Hannibal Lafayette Godwin (November 3, 1873 – June 9, 1929) was a Democratic

U.S. Congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

between 1907 and 1921.

Education and career

Born near Dunn in

Harnett County, North Carolina Harnett County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,568. Its county seat is Lillington; its largest city is Dunn. Harnett County is part of the Fayetteville Metropolitan Stati ...

, Godwin attended common schools near his home and then Trinity College (later

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

) in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

. He studied law at the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. Godwin married Mattie Black Barnes (January 9, 1876 – January 11, 1951), daughter of Hugh and Jennetta (Parker) Barnes, on December 23, 1896, in Harnett County, North Carolina. After being admitted to the bar in 1896, he practiced in Dunn and was elected Dunn's mayor in 1897. In 1903, Godwin was sent to the

North Carolina Senate The North Carolina Senate is the upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The term of office for e ...

, and from 1904 to 1906, he sat on the executive committee of the

North Carolina Democratic Party The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is the North Carolina affiliate of the Democratic Party. It is headquartered in the historic Goodwin House, located in Raleigh. Governor Roy Cooper is a North Carolina Democrat. Since the 2010 passage of ...

. In 1906, Godwin was first elected to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

; he would be re-elected six times, serving from March 4, 1907, to March 3, 1921. In Congress, he rose to chair the Committee on Reform in the Civil Service. He lost his congressional race in 1920 and returned to the practice of law in Dunn, where he died in 1929; he is buried in Dunn's Greenwood Cemetery.

External links

1873 births 1929 deaths Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences alumni Democratic Party North Carolina state senators Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-politician-stub