Ira Harris (May 31, 1802December 2, 1875) was an American jurist and

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

from New York. He was also a friend of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...

Life

Ira Harris was born in

Charleston, New York Charleston is a town in Montgomery County, New York, United States. The population was 1,373 at the 2010 census. The town was named for Charles Van Epps, an early settler. The Town of Charleston is on the southern border of the county and i ...

on May 31, 1802. He grew up on a farm, and graduated from

Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...

in 1824. He then studied law in Albany and, in 1827, was admitted to the bar. He was a Whig/ Anti-Rent member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

( Albany Co.) in 1845 and

1846 Events January–March * January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway's bridge, over the Venetian Lagoon between ...

. He was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

of 1846 and a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan comp ...

(3rd D.) in

1847 Events January–March * January 4 – Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the U.S. government. * January 13 – The Treaty of Cahuenga ends fighting in the Mexican–American War in California. * January 16 – John C. Frémont ...

. He was a justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

(3rd D.) from 1847 to 1859 and was,

ex officio An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

, a judge of the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by ...

in 1850 and 1858.

U.S. Senate

In February 1861, Harris was elected a

U.S. Senator from New York Below is a list of U.S. senators who have represented the State of New York in the United States Senate since 1789. The date of the start of the tenure is either the first day of the legislative term (Senators who were elected regularly before th ...

to succeed William H. Seward who did not seek re-election, but would be appointed

U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

. In the U.S. Senate, Harris served on the Committees on Foreign Relations, the Judiciary, and the Select Joint Committee on the Southern States. Although he supported the administration in the main, he did not fear to express his opposition to all measures, however popular at the time, that did not appear to him either wise or just. He visited Lincoln at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

often and grew a friendship with him. He was also a good friend of his predecessor in the Senate, William H. Seward. His son William Hamilton Harris (1838-1895) was a brevet

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

in the United States Army Ordnance Department. His daughter

Clara Harris Clara Hamilton Harris (September 4, 1834 – December 23, 1883) was an American socialite. She and her fiancé Major Henry Rathbone were the guests of President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Lincoln when John Wilkes Booth shot the ...

and his stepson/future son-in-law

Henry Rathbone Henry Reed Rathbone (July 1, 1837 – August 14, 1911) was a United States military officer and diplomat who was present at the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Rathbone was sitting with his fiancée, Clara Harris, next to the pre ...

were the Lincolns' guests at

Ford's Theatre Ford's Theatre is a theater located in Washington, D.C., which opened in August 1863. The theater is infamous for being the site of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. On the night of April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth entered the theater bo ...

on April 14, 1865, when the president was shot and killed by

John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth ...

. Booth stabbed Rathbone in the arm when he tried to stop the assassin from escaping. Clara and Henry were married in 1867, but were also step siblings Harris had remarried to Pauline Rathbone, Henry's mother. Judge Harris was, for more than twenty years, a professor of equity, jurisprudence and practice in the

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

and, during his senatorial term, delivered a course of lectures at the law school of Columbian University (now George Washington University), Washington, D.C. In the Senate, he also served on the

Joint Committee on Reconstruction The Joint Committee on Reconstruction, also known as the Joint Committee of Fifteen, was a joint committee of the 39th United States Congress that played a major role in Reconstruction in the wake of the American Civil War. It was created to "inqu ...

which drafted the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Often considered as one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses citizenship rights and ...

. Ira Harris died in Albany on December 2, 1875. He was buried at the

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Colonie, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical A ...

with his first wife, Clarissa. His grandson,

Henry Riggs Rathbone Henry Riggs Rathbone (February 12, 1870 – July 15, 1928) was a congressman from Illinois. Rathbone was born in Washington, D.C., to Brevet Colonel Henry Reed Rathbone and Clara Rathbone née Harris; while engaged, the couple had been gu ...

, was a congressman from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

Notes

References

. Includes
Guide to Research Collections
' where his papers are located.
''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 141, 147, 230f, 279 and 351; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)

*Senator Ira Harris is a character in "Henry and Clara" (1994)(published by Ticknor & Fields) an historical fiction by Thomas Mallon. In reality and fiction he is the father of Clara Harris Rathbone and peculiarly the stepfather and father-in-law to Henry Reed Rathbone. Attribution: *

External links

Mr. Lincoln and New York: Ira Harris
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ira 1802 births 1875 deaths Union College (New York) alumni Judges of the New York Court of Appeals People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Union (American Civil War) political leaders New York (state) state senators New York Supreme Court Justices New York (state) Republicans People from Montgomery County, New York Politicians from Albany, New York Burials at Albany Rural Cemetery New York (state) Whigs 19th-century American politicians Republican Party United States senators from New York (state) Lawyers from Albany, New York 19th-century American judges 19th-century American lawyers