Billings Gazette (MT), 26 Sept 1943:
O. F. Goddard, Former Chief Justice, Dies. Pioneer Was Member of Constitutional Convention in 1889
Judge. O. F. Goddard, 90, pioneer Billings attorney, former chief justice of the Montana supreme court, and one of two surviving members of the state constitutional convention in 1889, died at his home, 304 North Thirty-first street, about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Judge Goddard had been in ill health for more than a year and had been confined to his bed for the last week.
Goddard came to Billings when it was but a hamlet, back in March 1883. That was just a few days before Yellowstone county had been created by the territorial legislature. He was here when the first county officers were elected on April 9, and went on to become one of the leading figures of the community. As a lawyer he drafted organization papers for many enterprises whose growth have added much to the prosperity of the community. He was one of the 75 members of the state constitutional convention in 1889. He was Yellowstone county's first state senator to serve a full four-year term, and was district judge from Oct. 1, 1924, to Jan. 4, 1937. He was a staunch Republican.
Perhaps the crowning event of his long public career came on July 1, 1938, when at the age of 85, he was installed as chief justice of the Montana supreme court. Goddard served until Dec. 7, 1938. Upon retiring from the bench, Goddard resumed the practice of law in Billings. A year later, however, on Nov. 30, 1939, he closed his office with the announcement that he was going to "take it easy."
He was born near Troy, Iowa, Jan. 20, 1853, the youngest of four sons of Richard T. and Elizabeth Goddard. He was raised on the family farm, and attended Troy academy. He studied law under his uncle, Judge Harvey Tannehill, at Centerville, Iowa, while teaching school in various towns. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1880 and practiced for the next three years at Corydon, until coming to Billings.
On his 28th birthday, in 1881, he was married at Centerville, Iowa, to Miss Awilda Stephenson, who died here in 1926.
Surviving, in addition to the son, are two daughters, Mrs. E. W. Adam, who made her home with Judge Goddard, and Mrs. William P. Rixon, 3317 Second avenue north; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Billings Gazette (MT), 26 Sept 1943:
O. F. Goddard, Former Chief Justice, Dies. Pioneer Was Member of Constitutional Convention in 1889
Judge. O. F. Goddard, 90, pioneer Billings attorney, former chief justice of the Montana supreme court, and one of two surviving members of the state constitutional convention in 1889, died at his home, 304 North Thirty-first street, about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Judge Goddard had been in ill health for more than a year and had been confined to his bed for the last week.
Goddard came to Billings when it was but a hamlet, back in March 1883. That was just a few days before Yellowstone county had been created by the territorial legislature. He was here when the first county officers were elected on April 9, and went on to become one of the leading figures of the community. As a lawyer he drafted organization papers for many enterprises whose growth have added much to the prosperity of the community. He was one of the 75 members of the state constitutional convention in 1889. He was Yellowstone county's first state senator to serve a full four-year term, and was district judge from Oct. 1, 1924, to Jan. 4, 1937. He was a staunch Republican.
Perhaps the crowning event of his long public career came on July 1, 1938, when at the age of 85, he was installed as chief justice of the Montana supreme court. Goddard served until Dec. 7, 1938. Upon retiring from the bench, Goddard resumed the practice of law in Billings. A year later, however, on Nov. 30, 1939, he closed his office with the announcement that he was going to "take it easy."
He was born near Troy, Iowa, Jan. 20, 1853, the youngest of four sons of Richard T. and Elizabeth Goddard. He was raised on the family farm, and attended Troy academy. He studied law under his uncle, Judge Harvey Tannehill, at Centerville, Iowa, while teaching school in various towns. He was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1880 and practiced for the next three years at Corydon, until coming to Billings.
On his 28th birthday, in 1881, he was married at Centerville, Iowa, to Miss Awilda Stephenson, who died here in 1926.
Surviving, in addition to the son, are two daughters, Mrs. E. W. Adam, who made her home with Judge Goddard, and Mrs. William P. Rixon, 3317 Second avenue north; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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