Edwin Godwin Reade (November 13, 1812 – October 18, 1894) was a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1855 and 1857. He later served in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War.
Edwin Reade was born in Person County, North Carolina in 1812; a lawyer, he was admitted to the bar in 1835 and practiced in Roxboro.
Reade served a single term in the 34th United States Congress as a member of the American Party (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1857), and refused to run for re-election in 1856. In 1863, Governor Zebulon Vance appointed Reade to the Confederate Senate to fill the seat of George Davis, who had resigned to become the Confederacy's Attorney General.
Following the Civil War, Reade presided over the Reconstruction convention in 1865 in Raleigh, North Carolina. In 1868, he was named as associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, a post he held until 1879. Following his retirement from government, Reade engaged in banking in Raleigh, where he died in 1894. He is buried in Raleigh's Oakwood Cemetery.
| Confederate States Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George Davis |
Confederate States Senator from North Carolina January 22, 1864 – February 17, 1864 Served alongside: William T. Dortch |
Succeeded by William A. Graham |