John F. Harris (politician)

John F. Harris (c. 1830 – August 20, 1913) was an American lawyer and politician from Greenville, Mississippi. In the mid- and late-1880s he was a member of the Greenville city council and in 1890 he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. He was also a member of numerous local civic organizations. He is noted for an 1890 speech given to the state house in support of an appropriations bill for a monument to Confederate veterans of the American Civil War.

Early life

John F. Harris was likely born sometime between 1827 and 1831.^[1][2] He was a slave until the American Civil War (1861–1865). As a slave, he worked as a carpenter.^[3] After achieving his freedom, he began to study law and was largely self-taught. Like fellow African American lawyer Nathan S. Taylor, studied law in the offices of Percy and Yerger, one of the best firms in Greenville.^[4] Harris was said to "carry a saw under one arm and a Mississippi [Law] Code under the under and ... when he was not doing carpenter work he was reading the Code.^[5] Harris was admitted to the Greenville bar in December 1870.^[2] He continued to work as a carpenter even as he worked as a lawyer and public servant, once joking that he feared a return of slavery would force him back to his previous job, and besides, "law business is powerful dull".^[3]

There were few black lawyers in Mississippi at the time,^[4] and there was not always unity among them. In December 1873, Harris attempted to disbar fellow African American lawyer, John D. Werles.^[6] Harris became politically active in the late 1870s, running for Chancery Clerk in 1879.^[7] A Republican, he was politically aligned with Republican civil rights activists John R. Lynch and James L. Alcorn and was opposed by Democrats for being hostile to whites.^[8]

Political career

He became a city councilman in Greenville by 1884, holding the position until 1889.^[9][10] In 1890 he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. As a Representative, Harris opposed the 1890 constitutional convention.^[11] The 1890 convention considered provisions for the disenfranchisement of blacks as being the most important. Indeed, the implementation of these measures was the reason for the convention's very existence.^[12] In February 1890, Harris gave a speech in favor of an appropriations bill which gave $10,000 for the placement of a Confederate memorial monument. The speech was in part a reply to opposition to the monument led by white representative Ed S. Watson.^[13] This speech has been used as evidence that Harris was supportive of the Confederacy and what it stood for.^[14]

Harris' career was not uniformly successful. He was brought to court on charges of criminal activity at least twice. In 1888, he was accused of bribery and corruption.^[15] In 1903, he was acquitted of a crime, this time of receiving money for stolen property.^[16]

Other activities and death

In 1905, Harris became a leader in the Mississippi state affiliate of the Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League.^[17] He was also a member of the Knights and Daughters of Jacob, a fraternal organization which worked to raise money to support widows and orphans.^[18]

He died at his home in Greenville in the morning on August 20, 1913.^[19]

References