Noted publisher and editor, son of Charity (Messenger) and Judge Josiah Harris, moved with his family from Becket, Mass. in 1818 to N. Amherst, Lorain County. In 1832, Harris settled in Elyria, was elected sheriff, and revived Elyria's first newspaper as the weekly Ohio Atlas & Elyria Advertiser. He sold the paper and traveled before coming to Cleveland in 1837 and purchasing the CLEVELAND HERALD AND GAZETTE. He won local support by printing marriage, death, and meeting notices, and furnishing free papers to clergymen. Harris kept the Herald solidly behind the WHIG PARTY. He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1847. His retirement was spent on a farm in ROCKY RIVER where he raised grapes. Harris married Esther M. Race in 1830 and had 4 children: Bryon C., Brougham E., Zacharia, and Helen (Mrs. F. X. Byerly). After suffering a series of strokes, Harris died at his daughter's home and was buried in the ERIE ST. CEMETERY.
Noted publisher and editor, son of Charity (Messenger) and Judge Josiah Harris, moved with his family from Becket, Mass. in 1818 to N. Amherst, Lorain County. In 1832, Harris settled in Elyria, was elected sheriff, and revived Elyria's first newspaper as the weekly Ohio Atlas & Elyria Advertiser. He sold the paper and traveled before coming to Cleveland in 1837 and purchasing the CLEVELAND HERALD AND GAZETTE. He won local support by printing marriage, death, and meeting notices, and furnishing free papers to clergymen. Harris kept the Herald solidly behind the WHIG PARTY. He was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1847. His retirement was spent on a farm in ROCKY RIVER where he raised grapes. Harris married Esther M. Race in 1830 and had 4 children: Bryon C., Brougham E., Zacharia, and Helen (Mrs. F. X. Byerly). After suffering a series of strokes, Harris died at his daughter's home and was buried in the ERIE ST. CEMETERY.
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