Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Delia Woodruff Godding (1812–61): Poetry and Perseverance

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Women Who Popularized Geology in the 19th Century

  • 224 Accesses

Abstract

The details of Delia Woodruff Godding’s fascinating and bittersweet life have remained unstudied until now. In fact, very little information on Delia has been located; prior to the author’s interest in Godding’s geological writing, published information on the author was limited to what was found on the cover of her 1847 children’s book published in Hartford, CT, First Lessons in Geology by a “Miss D.W. Godding” (eg. Ogilvie and Harvey 2000). Published here for the first time is a comprehensive biographical sketch of this author, as well as an analysis of her popularized work in geology.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The three letters referenced in this section are held by the Connecticut Historical Society and comprise the entire collection labeled Delia Godding correspondence, 1847–1855 (Ms 101610).

  2. 2.

    The Godding family’s preference for the names Delia and William has proven to be a challenge when reconstructing their history.

  3. 3.

    Unless otherwise specified, all of the information in this section is derived from digitized marriage, birth, death, gravestone, and census records located through www.ancestry.com

  4. 4.

    Martha died on May 13, 1850 while her husband died a month later on June 16.

  5. 5.

    The parish moved to West Hartford in 1907 and the Hartford property was sold to the neighboring Wadsworth Atheneum for its expansion. A summary of the church’s history is found at http://www.sjparish.net/About_us/Church_history/

  6. 6.

    Bill Uricchio, parish historian for St. John’s Church, was unable to provide further information, explaining that the parish’s historical records are quite incomplete (private communication March 26, 2017). His assistance in locating some of the newspaper references cited in this chapter was of immeasurable benefit.

  7. 7.

    The gravestone for Carlos, Sabrina, and Thankful Godding can be viewed at https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/http%25252522//fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32797527

  8. 8.

    Many thanks to Bill Uricchio, parish historian for St. John’s Church, for bringing this item to my attention.

  9. 9.

    After his college graduation, Niles had taught school in Tennessee for several years before becoming a lawyer. He eventually settled in Mississippi where he was a judge and served as Congressman from 1872–5 (The Kosciusko 1894).

  10. 10.

    Delia Godding ’s grave was recently visited by Bruce Beford and the inscription on the headstone was covered in lichen, rendering it impossible to clearly photograph. A legible rendition is found at https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=22631049

  11. 11.

    See, for example, Parley (1857).

  12. 12.

    For a detailed analysis of The Botanic Garden , see Emery (1941).

  13. 13.

    For more analysis of the geology of “Beachy Head ,” see Heringman (2009).

References

  • Aikin J (1777) An essay on the application of natural history to poetry. Johnson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakewell R (1820) A geological primer in verse. Longman, Hurst, Rees et al., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Browne HM (1839) Memoir of the life and writings of Mrs. Hemans. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrill K (1904) School-books old and new. Chamber’s J 8:6–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register (1848) First lessons in geology. By Miss D.W. Godding. 1(2): 288

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleveland CD (1859) A compendium of American literature. Biddle and Biddle, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobbold E (1825) Poems of Mrs. Elizabeth Cobbold. Raw, Ipswich

    Google Scholar 

  • Collections of the Minnesota Historical Society (1880) First annual circular and catalogue of the Sigourney Boarding School, St. Anthony, Minnesota. 1860–1. 3:52

    Google Scholar 

  • Collin GL (1902) Lydia Huntley Sigourney. N Engl Mag 27(1):15–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Connecticut Historical Society. Delia Godding correspondence, 1847–1855. Ms 101610, Folder 1 of 1

    Google Scholar 

  • Darwin E (1798) The botanic garden. Swords and Swords, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery C (1941) Scientific theory in Erasmus Darwin’s ‘The botanic garden’. Isis 33(3):315–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fawcett LM (1933) Frontier education. Minn Hist Mag 14(2):142–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Godding DW (1847) First lessons in geology. Parsons, Hartford

    Google Scholar 

  • Godding R (1867) East Burke. Vermont Historical Gazetteer 1:210–311

    Google Scholar 

  • Gould HF (1850) New poems. Reynolds, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenlee RS, Greenlee RL (1908) Genealogy of the Greenlee families. Greenlee, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Greer (1857) Greer’s Hartford City Directory for 1857–8. Greer, Hartford

    Google Scholar 

  • Haight GS (1930) Mrs. Sigourney: the sweet singer of Hartford. Yale UP, New Haven

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartford Daily Courant (1844) Classified ad. Dec 21:3

