Isham G. Harris | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of Harris byMathew Brady | |
| President pro tempore of the United States Senate | |
| In office January 10, 1895 – March 3, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | Matt W. Ransom |
| Succeeded by | William P. Frye |
| In office March 22, 1893 – January 7, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | Charles F. Manderson |
| Succeeded by | Matt W. Ransom |
| United States Senator fromTennessee | |
| In office March 4, 1877 – July 8, 1897 | |
| Preceded by | Henry Cooper |
| Succeeded by | Thomas B. Turley |
| 16th Governor of Tennessee | |
| In office November 3, 1857 – March 12, 1862[a] | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Johnson |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Johnson as Military Governor |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's9th district | |
| In office March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853 | |
| Preceded by | Lucien B. Chase |
| Succeeded by | Emerson Etheridge |
| Member of theTennessee Senate | |
| In office 1847–1849 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1818-02-10)February 10, 1818 |
| Died | July 8, 1897(1897-07-08) (aged 79) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. 35°07′19.0″N90°01′38.7″W / 35.121944°N 90.027417°W /35.121944; -90.027417 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Martha Mariah Travis |
| Profession | Merchant, Attorney |
| Signature | .png) |
Isham Green Harris (February 10, 1818 – July 8, 1897) was an American andConfederate politician who served as the 16thgovernor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, and as aU.S. senator from 1877 until his death.[1] He was the state's first governor fromWest Tennessee. A pivotal figure in the state's history, Harris was considered by his contemporaries the person most responsible for leading Tennessee out of theUnion and aligning it with theConfederacy during the Civil War.[2][3][4]
Harris rose to prominence in state politics in the late 1840s when he campaigned against the anti-slavery initiatives of northernWhigs. He was elected governor amidst risingsectional strife in the late 1850s, and following the election ofAbraham Lincoln in 1860, persistently sought to sever the state's ties with the Union. His war-time efforts eventually raised over 100,000 soldiers for the Confederate cause. After the Union Army gained control of Middle and West Tennessee in 1862, Harris spent the remainder of the war on the staffs of various Confederate generals. Following the war, he spent several years in exile in Mexico and England.[5]
After returning to Tennessee, Harris became a leader of the state'sBourbon Democrats. During his tenure in the U. S. Senate, he championed states' rights and currency expansion. As the Senate'spresident pro tempore in the 1890s, Harris led the charge against PresidentGrover Cleveland's attempts to repeal theSherman Silver Purchase Act.[6]
Harris was born inFranklin County, Tennessee nearTullahoma.[7] He was the ninth child of Isham Green Harris, a farmer and Methodist minister, and his wife Lucy Davidson Harris. His parents had moved from North Carolina to Middle Tennessee in 1806. He was educated at Carrick Academy inWinchester, Tennessee, until he was fourteen. He moved toParis, Tennessee, where he joined up with his brotherWilliam R. Harris, an attorney, and became a store clerk. In 1838, with funds provided by his brother, Harris established his own business inRipley, Mississippi, an area that had only been recently opened to settlers after a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians.[8]
While in Ripley, Harris studied law. He sold his successful business three years later for $7,000 and returned to Paris where he continued studying law under Judge Andrew McCampbell. On May 3, 1841, he was admitted to thebar inHenry County and began a lucrative practice in Paris. He was considered one of the leading criminal attorneys in the state.
On July 6, 1843, Harris married Martha Mariah Travis (nicknamed "Crockett"), the daughter ofMajor Edward Travis, aWar of 1812 veteran. The couple had seven sons. By 1850 the family had a 300-acre (120 ha) farm and a home in Paris. By 1860 their total property was worth $45,000 (~$1.28 million in 2024) and included twenty slaves and a plantation inShelby County.[9]
In 1847, Henry CountyDemocrats convinced Harris to run for the district'sTennessee Senate seat in hopes of countering a strong campaign by localWhig politician William Hubbard. Anti-war comments made in August by the district's Whig congressional candidate,William T. Haskell, damaged Hubbard's campaign, and he quit the race. Harris easily defeated the last minute Whig replacement, Joseph Roerlhoe.[10] Shortly after taking his seat, he sponsored a resolution condemning theWilmot Proviso, which would have banned slavery in territories acquired during theMexican–American War.[10]
In 1848, Harris was anelector for unsuccessful presidential candidateLewis Cass. In May of that year, he engaged in a six-hour debate inClarksville withAaron Goodrich, elector forZachary Taylor.[10]
Harris was nominated as the Democratic candidate for the state's9th District seat in theU.S. House of Representatives in 1849. After successfully tying his opponent to unpopular positions of the national Whig Party, Harris won the election easily.[10] He spent much of his term attacking theCompromise of 1850, though he also chaired the House Committee on Invalid Pensions.[11] Harris was re-elected to a second term, but after Whigs gained control of the state legislature in 1851, his district wasgerrymandered, and he did not seek a third term.[3]
In 1856, Harris was chosen as the presidential elector for the state's at-large district, a position that required him to canvass the state on behalf of Democratic candidateJames Buchanan. He largely outshone the district's Whig elector, ex-GovernorNeill S. Brown.[12] This campaign elevated Harris to statewide prominence.
