John T. Harris

John Thomas Harris (born May 8, 1823 in Browns Gap , Albemarle County , Virginia , † October 14, 1899 in Harrisonburg , Virginia) was an American politician . Between 1859 and 1881 he represented the state of Virginia in the US House of Representatives twice .

Career

John Harris was a cousin of Congressman John Hill (1800–1880). He received an academic education. After a subsequent law degree and his admission as a lawyer in 1845, he began to work in Harrisonburg in this profession. Between 1852 and 1859 he served as the district attorney in Rockingham County .

In the congressional elections of 1858 Harris was elected as an Independent Democrat in the ninth constituency of Virginia in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC , where he succeeded John Letcher on March 4, 1859 . Since the state of Virginia withdrew from the Union in 1861 and joined the Confederation , Harris had to resign from Congress at the end of the legislature on March 3, 1861 .

Between 1863 and 1865 he was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives ; from 1866 and 1869 Harris served as a judge in his state's twelfth judicial district. After the re-admission of Virginia to the Union, he applied unsuccessfully in 1869 for his return to the US House of Representatives. In the congressional elections of 1870 Harris was then re-elected as a Democrat in the sixth district of Virginia in Congress, where he replaced William Milnes on March 4, 1871 . After four re-elections, he was able to complete five legislative terms in Congress by March 3, 1881. Since 1873 he represented there as the successor to Elliott M. Braxton the seventh constituency of his state. From 1875 to 1879 John Harris chaired the electoral committee and then until 1881 the committee for the revision of the legislation.

In 1880 he rejected the proposed nomination for re-election. In 1884 he was president of the regional Democratic Party Congress in Virginia and in 1893 he was state commissioner for the World's Columbian Exposition , the world exposition in Chicago . John Harris died in Harrisonburg on October 14, 1899.

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personal data
SURNAME	Harris, John T.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Harris, John Thomas (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American politician
DATE OF BIRTH	May 8, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH	Browns Gap , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH	October 14, 1899
Place of death	Harrisonburg , Virginia