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartford Daily Courant (1852) List of premiums: awarded by the Hartford County Agricultural Society. Oct 25:2

    Google Scholar 

  • Hemenway AM (ed) (1867) Delia Godding. Ver Hist Gaz 1:312–313

    Google Scholar 

  • Heringman N (2004) Romantic rocks, aesthetic geology. Cornell UP, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Heringman N (2009) ‘Very vain is science’ proudest boast: the resistance to geological theory in early nineteenth-century England. In: Rosenberg GD (ed)The revolution in geology from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Geol Soc Am Mem 203:247–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins JR (2011) Fossil poetry, the birth of geology, and the romantic imagination, 1790–1860. Dissertation, University of South Carolina

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcock E (1845) Elementary geology, 3rd edn. Newman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hitchcock E (1851) The religion of geology and its connected sciences. Collins, Glasgow

    Google Scholar 

  • Jermyn L (1825) Memoir of Mrs. Elizabeth Cobbold. In: Jermyn L (Ed) Poems of Mrs. Elizabeth Cobbold. Raw, Ipswich, p 3–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee E (2004) Wortley, Lady Emmeline Charlotte Elizabeth Stuart- (1806–1855). Rev. Gill Gregory. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford UP, Oxford. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26728. Accessed 4 Apr 2017. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26728

  • Monthly Magazine (1807) Memoirs of eminent persons: Mrs. Charlotte Smith. 23: 244–248

    Google Scholar 

  • Moseley C (1978) Henry David Thoreau and Felicia Dorothea Hemans. The Concord Saunterer 13(2):5–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Niles J (1864) Diary. http://www.usgennet.org. Accessed 17 Mar 2017

  • O’Connor R (2007) Young-Earth creationists in early nineteenth-century Britain? towards a reassessment of ‘scriptural geology’. Hist Sci 45:357–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor R (2013) The earth on show. Chicago UP, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvie M, Harvey J (eds) (2000) The biographical dictionary of women in science, vol 1. Routledge, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Parley P (1857) Thousand and one stories of fact and fancy, wit and humor, rhyme, reason, and romance. Derby and Jackson, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Primer I (1964) Erasmus Darwin’s Temple of nature: progress, evolution, and the Eleusinian mysteries. J Hist Ideas 25(1):58–76

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson J (1990) Wayward women: a guide to women travelers. Oxford UP, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Scafe J (1820a) Court news; or, The peers of King Coal: and The Errants; or A survey of British strata. Longman, Hurst, Rees et al., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Scafe J (1820b) King Coal’s levee or geological ettiquette, 4th edn. Longman, Hurst, Rees et al., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigourney L (1862) The man of Uz and other poems. Williams, Wiley and Waterman, Hartford

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith C (1795) Rural walks: in dialogues. Wogan et al, Dublin

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith C (1807) Beachy Head with other poems. Johnson, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Sowerby J (1818) The mineral conchology of Great Britain, vol 2. Sowerby, London

    Google Scholar 

  • St. John’s Parish (n.d.) http://www.sjparish.net/About_us/Church_history/. Accessed 2 Apr 2017

  • Stanton JP (ed) (2003) The collected letters of Charlotte Smith. Indiana UP, Bloomington

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuart-Wortley E (1837) Impressions of Italy. Saunders and Otley, London

    Google Scholar 

  • The Kosciusko Star (1894) The eminent dead—death of Judge Jason Niles last Saturday. July 13. 1:8

    Google Scholar 

  • The Monthly Review (1821) King Coal’s levee, or geological etiquette. 94: 265–277

    Google Scholar 

  • The Philosophical Magazine (1810) Linnaean Society. 35:384–385

    Google Scholar 

  • Welsh JK (1832) Familiar lessons in mineralogy and geology, vol 1. Clapp and Hull, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Willson CC (1894) Edgar P. Inglee vs. Hebert T. Welles et al. Minnesota Reports v 53: 197–198

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson JG, Fiske J (1900) Gould, Benjamin. In: Appletons’ Cyclopædia of American biography, vol 2. Appleton, New York, p 693

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman SM (2004) Smith, Charlotte (1749–1806). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford UP, Oxford. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25790. Accessed 4 Apr 2017. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25790

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Sciences, Central Connecticut State University , New Britain, CT, USA

    Kristine Larsen

Authors
  1. Kristine Larsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Larsen, K. (2017). Delia Woodruff Godding (1812–61): Poetry and Perseverance. In: The Women Who Popularized Geology in the 19th Century . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64952-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64952-8_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-64951-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-64952-8

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation