Waco, Tex., July 29. -- Judge Richard H. Harrison died this afternoon at the family residence on Speight street. He was born in McLennan County [sic] Sept. 8, 1856 [sic]. His father was Brig. Gen. James E. Harrison, a distinguished Confederate officer. Judge Harrison was a State Senator two terms and represented the county in the House two terms. He was Assistant Attorney General one term. He died of congestion. The funeral will take place tomorrow. Dallas Morning News, July 30, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
Waco, Tex., July 30. -- The funeral of Judge Richard H. Harrison, whose death was noted in today's News, was attended by an immense concourse of people. Judge Harrison, son of Gen. James E. and nephew of Gen. Tom Harrison, was one of the most popular men in Central Texas. He sprung from the revolutionary Harrison family, of which ex-President Harrison, deceased, was a member. His ancestry settled in Virginia, and from that State came to Texas. He was a modest man, rarely allowing his name to be used for political purposes. Gov. Hogg urged his acceptance of the place of Assistant Attorney General and the people thrust upon him the legislative honors he enjoyed. He was the author of the Confederate Soldiers' Home bill and other relief measures for the Southern veterans. Dallas Morning News, July 31, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
R. H. Harrison.
WACO.
Hon. Richard Henry Harrison was born in Monroe county, Miss., September 8, 1857, and moved with his parents, in 1858, to McLennan county, Texas, where the years of his youth and early manhood were passed. His father was the late Confederate Brigadier General James E. Harrison, a descendant of the historic Harrison family of Virginia. Having the misfortune, in early life, to lose his father, the subject of this sketch was deprived of early educational advantages and of that liberal equipment for the law and for life which had been designed for him. At Salado, Bell county, Texas, however, he received instructions in the rudimentary English studies usually taught in village schools. Upon the death of his father, with that manly independence which has characterized his life, he resorted to the farm for a livelihood, and vigorously followed that pursuit until the fall of 1877, when, disposing of his crop, he joined the Texas Frontier Battalion, known as the Texas Rangers, under command of Major John B. Jones. Leaving the ranger force in September, 1878, he returned to McLennan county and took charge of the large farming interests of his uncle, General Thomas Harrison, and successfully conducted the same until the fall of 1879. So well did he discharge the duties of his employment, that General Harrison often declared that his revenue was doubled during the stewardship of his nephew, and interposed many objections to his abandoning the avocation of farming for that of law. During this period, with that indomitable persistence which is a part of his nature, and despite the advice and discouragement of friends, and the stubborn unkindness of surrounding circumstances, he began to prepare for that profession which he had dreamed of and looked to during his life with the rangers and during the long days of treadmill drudgery on the farm. At night and odd times he read law and English history. In January, 1880, having saved all of his earnings beyond that expended for the bare necessities of life, he entered the junior law class of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, and in September of the same year, passed into the senior class, and graduated in February, 1881. Illustrative of his career at college, it may be mentioned that Judge Nathan Green, one of the law professors, said to him, "If you only study one-half as hard when you enter the practice as you have here, your success is assured." In March, 1881, he was admitted to the Waco bar, and at once gained a fair practice. During the summer of 1884, without his personal solicitation or knowledge, a petition, containing about one thousand names of the best citizens of the county, was presented to him, requesting him that he offer himself as a candidate for the position of Senator, representing the Twenty-second Senatorial District, composed of the counties of McLennan and Falls. In the Democratic Nominating Convention, having no opposition, he was nominated by acclamation, but was opposed at the polls by Wm. R. Reagan, a brother of Hon. John H. Reagan, whom he defeated by a majority of 2500 votes in November, 1884. His legislative career was marked by an uncompromising devotion to his conception of right and unswerving hostility to all jobbery and extravagant expenditure of the public funds. He opposed all private claims upon the general principle that it led to jobbery, and that the courts, under legislative sanction, and not the Legislature, were the proper tribunals to determine their validity. He was very prominent and active in the railroad legislation of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures, and his was the first voice raised demanding the