(Excerpt from Letter of Hon. Edwin G. Reade, of North Caro...)
Excerpt from Letter of Hon. Edwin G. Reade, of North Carolina, to His Constituents There is, too, a complete understanding between our enemies in Great Britain, and their allies in this country. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Edwin Godwin Reade was born on November 13, 1812 at Mount Tirzah, Person County, North Carolina, the second son of Robert R. and Judith A. (Gooch) Reade. His father died soon after his birth and from early childhood the boy worked - on the farm, in a carriageshop, and in a tannery.
He studied under his mother. Later he attended two academies.
He read law at home, was admitted to the bar in 1835, practising at Roxboro, and became one of the most notable advocates in the history of the state.
He was a witness of the assault on Sumner, and, while he voted against expelling Brooks, he alone of Southern members voted to censure Representative Lawrence M. Keitt. In 1861 John A. Gilmer, at Seward's request, sounded Reade as to becoming a member of Lincoln's cabinet. He declined, urging Gilmer to accept. He was elected as a Union candidate to the convention which the people rejected in February 1861, but declined to go to the secession convention. In 1863, he was elected judge of the superior court, but before his term began, he accepted, at Vance's urgent request, an appointment of a month in the Confederate Senate (January-February 1864).
He was the candidate of the peace party for election by the legislature, but was defeated. In 1865, he was president of the "Johnson" or Reconstruction, Convention and was later the same year elected associate justice of the supreme court. In 1868, when reconstruction was completed, although he had definitely aligned himself with the Republican party, he was the choice of both parties for the same position and served until 1879, when he declined to be a candidate.
On the bench, he wrote many important opinions, among which were: Jacobs vs. Smallwood and Hill vs. Kessler, holding that the homestead exemption was valid against debts contracted before the law was adopted; People vs. McKee, holding that the governor and not the legislature has the power of appointment to office; and State vs. Parrott, holding that any one has the right to tear down an obstruction to free navigation of a river. Caustically and trenchantly written, his opinions are short and luminously clear.
He was an excellent business man and upon his retirement from the bench became president of a national bank in Raleigh which was in difficulties. He soon rehabilitated it, and remained its head until his death. During these years, he took no part whatever in politics and, after 1874, never cast a vote.
(Excerpt from Letter of Hon. Edwin G. Reade, of North Caro...)
He was a Whig in politics until 1855 when, taking seriously their anti-Catholic and anti-foreign arguments, he joined the American party and was elected to Congress, but served only one term.
Quotations: "My practice was to allow a brother to do almost anything he desired to do in fixing up his case before trial, but when the trial commenced and swords were drawn, I threw away the scabbard and fought for a funeral".
He was a superb speaker, given to austere simplicity of style and limpid clarity of thought. He was a fighter.
Tall and handsome, with a fine voice, he concealed a rather cold nature under a dignified affability.
Reade was married twice: first, to Emily A. L. Moore of Person County, who died in 1871; and, second, late in that same year, to Mrs. Mary Parmele of Washington, North Carolina, who survived him. He had no children.
