Isham G. Harris

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Isham G. Harris

Isham Green Harris (born February 10, 1818 in Franklin County , Tennessee , †  July 8, 1897 in Washington, DC ) was an American politician and the 18th  governor of Tennessee. He also represented this state in both chambers of Congress .

Early years

Young Harris moved to Paris , Henry County , in 1832 . There he was employed by a trading company. He later decided to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1841. From 1847 he was politically active. That year he was elected to the Tennessee Senate as the Democratic Party representative. Just a year later, he made the leap to Congress in Washington. He held his seat in the House of Representatives from 1849 to 1853. He spent the following years until 1857 in Memphis as a lawyer. In 1857 he was nominated by his party for the office of governor of Tennessee.

Governor of Tennessee

Not only did Harris win the 1857 election with 54.3 percent of the vote against Robert H. Hatton of the American Party , but he managed to be confirmed in 1859 and 1861, respectively. His entire term of office was determined by the national conflict between the northern and southern states , which was to escalate during his tenure in the civil war. Harris was a Southerner; as such he voted in 1861 for the annexation of his state to the confederation . This subject was highly controversial in Tennessee. The east of the state threatened secession, but Harris was able to prevent this. When President Abraham Lincoln asked Tennessee, which at the time had not yet left the Union, for military support after the outbreak of war, Harris refused. He didn't want to assign one man to support the Union, but thousands to defend the South. The fronts were cleared. Tennessee joined the Confederation and provided 100,000 soldiers. Harris remained governor but had to flee as early as 1862 when Union troops occupied large parts of the country. Lincoln installed former Governor Andrew Johnson as Tennessee Military Governor.

In the civil war

After his expulsion as governor, Harris joined the Southern Army and served as a staff officer to several leading generals such as B. Albert S. Johnston , Braxton Bragg , John Bell Hood , Joseph E. Johnston or P. G. T. Beauregard . General Albert Johnston even died in his arms. During the last three years of the war, Harris was involved in many skirmishes in the western part of the Confederation, especially in the western Tennessee area. In the north they had meanwhile suspended a bonus for his capture because he was accused of high treason. After the surrender of the South in April 1865, he fled to England via Mexico for fear of punishment and did not return to the United States until 1867 with the permission of the government, which had amnestied him.

Post war years and death

After his return he worked as a lawyer again. In 1877 he returned to Congress as a Senator for Tennessee. He kept this mandate until his death. He was represented in several committees and at times even served as pro tempore President of the Senate .

Isham Harris died on July 8, 1897. He was married to Martha Maria Travis; the couple had eight children.

literature

  • Robert Sobel and John Raimo (Eds.): Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789–1978. Volume 4. Meckler Books, Westport, CT 1978. 4 volumes.
  • The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Volume 2. James T. White & Company, New York.

Web links

Commons : Isham G. Harris  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Harris, Isham G.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Harris, Isham Green
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Franklin County , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1897
Place of death Washington, DC