William Alexander Harris (August 24, 1805 – March 28, 1864) was a Virginia lawyer and politician who served as a

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

from Virginia.

Early and family life

Born near Warrenton, Virginia, Harris completed an academic course which included the study of law. He married and had children. His firstborn son, also William Alexander Harris would be educated in Washington D.C. and at the Virginia Military Institute, volunteered for Confederate States Army service, and after serving in various mostly staff positions during the war, moved to Kansas and became a railroad official, as well as continued his father's political tradition, winning election to the U.S. Congress as a Populist, and later serving in the Kansas state senate. His other son Murray Harris (1848-1923) moved to Texas after the conflict, but their sister, Leilia Harris Robinson (1857-1914), married a local Missouri lawyer turned judge and railroad attorney.

Career

He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in the 1820s in Luray, Virginia. Harris may have been one of the fifteen original men to have thoroughly explored the Luray Cave in 1825. The ''Shenandoah Herald'' printed an article he had written in that year, which seems the first to describing the site, which later became a tourist attraction. Voters elected him as their delegate to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1830–1831, and he sponsored the bill to create Page County, Virginia. He then became the new county's first Clerk of the Court of Page County, beginning 23 May 1831, and also served as the local Commonwealth's attorney (prosecutor) and as one of the commissioners to oversee the construction of the county offices. In September, 1837, the elder Harris continued in his multi-faceted roles and was responsible for donations for the opening of a road east through the Blue Ridge at Milam's Gap. In 1840, Harris became a Presidential elector on the

Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party, he ...

- Johnson ticket. Harris resigned his position as Clerk of the Court after winning election as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

Twenty-seventh Congress The 27th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. between March 4, 1 ...

(March 4, 1841 – March 3, 1843). The previous Congressman, Green Berry Samuels, had accepted a position on the Virginia Court of Appeals (later

Virginia Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Virginia is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It primarily hears direct appeals in civil cases from the trial-level city and county circuit courts, as well as the criminal law, family law and administrative ...

). Before his retiring to private life the elder Harris held several other positions including editor of the ''Spectator'' and ''The Constitution'' in Washington, D.C., and also

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

to the Argentine Republic from 1846-1851. He moved to Pike County, Missouri and later returned to Washington, D.C. as editor of the ''Washington Union'' and printer to the United States Senate, 1857-1859.

Death and legacy

Harris died in Pike County, Missouri, March 28, 1864 and was interred in Riverview Cemetery, Louisiana, Missouri.

References

Sources

* Moore, Robert H. II, ''Short Historical Sketches of Page County, Virginia and Its People, Volume 2'' ("The Harris family in Page County"); Heritage Books, Inc., 2005, pp. 193–194.

External links

William Alexander Harris
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, William Alexander 1805 births 1864 deaths People from Fauquier County, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina Virginia lawyers American male journalists Journalists from Virginia People from Page County, Virginia People from Pike County, Missouri 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century American newspaper editors