Albert T. Goodwyn

Albert Taylor Goodwyn was a U.S. Representative from Alabama.

Early life and military career

Born at Robinson Springs, Alabama, Goodwyn attended Robinson Springs Academy and South Carolina College at Columbia. During the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served until June 1865. He was mustered out at the close of the war as captain of a company of sharpshooters and was decorated with the Southern Cross of Honor. He graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall, in 1867. He engaged in agricultural pursuits near Robinson Springs.

Goodwyn served as state inspector of convicts 1874–1880. He served as member of the Alabama House of Representatives in 1886 and 1887. He served in the Alabama Senate 1892–1896.
In 1894, Goodwyn as a Populist challenged incumbent Democrat James E. Cobb for the Congressional seat from Alabama's 5th district. At first, Cobb was declared re-elected 10,651 to 9,903, but Goodwyn successfully contested the election of James E. Cobb to the Fifty-fourth Congress and obtained the seat, holding it from April 22, 1896 until March 3, 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection as the nominee of the Populist and Republican parties in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress, losing to Silver Democrat Willis Brewer, 8,742 to 13,587. In 1896, Goodwyn also ran as the Populist nominee for governor of Alabama, but was defeated by Joseph F. Johnston 89,290 to 128,540, although the official returns may indicate fraud.
Goodwyn was elected commander in chief of the United Confederate Veterans on May 8, 1928. He resumed agricultural pursuits near Robinson Springs, Alabama. He died while on a visit in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1, 1931. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Montgomery, Alabama.