of eight children born to this home, and was converted while yet a child at an old-time camp meeting. When quite young she married a physician, who took her to live in the lumber region of the Michigan peninsula, but his health failed and he was ordered South. She and her two young children remained with friends until the little girl died; then she took a short course in photography and went to her husband in Tennessee. Here she opened a studio and cared for her husband until his death in 1860.
In 1864 she became the wife of Professor William D. Godman, the first graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, and at that time a member of the faculty, and with her genial presence graced his home as professor, minister, and college president for ten years. During these years she found time to go to Philadelphia and take a medical course, which proved a great blessing in later years.
But Mrs. Godman’s great lifework was among the colored people of Louisiana. After the sudden death of her son in 1874 she was taken South for her health, and became so much interested in the Negro race that she added her persuasions to those of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, and Dr. Godman consented to resign the presidency of Baldwin University, at Berea, O., which he then held, and accept the charge of New Orleans University, in New Orleans, La., and of the Orphanage in Saint Marys Parish. This latter place developed into a large institution under their united labors, and stands today – Gilbert Academy and Industrial College – a monument to their consecrated efforts for twenty years.
Mrs. Godman will be remembered by many as leading a band of singers through the North in the interests of this work. She was often along with the singers as they traveled, for Dr. Godman’s presence was needed in Louisiana; but she hesitated at no labor and shirked no sacrifice where the needs of the work were at stake.
When Dr. Godman’s health failed in 1894 they retired from active work and made their home in Philadelphia, uniting with Grace Church. In the spring of 1902 Mrs. Godman suffered an apoplectic stroke, from the effects of which she never recovered. An interesting feature of the funeral services, held on Jan. 11, by her pastor, the writer, and the Rev. John D. Fox, of Trenton, N. J., a former pastor, was the presence of a colored male quartet, under the direction of a young physician of Philadelphia, who was a former protégé of Dr. and Mrs. Godman in Louisiana. A great company of colored men and women throughout the South are indebted to this godley, cultured woman of the North. Her husband and one daughter survive.
-The Christian Advocate, April 6, 1905, Volume 80
Hannah Augusta Dexter, wife of the Rev. William Davis Godman, died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 8, 1905, aged seventy years. She was the granddaughter of the Hon. Samuel Dexter of Boston, Mass., who was prominent in public affairs at the beginning of the last century, being Secretary of the Treasury under President John Adams. Her father, The Hon. Samuel W. Dexter, moved to Michigan in its early days and settled near Ann Arbor. The village which grew up about him was given his name, Dexter, and his beautiful home became the refuge of pioneer Methodist ministers. Mrs. Godman was the fourth of eight children born to this home, and was converted while yet a child at an old-time camp meeting. When quite young she married a physician, who took her to live in the lumber region of the Michigan peninsula, but his health failed and he was ordered South. She and her two young children remained with friends until the little girl died; then she took a short course in photography and went to her husband in Tennessee. Here she opened a studio and cared for her husband until his death in 1860.
In 1864 she became the wife of Professor William D. Godman, the first graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, and at that time a member of the faculty, and with her genial presence graced his home as professor, minister, and college president for ten years. During these years she found time to go to Philadelphia and take a medical course, which proved a great blessing in later years.
But Mrs. Godman’s great lifework was among the colored people of Louisiana. After the sudden death of her son in 1874 she was taken South for her health, and became so much interested in the Negro race that she added her persuasions to those of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, and Dr. Godman consented to resign the presidency of Baldwin University, at Berea, O., which he then held, and accept the charge of New Orleans University, in New Orleans, La., and of the Orphanage in Saint Marys Parish. This latter place developed into a large institution under their united labors, and stands today – Gilbert Academy and Industrial College – a monument to their consecrated efforts for twenty years.
Mrs. Godman will be remembered by many as leading a band of singers through the North in the interests of this work. She was often along with the singers as they traveled, for Dr. Godman’s presence was needed in Louisiana; but she hesitated at no labor and shirked no sacrifice where the needs of the work were at stake.
When Dr. Godman’s health failed in 1894 they retired from active work and made their home in Philadelphia, uniting with Grace Church. In the spring of 1902 Mrs. Godman suffered an apoplectic stroke, from the effects of which she never recovered. An interesting feature of the funeral services, held on Jan. 11, by her pastor, the writer, and the Rev. John D. Fox, of Trenton, N. J., a former pastor, was the presence of a colored male quartet, under the direction of a young physician of Philadelphia, who was a former protégé of Dr. and Mrs. Godman in Louisiana. A great company of colored men and women throughout the South are indebted to this godley, cultured woman of the North. Her husband and one daughter survive.