restoration of lands in Greer county to the public trust funds to which they belong. He had, at all times, the courage of his convictions, and his adherence to what he conceived to be his duty, was rigid. Fearlessly advocating, on the floor of the Senate, every measure that was presented looking to the best interests of the people, he was above using the common tricks of policy to catch popular applause. His sterling qualities of mind and character could not fail to command recognition and make him prominent among the ablest young men of the State. His career in the Senate attracted the attention of Hon. J. S. Hogg, Attorney General, and on April 20, 1887, he was appointed Office Assistant Attorney General. The labors devolving on the Attorney General's Department since 1887 have been very onerous. Questions, which had been slumbering for years, of the gravest import, were now brought before the courts of the country for adjudication. The vigorous measures instituted by that department to bring corporate power within the requirements of the. law, will occupy a prominent place in the judicial history of the State. Mr. Harrison's services, as Office Assistant, in prosecuting these measures, demonstrated his eminent fitness for the office he held, and in January, 1889, he was again appointed to that position. It often became his duty to advise in the construction of laws pertaining to other departments of the State Government, and to investigate questions of great importance. His opinions have uniformly been indorsed by the Attorney General. Not only in the office were the services of Mr. Harrison conspicuous; he has, with great credit to himself, represented the State in many cases in the courts, where perplexing questions of law were discussed by the ablest men. In the International bond suit which was defended by lawyers of recognized eminence, Mr. Harrison won for himself a reputation ior legal acumen and ability that would have gratified the pride of men older in the profession. In the discharge of his official duties he has shown himself to be, as expressed by Attorney General Hogg to the writer, "A good lawyer and an intelligent and faithful public officer."
Mr. Harrison is a Democrat of the strictest sect and, as such, boldly opposed the Prohibition movement, as he had every measure of a paternalistic nature or tendency. He is a firm believer in the capacity of the people for self-government, and is nothing if not a State's rights man. He repudiates all ideas of Federal interference in the domestic and internal affairs of the States. The words "Nation" or "National" are not in his vocabulary, and he never employs them in speaking or writing of the Federal government. His convictions on all public questions, when once formed, are firm, positive and aggressive. His nature, however, is full of cordiality, and he is as devoted to his friends as he is to his principles. Friendship is a plant of slow growth in his bosom; but when once rooted in the granite of his nature, remains forever. Unlike the dust upon the wing of the butterfly, it is not blown away by the first blast of adversity; but is steadfast through sunshine and the shadow. To his enemies he is bold, defiant and aggressive. In the Senate and on the stump he never shrank from uttering his convictions. The hiss of the opposition, or even threats of physical violence, would only strengthen his determination and courage. These qualities make him a most effective and impressive speaker. His very earnestness and vehemence command attention. His style is rugged, nervous and impassioned. He never selects any but the strongest Saxon words to express his meaning; and when denouncing any measure or person that he conceives to be mean, despicable or tainted with fraud, his speeches are logic on fire.
He was married on November 14, 1882, at Salado, Bell county, Texas, to Miss Mary S. Robertson, daughter of Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson. In this marriage, two of the oldest and most historic families of the country were united, Mrs. Harrison being a descendant of General James Robertson, of revolutionary fame, and founder of Tennessee, and granddaughter of Major Sterling C. Robertson, so famous and illustrious in Texas history. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have one child, a boy, James M. Harrison, born December 7, 1885.
Mr. Harrison is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and in private life is singularly chaste, abstemious and temperate. The writer of this article was very intimately associated with him during the session of the Twentieth Legislature, and never did he observe or hear of any act of which Mr. Harrison might have blushed to own anywhere. So sedulously did he avoid even the appearance of those evils which not infrequently mar the promising career of public men, that it became the subject of comment. All in all, he has been as faithful in the observance of the private duties of life as he has been heroic in the discharge of public ones. Source: Texas Genealogy Trails Website
. . . . . . . . . .
