US Congressman, US Senator. A native of Loudoun County, Virginia, he was the son of Virginia Congressman William Alexander Harris Sr. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia in 1861, and joined the Confederate Army when the Civil War started, rising to the rank of Captain, and serving as an Ordnance Officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. After the war he served as a civil engineer and agent in the railroad industry before entering politics. He was elected as a Populist to represent Kansas' as an At-Large delegate in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1893 to 1895. After failing in his re-election bid for his Congressional seat, he served in the Kansas State Senate, where he was elected from as a Democratic Senator from Kansas to the United States Senate. He served a single six year term in the Senate from 1897 to 1903, and was not a for a candidate for re-election. After an unsuccessful run for the Kansas Governorship in1906, he retired to become a cattle ranch in Lawrence, Kansas, where he died in 1909. He was the only Confederate States veteran to be elected to national office from Kansas.
US Congressman, US Senator. A native of Loudoun County, Virginia, he was the son of Virginia Congressman William Alexander Harris Sr. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia in 1861, and joined the Confederate Army when the Civil War started, rising to the rank of Captain, and serving as an Ordnance Officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. After the war he served as a civil engineer and agent in the railroad industry before entering politics. He was elected as a Populist to represent Kansas' as an At-Large delegate in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1893 to 1895. After failing in his re-election bid for his Congressional seat, he served in the Kansas State Senate, where he was elected from as a Democratic Senator from Kansas to the United States Senate. He served a single six year term in the Senate from 1897 to 1903, and was not a for a candidate for re-election. After an unsuccessful run for the Kansas Governorship in1906, he retired to become a cattle ranch in Lawrence, Kansas, where he died in 1909. He was the only Confederate States veteran to be elected to national office from Kansas.
Bio by: RPD2
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