Nathaniel Edwin Harris (January 21, 1846 – September 21, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician, and the 61st Governor of Georgia.

Early life

Harris was born in

Jonesboro, Tennessee Jonesborough (historically also Jonesboro) is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 5,860 as of 2020. It is "Tennessee's oldest town". Jonesborough is part of the Jo ...

on January 21, 1846 to Edna (née Haynes) and Alexander Nelson Harris. His father was a physician and Methodist minister. He moved to Georgia 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 ...

to escape

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

troops. At the age of sixteen, he joined the infantry of 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 served until the end of the American Civil War eventually becoming an officer in the 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. After the war, he returned to his family's home in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

; however, they soon moved to Bartow County, Georgia. In 1867, Harris attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

(UGA) in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, was a member of Chi Phi fraternity and the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Founded in 1820, the society continues to meet every academic ...

, and graduated in 1870 with a B.A. degree. In 1889, he became a UGA trustee and served on that board until his death. After graduating college, Harris taught school for two years, studied law, and gained admittance to the state bar. He moved to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

in 1873. He joined with future UGA chancellor

Walter Barnard Hill Walter Barnard Hill (September 5, 1851 – December 28, 1905) was chancellor of the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens from 1899 until his death in 1905 (The head of the university was referred to as chancellor instead of president, from 1860 u ...

to form the law firm of Hill and Harris. From 1874 to 1882, he also served as the Macon city attorney.

Personal life

Harris married Fannie Burke of Macon in 1873. He later married Hattie Gibson Jobe of Elizabethton, Tennessee in 1899. He had seven children with his first wife, including General Walter A. Harris.

Political life and the formation of the Georgia Institute of Technology

Harris was elected to 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 ...

in 1882 as a representative of Bibb County and was reelected through 1885. His campaign platform when running was the establishment of a technological college. As a state representative in 1882, Harris introduced the bill to establish the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

(originally called the Georgia School of Technology until assuming its current name in 1948). That bill was approved by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directly ...

on October 13, 1885, after failing to pass through the legislature in 1883 and again in 1884. Harris received public support in this matter from

Henry W. Grady Henry Woodfin Grady (May 24, 1850 – December 23, 1889) was an American journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the Confederacy into the Union after the American Civil War. Grady encouraged the industrialization of the Sout ...

and

John Fletcher Hanson John Fletcher Hanson (November 25, 1840 in Monroe County, Georgia – 1910) was a self-made industrialist who lived in Georgia and helped establish the Georgia School of Technology (later known as the Georgia Institute of Technology). The son of a ...

. The bill called for Governor

Henry Dickerson McDaniel Henry Dickerson McDaniel (September 4, 1836 – July 25, 1926), was the 52nd Governor of Georgia from 1883 to 1886. Early life Henry Dickerson McDaniel was born on September 4, 1836 in Monroe, Georgia to Ira McDaniel. Ira McDaniel was one o ...

to appoint a five-member commission to select the location of the new school and organize it. Harris was named to that group as chairman alongside Samuel N. Inman from Atlanta as the treasurer, Oliver S. Porter from

Newnan, Georgia Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010. History Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...

, Edward R. Hodgson Sr. from Athens, and Judge Columbus Heard from

Greene County, Georgia Greene County is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 18,915. The county seat is Greensboro. The county was created on February 3, 1786, and is named for Nathanael ...

. Meeting in Atlanta on October 19, 1886, the committee took 23 separate ballots amongst themselves before selecting

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

for the school's location over Macon, Milledgeville, Athens and Penfield. Harris, Hodgson and Inman voted for their cities of residence on every ballot with Porter and Heard voting for Atlanta on the last ballot to give that city a majority. Harris was named the president of the school's Board of Trustees, and he served in that position the rest of his life. Elected to the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Legal provisions The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, with the lower house being the Georgia Ho ...

from 1894 to 1895, Harris then served as judge of the Superior Court of the Macon Circuit from 1912 until his resignation in 1915 to successfully run for

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor also has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either veto or approve bills passed by the Georgia Legisl ...

. He was sworn in on June 26, 1915, and served until 1917 being the last governor of Georgia born outside the state of Georgia. During his tenure, Harris was noted for signing

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

into state law. He returned to his Macon law practice after his gubernatorial term and served as Pension Commissioner of Georgia from 1924 to 1925 in addition to being president of the Electoral College of Georgia. Harris was a first cousin of Alfred Alexander Taylor and Robert Love Taylor, both of whom were

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

men from, and Governors of, Tennessee.

Death

Harris died at his summer home in

Hampton, Tennessee Hampton is an unincorporated community and Census-designated place in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Located a few miles southeast of Elizabethton and northwest of Roan Mountain, Hampton is surrounded on all sides by the Unaka Mountains ...

on September 21, 1929 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.

References

External links

Georgia State Archives Roster of State Governors''Georgia Governor's Gravesites Field Guide (1776–2003)''
*[http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/cgi-bin/ebind2html.pl/reed_c07?seq=92 ''History of the University of Georgia'', Thomas Walter Reed, Imprint: Athens, Georgia : University of Georgia, ca. 1949, pp.893,895–899,1205–1213]
Hugh J. Rowe, "Old Families of Athens", The Athens’ Banner Sunday, March 9, 1913
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Nathaniel Edwin Democratic Party governors of Georgia (U.S. state) Democratic Party Georgia (U.S. state) state senators Democratic Party members of the Georgia House of Representatives Georgia (U.S. state) state court judges Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Confederate States Army officers University of Georgia alumni Georgia Tech people Methodists from Georgia (U.S. state) 1846 births 1929 deaths People from Jonesborough, Tennessee People of Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War 19th-century American politicians 20th-century American politicians