Waco, Tex., July 30. -- The funeral of Judge Richard H. Harrison, whose death was noted in today's News, was attended by an immense concourse of people. Judge Harrison, son of Gen. James E. and nephew of Gen. Tom Harrison, was one of the most popular men in Central Texas. He sprung from the revolutionary Harrison family, of which ex-President Harrison, deceased, was a member. His ancestry settled in Virginia, and from that State came to Texas. He was a modest man, rarely allowing his name to be used for political purposes. Gov. Hogg urged his acceptance of the place of Assistant Attorney General and the people thrust upon him the legislative honors he enjoyed. He was the author of the Confederate Soldiers' Home bill and other relief measures for the Southern veterans. Dallas Morning News, July 31, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
R. H. Harrison.
WACO.
Hon. Richard Henry Harrison was born in Monroe county, Miss., September 8, 1857, and moved with his parents, in 1858, to McLennan county, Texas, where the years of his youth and early manhood were passed. His father was the late Confederate Brigadier General James E. Harrison, a descendant of the historic Harrison family of Virginia. Having the misfortune, in early life, to lose his father, the subject of this sketch was deprived of early educational advantages and of that liberal equipment for the law and for life which had been designed for him. At Salado, Bell county, Texas, however, he received instructions in the rudimentary English studies usually taught in village schools. Upon the death of his father, with that manly independence which has characterized his life, he resorted to the farm for a livelihood, and vigorously followed that pursuit until the fall of 1877, when, disposing of his crop, he joined the Texas Frontier Battalion, known as the Texas Rangers, under command of Major John B. Jones. Leaving the ranger force in September, 1878, he returned to McLennan county and took charge of the large farming interests of his uncle, General Thomas Harrison, and successfully conducted the same until the fall of 1879. So well did he discharge the duties of his employment, that General Harrison often declared that his revenue was doubled during the stewardship of his nephew, and interposed many objections to his abandoning the avocation of farming for that of law. During this period, with that indomitable persistence which is a part of his nature, and despite the advice and discouragement of friends, and the stubborn unkindness of surrounding circumstances, he began to prepare for that profession which he had dreamed of and looked to during his life with the rangers and during the long days of treadmill drudgery on the farm. At night and odd times he read law and English history. In January, 1880, having saved all of his earnings beyond that expended for the bare necessities of life, he entered the junior law class of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, and in September of the same year, passed into the senior class, and graduated in February, 1881. Illustrative of his career at college, it may be mentioned that Judge Nathan Green, one of the law professors, said to him, "If you only study one-half as hard when you enter the practice as you have here, your success is assured." In March, 1881, he was admitted to the Waco bar, and at once gained a fair practice. During the summer of 1884, without his personal solicitation or knowledge, a petition, containing about one thousand names of the best citizens of the county, was presented to him, requesting him that he offer himself as a candidate for the position of Senator, representing the Twenty-second Senatorial District, composed of the counties of McLennan and Falls. In the Democratic Nominating Convention, having no opposition, he was nominated by acclamation, but was opposed at the polls by Wm. R. Reagan, a brother of Hon. John H. Reagan, whom he defeated by a majority of 2500 votes in November, 1884. His legislative career was marked by an uncompromising devotion to his conception of right and unswerving hostility to all jobbery and extravagant expenditure of the public funds. He opposed all private claims upon the general principle that it led to jobbery, and that the courts, under legislative sanction, and not the Legislature, were the proper tribunals to determine their validity. He was very prominent and active in the railroad legislation of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures, and his was the first voice raised demanding the restoration of lands in Greer county to the public trust funds to which they belong. He had, at all times, the courage of his convictions, and his adherence to what he conceived to be his duty, was rigid. Fearlessly advocating, on the floor of the Senate, every measure that was presented looking to the best interests of the people, he was above using the common tricks of policy to catch popular applause. His sterling qualities of mind and character could not fail to command recognition and make him prominent among the ablest young men of the State. His career in the Senate attracted the attention of Hon. J. S. Hogg, Attorney General, and on April 20, 1887, he was appointed Office Assistant Attorney General. The labors devolving on the Attorney General's Department since 1887 have been very onerous. Questions, which had been slumbering for years, of the gravest import, were now brought before the courts of the country for adjudication. The vigorous measures instituted by that department to bring corporate power within the requirements of the. law, will occupy a prominent place in the judicial history of the State. Mr. Harrison's services, as Office Assistant, in prosecuting these measures, demonstrated his eminent fitness for the office he held, and in January, 1889, he was again appointed to that position. It often became his duty to advise in the construction of laws pertaining to other departments of the State Government, and to investigate questions of great importance. His opinions have uniformly been indorsed by the Attorney General. Not only in the office were the services of Mr. Harrison conspicuous; he has, with great credit to himself, represented the State in many cases in the courts, where perplexing questions of law were discussed by the ablest men. In the International bond suit which was defended by lawyers of recognized eminence, Mr. Harrison won for himself a reputation ior legal acumen and ability that would have gratified the pride of men older in the profession. In the discharge of his official duties he has shown himself to be, as expressed by Attorney General Hogg to the writer, "A good lawyer and an intelligent and faithful public officer."
