1868 he was a delegate to the Republican national convention at Chicago, also chairman of the new capitol commission from 1866 till his resignation in 1875, serving in the state senate from that date until 1879, when he refused to accept a renomination. In 1876 he was nominated by the Republican Party for congress, but was defeated, and continued is seat in the state senate. Since 1879 he has withdrawn from public life and devoted himself to the practice of his profession. His private library, consisting of 3,500 volumes, many of which are biographical works, is one of the most carefully selected in the state of New York.
HARRIS, Isham Green, senator, b. near Tullahoma, Tenn., 10 Feb., 1818. His father, of the same name, was the owner of a sterile farm and ten or twelve negroes, and his family grew up without discipline. At fourteen years of age Isham went to Paris, Tenn., and took employment as a shop-boy. In the following year he went to school, and before he was nineteen years old removed to Tippah county, Miss., where he became a successful merchant. He studied law for two years at night, attending to his business during the day, and had accumulated about $7,000 and also established a home for his father near Paris, Tenn., when, through the failure of a bank, he was left penniless.
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He resumed his business at Paris with a rich partner, and in two years had repaired his losses. His nights meanwhile had been given to the study of the law, and he was admitted to the bar in 1841. His legislative district had a small Democratic majority. Two obstinate Democrats insisted on running, and the leaders in caucus nominated Harris as a ruse to effect the withdrawal of one or the other. Neither would yield. He defeated them, and his Whig competitor also. Harris was elected to congress in 1848, and served two terms. He refused a renomination in 1853, and settled in Memphis as a lawyer. In 1856 he canvassed the state as presidential elector, and the success of his ticket was largely attributed to him. He was elected governor of Tennessee in 1857, re-elected in 1859, and again in 1861, after the civil war had actually begun. Until he was driven from the state by the success of the National arms, Gov. Harris exhibited ability and resource. He acted as volunteer aide on the staff of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, and was with him when mortally wounded at Shiloh. He continued at the headquarters of the Army of the West during the remainder of the war, shared its hardships, and took part in all its important battles except Perryville. When the war began he was worth $150,000; when it closed he had nothing. He evaded capture on parole, went into exile in Mexico, where he lived eighteen months, and thence to England, where he remained a year. In 1867 he returned, and resumed the practice of law in Memphis, Tenn. In 1876 he announced himself as a candidate for the U. S. senate, and canvassed the state, challenging all comers to meet him in public discussion. He was successful, took his seat, 5 March, 1877, and was re-elected for the term ending in 1889. In the senate he has been an advocate of an honest and economical administration of the government, and an opponent of all class legislation. He was a member of the committee on claims, of the select committee on the levees of the Mississippi river, and chairman of the committee on the District of Columbia, while his party was in power in the senate.
HARRIS, Joel Chandler, author, b. in Eatonton, Ga., 8 Dec., 1848. He served an apprenticeship at the printing trade, subsequently studied law, and practised at Forsyth, Ga. He is now (1887) one of the editors of the Atlanta, Ga., "Constitution." He has contributed, in both prose and verse, to current literature, and is the author of "Uncle Remus, His Songs and his Sayings: the Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation" (New York, 1880); "Nights with Uncle Remus" (Boston, 1883); and "Mingo and Other Sketches" (1883).
HARRIS, John, Indian store-keeper, b. in Pennsylvania in 1716; d. in Harrisburg, Pa., 29 July, 1791. He was the founder of Harrisburg, and for many years the principal store-keeper on the frontier; and at his house two notable "council-fires" were held with the Indians of the Six Nations and other tribes. At the first, 8 June, 1756, Gov. Morris, with his council, was present; and at the second, 1 April, 1757, the deputy of Sir William Johnson, his majesty's deputy of the affairs of the Six Nations, met the representatives of the Nations and many of their warriors. Mr. Harris had the confidence of the Indians. At a conference of Gov. Hamilton with them, 23 Aug., 1762, they asked that "the present store-keepers may be removed and honest men placed in their stead," and selected John Harris. Said the chief, who addressed the governor, "I think John Harris is the most suitable man to keep store, for he lives right in the road where our warriors pass, and he is very well known by us all in our Nation, as his father was before him." Harris's house, built in 1766, near Harrisburg, is still standing.
HARRIS, John S., senator, b. in Truxton, Cortland co., N. Y., 18 Dec, 1825. He removed to Milwaukee, Wis., in 1846, and engaged in commercial and financial enterprises until 1863, when he went to Concordia parish. La., and began the cultivation of cotton. He was elected to the Constitutional convention of the state in 1867, to the state senate in April. 1868, and became U. S. senator in July, 1868. He served from 17 July, 1868, to 3 March, 1871, having been chosen as a Republican.
HARRIS, John Thomas, lawyer, b. in Albemarle county, Va., 8 May, 1825. He received an academic education, studied law, and in 1847 began practice at Harrisonburg, Rockingham co. He was U. S. attorney in 1852-'9, a presidential elector in 1856, and was then elected a representative in congress, as a Democrat, serving in 1859-61. He was a member of the legislature of Virginia from 1863 till 1865, and was judge of the 12th judicial circuit of Virginia from 1866 till 1869. He was then re-elected to congress, and served from 1871 till 1881. He declined a unanimous renomination in 1880, and resumed the practice of his profession.
