This volume contains a 136-page draft of a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman entitled Rocktop: or The Lord Will Direct, written by Smith Bartlett Goodenow in January 1870. The protagonist, Bartlett ("Bartie") Golden, left his fictional New England hometown of "Scotta" for Providence, Rhode Island, at the age of 10. After working a number of odd jobs and receiving an elementary education, Golden decided to enter the ministry; much of the book is devoted to his religious pursuits. The novel concludes with Golden's return home soon after his acceptance to Brown University, following a successful personal evaluation by its president, Francis Wayland. The subtitle, "The Lord Will Direct," is a repeated motif throughout the work. This draft includes small annotations and additions, as well as an authorial note indicating that the story is "true throughout." The volume includes pencil illustrations entitled "Rocktop," "Grandfather's Farm," and "Beneficent Church," as well as an inscription and table of contents.
Smith Bartlett Goodenow was born in Damariscotta, Maine, on May 16, 1817, the son of Nahum Goodenow and Sarah Elizabeth Russell. At the age of 10, following the death of his father, Goodenow moved in with relatives in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended Waterville College (now Colby University) for three years before transferring to Bowdoin College, from which he graduated in 1838. He served as principal of Brunswick High School and as a school superintendent for several years and was licensed as a Congregational minister in Bath, Maine, in June 1843. He led congregations in Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut before moving to Waterloo, Iowa, where he worked for the American Home Missionary Society. He moved to Earlsville, Illinois, in 1872, and to Battle Creek, Iowa, in 1880, where he lived for the remainder of his life. In addition to his work with the church, Goodenow contributed to publications such as the New Englander, the Congregational Review, the Congregational Quarterly, and the Bibliotheca Sacra, as well as to secular publications. He and his first wife, Sarah Elizabeth Lang, had 4 children: Helen Louisa, Emma, Milton, and Netta. After his wife's death, Goodenow married Caroline Russell Yates, with whom he had 2 children: Frederick and Carrie Lena. Smith Bartlett Goodenow died on March 26, 1897.