Mr. Harrison is a Democrat of the strictest sect and, as such, boldly opposed the Prohibition movement, as he had every measure of a paternalistic nature or tendency. He is a firm believer in the capacity of the people for self-government, and is nothing if not a State's rights man. He repudiates all ideas of Federal interference in the domestic and internal affairs of the States. The words "Nation" or "National" are not in his vocabulary, and he never employs them in speaking or writing of the Federal government. His convictions on all public questions, when once formed, are firm, positive and aggressive. His nature, however, is full of cordiality, and he is as devoted to his friends as he is to his principles. Friendship is a plant of slow growth in his bosom; but when once rooted in the granite of his nature, remains forever. Unlike the dust upon the wing of the butterfly, it is not blown away by the first blast of adversity; but is steadfast through sunshine and the shadow. To his enemies he is bold, defiant and aggressive. In the Senate and on the stump he never shrank from uttering his convictions. The hiss of the opposition, or even threats of physical violence, would only strengthen his determination and courage. These qualities make him a most effective and impressive speaker. His very earnestness and vehemence command attention. His style is rugged, nervous and impassioned. He never selects any but the strongest Saxon words to express his meaning; and when denouncing any measure or person that he conceives to be mean, despicable or tainted with fraud, his speeches are logic on fire.
He was married on November 14, 1882, at Salado, Bell county, Texas, to Miss Mary S. Robertson, daughter of Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson. In this marriage, two of the oldest and most historic families of the country were united, Mrs. Harrison being a descendant of General James Robertson, of revolutionary fame, and founder of Tennessee, and granddaughter of Major Sterling C. Robertson, so famous and illustrious in Texas history. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have one child, a boy, James M. Harrison, born December 7, 1885.
Mr. Harrison is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and in private life is singularly chaste, abstemious and temperate. The writer of this article was very intimately associated with him during the session of the Twentieth Legislature, and never did he observe or hear of any act of which Mr. Harrison might have blushed to own anywhere. So sedulously did he avoid even the appearance of those evils which not infrequently mar the promising career of public men, that it became the subject of comment. All in all, he has been as faithful in the observance of the private duties of life as he has been heroic in the discharge of public ones. Source: Texas Genealogy Trails Website
Waco, Tex., July 29. -- Judge Richard H. Harrison died this afternoon at the family residence on Speight street. He was born in McLennan County [sic] Sept. 8, 1856 [sic]. His father was Brig. Gen. James E. Harrison, a distinguished Confederate officer. Judge Harrison was a State Senator two terms and represented the county in the House two terms. He was Assistant Attorney General one term. He died of congestion. The funeral will take place tomorrow. Dallas Morning News, July 30, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
Waco, Tex., July 30. -- The funeral of Judge Richard H. Harrison, whose death was noted in today's News, was attended by an immense concourse of people. Judge Harrison, son of Gen. James E. and nephew of Gen. Tom Harrison, was one of the most popular men in Central Texas. He sprung from the revolutionary Harrison family, of which ex-President Harrison, deceased, was a member. His ancestry settled in Virginia, and from that State came to Texas. He was a modest man, rarely allowing his name to be used for political purposes. Gov. Hogg urged his acceptance of the place of Assistant Attorney General and the people thrust upon him the legislative honors he enjoyed. He was the author of the Confederate Soldiers' Home bill and other relief measures for the Southern veterans. Dallas Morning News, July 31, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
R. H. Harrison.
WACO.
