Jeptha Vining Harris (May 27, 1839 – 1914) was an assistant surgeon for the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

and Confederate States Navy during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. After the Civil War, he was a customs collector, doctor and school superintendent at

Key West, Florida Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Isla ...

Biography

Jeptha Vining Harris was born on May 27, 1839, in the Abbeville District of South Carolina.Harris, Gideon Dowse
''Harris Genealogy''
Columbus, Miss., Keith Printing Co., 1914. . Retrieved September 23, 2012. p. 76. He was the sixth child of James Walton Harris and Martha Watkins Harris.Harris, 1914, pp. 75–76. James Walton Harris was the first child of Jeptha Vining Harris of Georgia and Sarah Hunt Harris.Harris, 1914, p. 75. Jeptha V. Harris grew up in North Carolina and Mississippi.Born, George Walter. ''Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage And History of the Florida Keys''. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006. . p. 32. Harris was the nephew of

Jeptha Vining Harris (Mississippi general) Jeptha Vining Harris (December 1, 1816 – November 21, 1899) was a brigadier general (August 1862 – August 1863) and later, after a year in private life, a colonel (August 1864 – 1865) in the Mississippi militia, who fought in conjunction w ...

, a Mississippi militia (

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

) brigadier general during the

(Civil War) and Mississippi State Senator.Allardice, Bruce S
''More Generals in Gray.''
Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. (pbk.). Retrieved September 16, 2012. p. 120.Harris, 1914, pp. 74–75, 94. He was the grandson of

Jeptha Vining Harris (Georgia general) Jeptha Vining Harris (April 27, 1782 – 1856) was a brigadier general in the Georgia militia during the War of 1812. He was a lawyer and wealthy plantation owner, who served in the Georgia General Assembly as both a representative and s ...

and Sarah (Hunt) Harris. The elder Jeptha Vining Harris was a Georgia militia general during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, prominent lawyer, planter and member of the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. T ...

. Harris received his college and medical education at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

, graduating in 1859.Harris, 1914, p. 79.University of Mississippi
'Historical and Current Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Mississippi Forty-Second Session'
University of Mississippi: 1894. . Retrieved September 28, 2012. p. 40. Jeptha V. Harris married Mary Perkins of Mississippi on March 5, 1861. They had the following children: Jeptha V. Harris, Jr., Louis A. Harris and Martha Watkins Harris.Harris, 1914, p. 80. Both sons were lawyers. Soon after he completed college and medical school, Harris served as an assistant surgeon in the Confederate States Army and Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. After the Civil War, Harris and his family moved to Key West, Florida, where he became customs collector and lived in the Customs House. He also resumed his medical practice. Harris was interested in promoting and improving public education. Because of this interest, he became school superintendent at Key West. Harris School, which was built at Key West in 1909, was named for him.

Death

Doctor Jeptha Vining Harris died November 16, 1916, and is buried in Key West Cemetery, Key West Florida.

Notes

References

* Allardice, Bruce S. ''Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register''. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. . * Born, George Walter. ''Preserving Paradise: The Architectural Heritage And History of the Florida Keys''. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006. . * Harris, Gideon Dowse
''Harris Genealogy''
Columbus, Miss., Keith Printing Co., 1914. . Retrieved September 23, 2012. * University of Mississippi
'Historical and Current Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the University of Mississippi Forty-Second Session'
University of Mississippi: 1894. . Retrieved September 28, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jeptha Vining 1839 births 1914 deaths University of Mississippi alumni People of Mississippi in the American Civil War People of Florida in the American Civil War People from Abbeville County, South Carolina People from Key West, Florida Confederate States Army surgeons Confederate States Navy surgeons