Born on August 1, 1844, in
Littlestown, Pennsylvania, he attended the schools of
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and
Taneytown, Maryland, graduated from Eagleton Institute in Taneytown, and received his certification as a teacher when he was 18. Goulden was present when
Abraham Lincoln delivered the
Gettysburg Address, and heard the speech in person.
Civil War Goulden served during the
American Civil War as a member of the
United States Marine Corps. He enlisted in 1864, was discharged in 1866, and attained the rank of
sergeant. He was a member of the Marine detachment aboard the
USS Don, and saw combat in battles including
Drewry's Bluff, where the ship he was on received fire from the shore and he was wounded.
Business career After the war Goulden was a teacher and principal at public and parochial schools in
Emmitsburg, Maryland and
Martinsburg, West Virginia, and served as a member of the board of managers of Pennsylvania's state reformatory in
Morganza, Pennsylvania. In 1870 he relocated to
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he established himself in the insurance business as a manager for
Penn Mutual Life Insurance. From 1882 to 1886 he served on the military staff of
Governor Robert E. Pattison with the rank of
colonel. In 1889 Goulden moved to
New York City, where he pursued business investments in addition to remaining active in insurance. Among his ventures was the
Chelan Consolidated
Copper Company, of which he was president. He was also the principal of an insurance agency, J. A. Goulden & Son. Goulden later moved to
The Bronx. He was active in several veterans' and civic causes, including the Atlantic Deeper Waterways Association, the state and city school systems, and the
College of the City of New York. He was a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic, a member of the board of trustees of the
Bath, New York soldiers' home, and secretary of the commission that erected the
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument on
Riverside Drive. Goulden Avenue in the Bronx is named in his honor. Goulden spent summers and holidays at Glenburn, a country home in Taneytown which had been in his family for several generations. ==Political career==