John H. Goddard
The photo and articles below were provided by former MPD Detective Anne Clayton. Anne has been a great help with this site and her researching skills are second to none.
Birth: 1799
Rhode Island, USA
Death: May 13, 1886
District of Columbia, USA.
John H. Goddard, a native of Rhode Island and former grocer in Washington, District of Columbia, served as the first Chief of Police in Washington, D.C., as head of both the federal and city police. Appointed in 1842, he served as Captain of the Auxiliary Guard and Night Watch until 30 May 1853, when he was relieved. Congress initially authorized the hiring of police constables in 1803, who numbered about 13 in the 1840s.
On 14 April 1841, an incident where rocks were thrown at President John Tyler on the White House grounds, guns were fired, and a representation of him was hung in effigy.
This event precipitated the hiring of additional police, which required the action of Congress. An act was passed on 23 August 1842, …”to establish an auxiliary watch, for the protection of public and private property in the city of Washington”, cited in “District of Columbia Police: A Retrospect of the Police Organizations of the Cities of Washington and Georgetown and the District of Columbia, with Biographical Sketches, and Historic Cases. Pub. for the Benefit of the Policemen’s Fund (Google eBook), compiled by Richard Sylvester, and originally published by Gibson Brothers, Printers and Bookbinders, Washington, D.C., 1894. As a result, Goddard was appointed the first Chief of Police in Washington, D.C., and his photo was published in the 1894 immediately preceding referenced publication.