William Littleton Harris (1807–1868) was a Mississippi jurist.

Early life

Born in

Elbert County, Georgia Elbert County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,637. The county seat is Elberton. The county was established on December 10, 1790, and was named for Samuel ...

, in 1807, Harris graduated from 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 ...

at the age of fifteen, and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

to be admitted to the bar.Thomas H. Somerville, "A Sketch of the Supreme Court of Mississippi", in Horace W. Fuller, ed.,''The Green Bag'', Vol. XI (1899), p. 511. His admission required an act of the legislature, due to his status as a minor. Harris moved to Mississippi in 1837 and lived in Lowndes County, where he successfully established a large legal practice.

Career

Harris became as a circuit judge in 1853, and in 1856 helped write the

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

code of 1857. In 1858 Harris was appointed by Governor

John J. McRae John Jones McRae (January 10, 1815May 31, 1868) was an American politician in Mississippi. A United States Democratic Party, Democrat, He also represented Mississippi in the United States Senate in 1851 and 1852, in the U.S. Congress in the 35th ...

to a seat on the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals vacated by the resignation of Ephraim S. Fisher. His best-known opinion was ''Mitchell v. Wells'', decided in 1859. The case prohibited a formerly enslaved woman from

inheriting Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officially ...

from the estate of her white father. In essence, it held that once someone was a

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in Mississippi she would always be considered a slave, even though her father (and owner) had taken her to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and freed her. The case illustrates the extreme

southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

position; it illustrates the uncompromising nature of southern law on the eve of

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. In 1860 President

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

tendered him the appointment to a seat on the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, but Harris declined "because of the impending secession".

Civil War

Instead of taking a seat on the Supreme Court, Harris took a position as a

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

, in which he was appointed by Georgia by Mississippi Governor, John J. Pettus.

Secession speech

On December 17, 1860, Harris delivered an address to the Georgia General Assembly, in Milledgeville, supporting secession: The speech was so well received that one thousand copies of it were printed in pamphlet form.

Reconstruction

After the war his appointment to the High Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi was overthrown by president

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a Dem ...

in 1867.

Later life and death

In response to the beginning of Reconstruction, Harris left Mississippi and moved to Memphis. He formed a law firm with judge Henry T. Ellett and Confederate Colonel James Phelan, Sr. He died of pneumonia on November 27, 1868.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, William Littleton 1807 births 1868 deaths People from Lowndes County, Mississippi University of Georgia alumni Justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court U.S. state supreme court judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American judges