Benjamin Godfrey

Benjamin Godfrey. . , "He was not a perfect man, but the leading aim of his long life was to do right and benefit his fellow men, and in this he was eminently successful." - Article titled "Capt. Benjamin Godfrey." The Alton Telegraph, August 29, 1862 , Benjamin Godfrey was born in Chatham, Massachusetts in 1794. He joined the American Navy during the War of 18 12, and by 1819 he was commander of a merchant vessel. He sailed to Italy, Spain, and other parts of Europe, and from Baltimore to New Orleans and the West Indies. , Godfrey married Harriet Cooper in 1817 and moved to Alton fifteen years later. His family influenced him greatly. Watching his wife's interactions with their children caused him "to reflect on the powerful effect of a mother's example" on her children, "and the no less powerful influence that women have on society at large." This realization led him to found Monticello Female Seminary. Harriet died in June 1838 at the age of 37. A year later, Godfrey married Rebecca Emeline Pettit of Hempstead, Long Island., Benjamin Godfrey, father to fifteen children, died August 13, 1862, in the town that now bears his name.