In 1857, Tennessee's Democratic governor,Andrew Johnson, was seriously injured in a train accident and was unable to run for reelection.[13] Harris was nominated as his replacement and embarked on a campaign that included a series of debates with his opponent,Robert H. Hatton. With sectional strife in Congress fueling both campaigns, these debates were often heated, and fights frequently broke out among spectators (and in one instance, between Harris and Hatton). Hatton was unable to distance himself from northern abolitionists, and Harris won the election by a vote of 71,178 to 59,807.[13]
Harris's victory was not only the death knell for the state'sKnow Nothings,[14] who had briefly risen to prominence following the collapse of the national Whig Party, but also represented a shift in Tennessee politics toward the Democratic Party. During the previous two decades, Whigs and Democrats had been evenly matched statewide, with Whigs controllingEast Tennessee, Democrats controllingMiddle Tennessee, and the two parties evenly split inWest Tennessee. The nationwide debate over theKansas–Nebraska Act and theDred Scott case pushed the issue of slavery to the forefront in the mid-1850s, and the balance in West Tennessee was tipped in favor of the Democrats.[13] Harris's 11,000 vote victory was relatively large, considering his predecessor, Johnson, had won by just over 2,000 votes in both 1853 and 1855.[13]
In 1859, Harris ran for reelection againstJohn Netherland, who had been nominated by a hodge-podge group of ex-Whigs, ex-Know Nothings, and disgruntled Democrats, known as theOpposition Party. Harris again campaigned on fears of northern domination, while Netherland argued that the U.S. Constitution provided the best protection for Southern rights, and thus it was in the state's interest to remain in the Union. On election day, Harris prevailed by over 8,000 votes.[3] The Opposition Party, however, showed its strength by capturing 7 of the state's 10 congressional seats.[14]
Harris endorsedJohn C. Breckinridge for president in 1860, and warned that the state must consider secession if the "reckless fanatics of the north" should gain control of the federal government.[14] Following Lincoln's election in November, Harris convened a special session of the legislature on January 7, 1861, which ordered a statewide referendum on whether or not Tennessee should consider secession. Pro-Union newspapers assailed Harris's actions as treasonous. TheHuntingdonCarroll Patriot wrote that Harris was more deserving of the gallows thanBenedict Arnold.[3]William "Parson" Brownlow, editor of theKnoxville Whig, particularly despised Harris, calling him "Eye Sham" and "King Harris," and slammed his actions as autocratic.[3][15] When the referendum was held in February, Tennesseans rejected secession by a vote of 68,000 to 59,000.[13]
Following theBattle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Lincoln ordered Harris to furnish 50,000 soldiers for the suppression of the rebellion. Reading his response to Lincoln before a raucous crowd inNashville on April 17, Harris said, "Not a single man will be furnished from Tennessee," and stated he would rather cut off his right arm than sign the order.[3] On April 25, Harris addressed a special session of the state legislature, stating that the Union had been destroyed by the "bloody and tyrannical policies of the Presidential usurper," and called for an end to the state's ties to the United States.[3] Shortly afterward, the legislature authorized Harris to enter into a compact with the newConfederate States of America.
In May 1861, Harris began organizing and raising soldiers for what would become the Army of Tennessee. That same month, a steamboat, theHillman, which was carrying a shipment of lead to Nashville from St. Louis, was seized by theGovernor of Illinois. In response, Harris seized $75,000 (~$2.05 million in 2024) from the customs office in Nashville.[3] On June 8, 1861, Tennesseans voted in favor of the Ordinance of Secession, 104,913 to 47,238. Agroup of pro-Union leaders in East Tennessee, which had rejected the Ordinance, petitioned Harris to allow the region to break away from the state and remain with the Union. Harris rejected this, and sent troops underFelix K. Zollicoffer into East Tennessee. In the gubernatorial election later that year,William H. Polk, brother of former PresidentJames K. Polk, ran against Harris on a pro-Union ticket but was defeated 75,300 to 43,495.[13]
The Union Army invaded Tennessee in November 1861 and had gained control of Nashville by February of the following year. Harris and the state legislature moved to Memphis, but after that city fell, Harris joined the staff of GeneralAlbert Sidney Johnston.[3] At theBattle of Shiloh on April 6, Harris found Johnston slumping in his saddle and asked if he was wounded, to which Johnston replied "Yes, and I fear seriously." Harris and other staff officers moved the general to a small ravine and attempted to render aid, but Johnston died within a few minutes. Harris and the others secretly moved his body to Shiloh Church so as not to dampen the morale of Confederate troops.
