Representative Forrest Goodwin

Edward Forrest Goodwin (June 14, 1862 – May 28, 1913) was a United States Representative from Maine and a prominent lawyer and legislator in his home state. He was born in Skowhegan, Somerset County, Maine, where he attended the local common schools and completed his secondary education at Skowhegan High School and Bloomfield Academy. Raised in a community that would remain his lifelong home, Goodwin’s early years in Skowhegan laid the foundation for his later engagement in public affairs and the law.

Following his preparatory studies, Goodwin pursued higher education at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, one of the state’s leading liberal arts institutions. After graduating from Colby, he continued his professional training at the Boston University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts. He completed his legal studies there and was admitted to the bar in 1889. That same year he commenced the practice of law in Skowhegan, establishing himself as an attorney in the town where he had been born and educated.

Goodwin’s entry into public life coincided with the beginning of his legal career. In 1889, he was elected a member of the Maine House of Representatives, marking his first service in elective office. His work in the state legislature brought him into wider political circles and led to his appointment as clerk at the Speaker’s table in the U.S. House of Representatives under Speaker Thomas B. Reed during the Fifty-first Congress (1889–1891). This position in Washington, D.C., placed him at the center of congressional proceedings and provided him with direct experience in the operations of the national legislature.

After his service in the nation’s capital, Goodwin returned to Maine and continued to build his legal and political career. He was elected to the Maine Senate for the sessions of 1903 and 1905, representing his district in the upper chamber of the state legislature. In 1905 he was chosen president of the Maine Senate, a role that reflected the confidence of his colleagues and his standing within the Republican Party. As Senate president, he presided over legislative deliberations and played a key role in guiding the body’s work during that session.

Goodwin’s long involvement in state politics and his experience in both Augusta and Washington culminated in his election to the United States House of Representatives. A Republican, he was elected to the Sixty-third Congress and took his seat on March 4, 1913, representing Maine at the federal level. His tenure in Congress was brief, as he served only a portion of his first term before his death, but it represented the highest office of a career devoted to public service.

Edward Forrest Goodwin died in Portland, Maine, on May 28, 1913, while still in office as a member of the Sixty-third Congress. He was fifty years old at the time of his death. Following funeral services, he was interred in Southside Cemetery in his native Skowhegan, Maine, returning in death to the community where he had been born, educated, and where he had begun his professional and political life.