Thomas Harrison | |
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| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's7th district | |
| In office March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1929 | |
| Preceded by | John Paul |
| Succeeded by | Jacob A. Garber |
| In office November 7, 1916 – December 15, 1922 | |
| Preceded by | James Hay |
| Succeeded by | John Paul |
| Member of theVirginia Senate from the12th district | |
| In office December 8, 1887 – December 4, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | Marshall McCormick |
| Succeeded by | E. H. Jackson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Walter Harrison (1856-08-05)August 5, 1856 Leesburg, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | May 9, 1935(1935-05-09) (aged 78) Winchester, Virginia, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Julia Knight Nellie Cover |
| Children | Burr Powell Harrison and 3 daughters |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Occupation | Lawyer,politician |
Thomas Walter Harrison (August 5, 1856 – May 9, 1935) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and politician. He served in theSenate of Virginia and in theUnited States House of Representatives.[1]
Born inLeesburg,Loudoun County, Virginia to attorney Matthew Harrison (1822-1875) and his wife, the former Anne Harriott of Washington DC, Harrison was descended from theFirst Families of Virginia. His lawyer grandfather Burr William Harrison representedLoudoun County, Virginia in the Virginia House of Delegates 1840-1847. His great-grandfatherRichard Henry Lee served in the Continental Congress, including as its President, and in the Virginia House of Burgesses as well as the Constitutional Convention of 1787.[2] Thomas had an older sister Sallie and a younger sister Harriet. He attended local academies at Leesburg, Middleburg, and Hanover. His father owned relatively little property before the American Civil War,[3] but more in 1870 despite the wartime devastation.[4] Thomas attended the academic and law departments of theUniversity of Virginia at Charlottesville and graduated in 1879.
Thomas Harrison married twice. He first married Julia Knight and they had daughters Katherine Young Harrison (1884-1973), Harriett Harrison (1886-1892) and Julia K. Harrison (1888-1889), then a son,Burr Powell Harrison (1904-1973) who like his father served in the Virginia Senate and U.S. Congress. He then married Nellie Cover.
Admitted to the bar in 1879, Harrison began a private legal practice inWinchester, Virginia. In 1883, he and fellow Democrat and lawyerRichard Evelyn Byrd Sr. bought theWinchester Times fromRobert W. Hunter, and by 1899 the Times had become the weekly edition of Byrd'sWinchester Evening Star. The weekly's last edition was published on March 29, 1905.[5]Voters in12th district (composed ofClarke,Frederick, andWarren counties) elected Harrison to theSenate of Virginia in 1887 (a seat previously held by Berryville attorney Marshall McCormick) and re-elected him once, so he served from 1887 to 1895. In 1895 changed the district boundaries substantially, and J.G. Cune was elected to the new senatorial district comprising Frederick and Shenandoah counties, and E.H. Jackson was elected in the new district encompassing Clarke, Page and Warren counties.[6]
Meanwhile, Harrison had not been a candidate for re-election, because the Virginia General Assembly elected him as circuit judge for what was then Virginia's 17th judicial district, and he remained in that office from 1895 until September 1, 1916, when he ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress following the resignation ofJames Hay. Harrison also won election to theState constitutional convention in 1901 and 1902, representing Winchester and Frederick County.
Voters fromVirginia's 7th congressional district elected Harrison as aDemocrat to theSixty-fourth Congress; he would serve from November 7, 1916, to December 15, 1922. During the first four elections, Harrison's opponent wasRepublicanJohn Paul Jr. Harrison won the first contests, winning re-election to theSixty-fifth andSixty-sixth Congresses. However, in theSixty-seventh Congress, he only served from March 4, 1921, until December 15, 1922, when the seat was awarded to Republican Paul, who had contested that election.
Harrison defeated Paul to win the seat in theSixty-eighth, then Paul became U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, so Harrison defeated other Republicans to win re-election toSixty-ninth, andSeventieth Congresses (March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1929).
He authoredHarrison on Wills and Administration for the Michie Co. in 1927.
Harrison lost his re-election bid in 1928 to theSeventy-first Congress to Republican businessmanJacob A. Garber.
Harrison continued his legal practice inWinchester, Virginia, until his death there on May 9, 1935. He was interred in Winchester'sMount Hebron Cemetery.
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 7th congressional district 1916–1922 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromVirginia's 7th congressional district 1923–1929 | Succeeded by |
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This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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