Harris spent the remainder of the war as anaide-de-camp on the staffs of various Confederate generals, among themJoseph E. Johnston,Braxton Bragg,John B. Hood, andP. G. T. Beauregard.[5] Andrew Johnson was appointed military governor by President Lincoln in March 1862, though Harris was still recognized as governor by the Confederacy. In 1863, Tennessee's Confederates electedRobert L. Caruthers as a successor to Harris, but Caruthers never took office. Harris was still issuing edicts as governor as late as November 1864.[3]
After the war, the United States Congress passed a joint resolution allowing the governor of Tennessee to offer a reward for the apprehension of Harris because he was "guilty of treason, perjury and theft".[16] Brownlow, who had become governor, issued a warrant for the arrest of Harrisand placed a $5,000 bounty on him.[4] Brownlow taunted Harris in the warrant, stating, "His eyes are deep and penetrating—a perfect index to a heart of a traitor—with the scowl and frown of a demon resting upon his brow. His study of mischief and the practice of crime have brought upon him premature baldness and a gray beard."[13] He further noted that Harris "chews tobacco rapidly and is inordinately fond of liquors."[15]
Harris fled to Mexico, where he and several other ex-Confederates attempted to rally with EmperorMaximilian.[5][17] After Maximilian's fall in 1867, however, Harris was again forced to flee, this time to England.[5] Later that year, after learning Brownlow would rescind the warrant, Harris returned to Tennessee. Passing through Nashville, he called on Brownlow, who is said to have greeted him with the statement, "While the lamp holds out to burn, the vilest sinner may return."[15] Afterward, he returned to Memphis to practice law.[5]
By 1877, the Tennessee state legislature, which was once again controlled by Democrats, elected Harris to one of the state's U.S. Senate seats. Over the course of his Senate career, Harris chaired three Standing Senate Committees:District of Columbia Committee (March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881); Committee on Epidemic Diseases (December 12, 1893); and the Committee on Private Land Claims (March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897).[18] Additionally, Harris chaired the Select Committee on Epidemic Diseases from its formation on Decenber 4, 1878 to its transformation into a Standing Committee on December 12, 1893.
During his first term in the Senate, Harris became the leader of Tennessee'sBourbon Democrats,[5] a wing of the Democratic Party that generally supportedlaissez-fairecapitalism and thegold standard. As such, Harris spent his early Senate career advocatingstrict constructionism and limited government, states' rights, and low tariffs.[5] In 1884, he was interviewed by President-electGrover Cleveland for a cabinet position. In 1887, he gave an impassioned speech in favor of the repeal of theTenure of Office Act.[2] In 1890, Harris denounced theLodge Bill, which would have protected voting rights for African-Americans in the South, arguing that it violated states' rights.[5]
Though a Bourbon Democrat, Harris, representing an agrarian state, was also a "Silver Democrat", believingpro-silver policies protected farmers.[5] He supported theBland–Allison Act of 1878, which authorized the federal government to purchase silver to prevent deflation in crop prices.[5] He also supported the act's replacement, theSherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890.[5] In 1893, President Cleveland, concerned that the Sherman Act was depleting the U.S. gold supply, sought its repeal. When the vote came up in the Senate in October, Harris, as president pro tempore, launched afilibuster in hopes of preventing the act's repeal, but was unsuccessful.[2] Disgruntled over the repeal of the Sherman Act, Harris campaigned for unsuccessful presidential candidate andgold standard opponentWilliam Jennings Bryan in 1896.[5]
Harris died in office on July 8, 1897. His funeral was held in the Senate chamber of theUnited States Capitol. CongressmanWalter P. Brownlow, a nephew of Harris' old rival Parson Brownlow, was among those who delivered a memorial address in his honor.[19] He is interred atElmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Tennessee 1857, 1859 | Vacant Title next held by John C. Brown |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Andrew Johnson | Governor of Tennessee 1857–1862 | Succeeded by Andrew Johnson As Military Governor |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate March 22, 1893 – January 7, 1895 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President pro tempore of the United States Senate January 10, 1895 – March 3, 1895 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's 9th congressional district 1849–1853 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Senator from Tennessee (Class 2) 1877–1897 Served alongside:James E. Bailey,Howell E. Jackson, Washington C. Whitthorne,William B. Bate | Succeeded by |
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