Lawrence T. Harris (September 13, 1873 – January 21, 1960) was an American politician and lawyer in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He was the 45th justice of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon House of Representatives The Oregon House of Representatives is the lower house of the Oregon Legislative Assembly. There are 60 members of the House, representing 60 districts across the state, each with a population of 65,000. The House meets in the west wing of the ...

. After leaving the state's highest court he returned to private practice in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

Early life

Lawrence Harris was born on September 13, 1873 in Oregon’s

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, ...

Albany, Oregon Albany is the county seat of Linn County, Oregon, and is the eleventh largest city in that state. Albany is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the Calapooia River and the Willamette River in both Linn and Benton counties, just ...

.Corning, Howard M. ''Dictionary of Oregon History''. Binfords & Mort Publishing, 1956. He received his primary education in the local public schools before attending the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in Eugene. At the University of Oregon he earned two degrees, first with a bachelor's degree in arts and letters in 1893.UO Awards.
University of Oregon. Retrieved on January 24, 2008. Then in 1896 he was awarded his master's degree in the same subject. Harris completed his education with an

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1896.

Legal career

Lawrence Harris then passed the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

and began practicing law in Eugene and Albany in Oregon. In 1901 Harris was elected as a Republican to represent Eugene in the Oregon House of Representatives. In 1903, he was reelected to the House where he was selected as Speaker of the House. Then in 1905 Harris was appointed as judge to Oregon’s 2nd Judicial District. On that court he then won re-election and continued to serve until 1914. In the 1914 general election Harris was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court, replacing

William Marion Ramsey William Marion Ramsay (December 25, 1846 – September 15, 1937) was an American politician and judge in Oregon. He was the 43rd justice of the Oregon Supreme Court serving from 1913 to 1915. He was also the first dean of Willamette University ...

on the court.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved on January 24, 2008. He won re-election to a second six-year term in 1920, and then resigned from the bench on January 15, 1924.

Works authored

Harris wrote several articles on the history of Oregon’s judicial department. In 1922 his ''History of the Oregon Code'' (1 Or. L. Rev.) was published in the Oregon Law Review while in 1938 his ''A History of the Judiciary of Oregon'' was published in the Oregon Supreme Court Record.

Family and later life

In 1904 Lawrence Harris was married to Jennie B. Beattie. In 1959 he was awarded the UO Distinguished Service Award for UO Faculty from his alma mater. After leaving the court, he returned to private practice in Eugene and served on the bar examiner's board for Oregon. Harris died in Eugene on January 21, 1960 after a long illness at the age of 86.Former State High Court Justice Dies In Eugene. ''

Oregon Journal ''The Oregon Journal'' was Portland, Oregon's daily afternoon newspaper from 1902 to 1982. The ''Journal'' was founded in Portland by C. S. "Sam" Jackson, publisher of Pendleton, Oregon's ''East Oregonian'' newspaper, after a group of Portlander ...

'', January 22, 1960/''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', January 23, 1960

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Lawrence T. Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Oregon state court judges Speakers of the Oregon House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives University of Oregon alumni University of Oregon faculty 1873 births 1960 deaths People from Albany, Oregon University of Michigan Law School alumni