John Goode

For the San Antonio, Texas, Republican lawyer, also known as John Goode, Jr., see John W. Goode.
John Goode, Jr. (May 27, 1829 – July 14, 1909), was a Virginia Democratic politician who served in the Confederate Congress during the American Civil War and then was a three-term postbellum United States Congressman. He was also the acting Solicitor General of the United States.

Goode was born in Bedford County, Virginia. He was graduated at Emory & Henry College in 1848, studied law at Washington and Lee University School of Law and was admitted to the bar in 1851. In the latter year he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and in 1861 sat in the state convention that passed the Ordinance of Secession.

With the impending dissolution of the United States in 1861, Goode was elected to the Virginia secession convention. With the affirmative vote and Virginia's subsequent secession, Goode was elected to both the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress, serving from February 22, 1862, until the end of the war, and during the recesses of that body acted as volunteer aide on the staff of Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early.

After the war, Goode resumed his law practice and again served in the state House of Delegates in 1866 and 1867. Like many high-ranking ex-Confederates, Goode had his civil rights restored under the provisions of Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

In 1867, Goode moved to Norfolk and engaged in the practice of the law in Washington, D.C. Shortly after he moved to Norfolk, he was again elected to the Virginia legislature.

He was then chosen to the Forty-fourth United States Congress as a Democrat, defeating former Vermonter but incumbent James H. Platt, Jr.. Goode was re-elected to the Forty-fifth United States Congress and the Forty-sixth United States Congress, serving from December 6, 1875, until March 3, 1881. He was Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor during his last two terms.

Goode was a member of the Democratic National Conventions of 1868 and 1872, and was a presidential elector in 1852, 1856, and 1884.

In May 1885, President Grover Cleveland appointed Goode as the acting Solicitor General of the United States, and he retained the office until August 1886. During his term of service, he visited British Columbia to represent the United States in an extradition case.

He later served on the United States and Chilean Claims Commission and was President of the Virginia Bar Association. He also was President of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901 and 1902.

Goode died at the age of 80 in Norfolk and was buried in Longwood Cemetery in Bedford, Virginia. (see http://files.usgwarchives.org/va/bedford/cemeteries/longwood.txt)

• 1874; Goode was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives defeating Republican James Henry Platt, Jr. and Independent Republican Robert Norton, winning 49.43% of the vote.
• 1876; Goode was re-elected defeating Republican Joseph Secar, winning 52.97% of the vote.
• 1878; Goode was re-elected defeating Republican John Frederick Dezendorf, winning 56.73% of the vote.