-The Christian Advocate, April 6, 1905, Volume 80
Mrs. William D. Godman
Hannah Augusta Dexter, wife of the Rev. William Davis Godman, died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 8, 1905, aged seventy years. She was the granddaughter of the Hon. Samuel Dexter of Boston, Mass., who was prominent in public affairs at the beginning of the last century, being Secretary of the Treasury under President John Adams. Her father, The Hon. Samuel W. Dexter, moved to Michigan in its early days and settled near Ann Arbor. The village which grew up about him was given his name, Dexter, and his beautiful home became the refuge of pioneer Methodist ministers. Mrs. Godman was the fourth of eight children born to this home, and was converted while yet a child at an old-time camp meeting. When quite young she married a physician, who took her to live in the lumber region of the Michigan peninsula, but his health failed and he was ordered South. She and her two young children remained with friends until the little girl died; then she took a short course in photography and went to her husband in Tennessee. Here she opened a studio and cared for her husband until his death in 1860.
In 1864 she became the wife of Professor William D. Godman, the first graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, and at that time a member of the faculty, and with her genial presence graced his home as professor, minister, and college president for ten years. During these years she found time to go to Philadelphia and take a medical course, which proved a great blessing in later years.
But Mrs. Godman’s great lifework was among the colored people of Louisiana. After the sudden death of her son in 1874 she was taken South for her health, and became so much interested in the Negro race that she added her persuasions to those of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, and Dr. Godman consented to resign the presidency of Baldwin University, at Berea, O., which he then held, and accept the charge of New Orleans University, in New Orleans, La., and of the Orphanage in Saint Marys Parish. This latter place developed into a large institution under their united labors, and stands today – Gilbert Academy and Industrial College – a monument to their consecrated efforts for twenty years.
Mrs. Godman will be remembered by many as leading a band of singers through the North in the interests of this work. She was often along with the singers as they traveled, for Dr. Godman’s presence was needed in Louisiana; but she hesitated at no labor and shirked no sacrifice where the needs of the work were at stake.
When Dr. Godman’s health failed in 1894 they retired from active work and made their home in Philadelphia, uniting with Grace Church. In the spring of 1902 Mrs. Godman suffered an apoplectic stroke, from the effects of which she never recovered. An interesting feature of the funeral services, held on Jan. 11, by her pastor, the writer, and the Rev. John D. Fox, of Trenton, N. J., a former pastor, was the presence of a colored male quartet, under the direction of a young physician of Philadelphia, who was a former protégé of Dr. and Mrs. Godman in Louisiana. A great company of colored men and women throughout the South are indebted to this godley, cultured woman of the North. Her husband and one daughter survive.
-The Christian Advocate, April 6, 1905, Volume 80
Hannah Augusta Dexter, wife of the Rev. William Davis Godman, died in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 8, 1905, aged seventy years. She was the granddaughter of the Hon. Samuel Dexter of Boston, Mass., who was prominent in public affairs at the beginning of the last century, being Secretary of the Treasury under President John Adams. Her father, The Hon. Samuel W. Dexter, moved to Michigan in its early days and settled near Ann Arbor. The village which grew up about him was given his name, Dexter, and his beautiful home became the refuge of pioneer Methodist ministers. Mrs. Godman was the fourth of eight children born to this home, and was converted while yet a child at an old-time camp meeting. When quite young she married a physician, who took her to live in the lumber region of the Michigan peninsula, but his health failed and he was ordered South. She and her two young children remained with friends until the little girl died; then she took a short course in photography and went to her husband in Tennessee. Here she opened a studio and cared for her husband until his death in 1860.
In 1864 she became the wife of Professor William D. Godman, the first graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, and at that time a member of the faculty, and with her genial presence graced his home as professor, minister, and college president for ten years. During these years she found time to go to Philadelphia and take a medical course, which proved a great blessing in later years.
But Mrs. Godman’s great lifework was among the colored people of Louisiana. After the sudden death of her son in 1874 she was taken South for her health, and became so much interested in the Negro race that she added her persuasions to those of the Freedmen’s Aid Society, and Dr. Godman consented to resign the presidency of Baldwin University, at Berea, O., which he then held, and accept the charge of New Orleans University, in New Orleans, La., and of the Orphanage in Saint Marys Parish. This latter place developed into a large institution under their united labors, and stands today – Gilbert Academy and Industrial College – a monument to their consecrated efforts for twenty years.
Mrs. Godman will be remembered by many as leading a band of singers through the North in the interests of this work. She was often along with the singers as they traveled, for Dr. Godman’s presence was needed in Louisiana; but she hesitated at no labor and shirked no sacrifice where the needs of the work were at stake.
When Dr. Godman’s health failed in 1894 they retired from active work and made their home in Philadelphia, uniting with Grace Church. In the spring of 1902 Mrs. Godman suffered an apoplectic stroke, from the effects of which she never recovered. An interesting feature of the funeral services, held on Jan. 11, by her pastor, the writer, and the Rev. John D. Fox, of Trenton, N. J., a former pastor, was the presence of a colored male quartet, under the direction of a young physician of Philadelphia, who was a former protégé of Dr. and Mrs. Godman in Louisiana. A great company of colored men and women throughout the South are indebted to this godley, cultured woman of the North. Her husband and one daughter survive.
-The Christian Advocate, April 6, 1905, Volume 80
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