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 other 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 on the morning of August 20, 1913.[19]

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Julius E. Lynchings in Mississippi: A history, 1865-1965. McFarland, 2006. p9
  2. 1 2 (No Headline), The Vicksburg Daily Times (Vicksburg, Mississippi) December 23, 1870, page 4, accessed September 26, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Getting Ready for Change of Administration", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) January 2, 1885, p. 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  4. 1 2 Mollison, I. C. (1930). "Negro Lawyers in Mississippi". The Journal of Negro History, 15(1), 38-71.
  5. ↑ McMillen, Neil R. Dark journey: Black Mississippians in the age of Jim Crow. University of Illinois Press, 1990. p. 167
  6. ↑ (No Headline), The Vicksburg Herald (Vicksburg, Mississippi) December 17, 1873, page 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Election", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) November 8, 1879, p. 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Political Events", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) October 29, 1881, page 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Town Officials", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) April 19, 1884, page 1, accessed September 26, 2017.
  10. ↑ "City Council Proceedings", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) April 6, 1889, page 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  11. ↑ "New Constitution", The Clarion Ledger, (Jackson, Mississippi) January 23, 1890, page 1, accessed September 26, 2017.
  12. ↑ McMillen 1990, pp. 40–41
  13. ↑ "The Monument", Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Mississippi) February 23, 1890, page 1, accessed September 26, 2017.
  14. ↑ Kennedy, Walter, and James Kennedy. The South was Right!. Pelican Publishing, 2010. pp. 107–109
  15. ↑ "Bribery and Corruption", The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) March 10, 1888, p. 2, accessed September 26, 2017.
  16. ↑ (No Headline), The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) April 18, 1903, p. 1, accessed September 26, 2017.
  17. ↑ "The Mississippi State Negro Business League", The Daily Democrat, (Greenville, Mississippi) June 15, 1905, p. 1, accessed September 26, 2017.
  18. ↑ (No Headline), The Weekly Democrat-Times (Greenville, Mississippi) October 27, 1906, p. 10, accessed September 26, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Noted Colored Lawyer Dead", Vicksburg Evening Post (Vicksburg, Mississippi) August 20, 1913, page 8, accessed September 26, 2017.
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