Hon. Richard Henry Harrison was born in Monroe county, Miss., September 8, 1857, and moved with his parents, in 1858, to McLennan county, Texas, where the years of his youth and early manhood were passed. His father was the late Confederate Brigadier General James E. Harrison, a descendant of the historic Harrison family of Virginia. Having the misfortune, in early life, to lose his father, the subject of this sketch was deprived of early educational advantages and of that liberal equipment for the law and for life which had been designed for him. At Salado, Bell county, Texas, however, he received instructions in the rudimentary English studies usually taught in village schools. Upon the death of his father, with that manly independence which has characterized his life, he resorted to the farm for a livelihood, and vigorously followed that pursuit until the fall of 1877, when, disposing of his crop, he joined the Texas Frontier Battalion, known as the Texas Rangers, under command of Major John B. Jones. Leaving the ranger force in September, 1878, he returned to McLennan county and took charge of the large farming interests of his uncle, General Thomas Harrison, and successfully conducted the same until the fall of 1879. So well did he discharge the duties of his employment, that General Harrison often declared that his revenue was doubled during the stewardship of his nephew, and interposed many objections to his abandoning the avocation of farming for that of law. During this period, with that indomitable persistence which is a part of his nature, and despite the advice and discouragement of friends, and the stubborn unkindness of surrounding circumstances, he began to prepare for that profession which he had dreamed of and looked to during his life with the rangers and during the long days of treadmill drudgery on the farm. At night and odd times he read law and English history. In January, 1880, having saved all of his earnings beyond that expended for the bare necessities of life, he entered the junior law class of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, and in September of the same year, passed into the senior class, and graduated in February, 1881. Illustrative of his career at college, it may be mentioned that Judge Nathan Green, one of the law professors, said to him, "If you only study one-half as hard when you enter the practice as you have here, your success is assured." In March, 1881, he was admitted to the Waco bar, and at once gained a fair practice. During the summer of 1884, without his personal solicitation or knowledge, a petition, containing about one thousand names of the best citizens of the county, was presented to him, requesting him that he offer himself as a candidate for the position of Senator, representing the Twenty-second Senatorial District, composed of the counties of McLennan and Falls. In the Democratic Nominating Convention, having no opposition, he was nominated by acclamation, but was opposed at the polls by Wm. R. Reagan, a brother of Hon. John H. Reagan, whom he defeated by a majority of 2500 votes in November, 1884. His legislative career was marked by an uncompromising devotion to his conception of right and unswerving hostility to all jobbery and extravagant expenditure of the public funds. He opposed all private claims upon the general principle that it led to jobbery, and that the courts, under legislative sanction, and not the Legislature, were the proper tribunals to determine their validity. He was very prominent and active in the railroad legislation of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures, and his was the first voice raised demanding the restoration of lands in Greer county to the public trust funds to which they belong. He had, at all times, the courage of his convictions, and his adherence to what he conceived to be his duty, was rigid. Fearlessly advocating, on the floor of the Senate, every measure that was presented looking to the best interests of the people, he was above using the common tricks of policy to catch popular applause. His sterling qualities of mind and character could not fail to command recognition and make him prominent among the ablest young men of the State. His career in the Senate attracted the attention of Hon. J. S. Hogg, Attorney General, and on April 20, 1887, he was appointed Office Assistant Attorney General. The labors devolving on the Attorney General's Department since 1887 have been very onerous. Questions, which had been slumbering for years, of the gravest import, were now brought before the courts of the country for adjudication. The vigorous measures instituted by that department to bring corporate power within the requirements of the. law, will occupy a prominent place in the judicial history of the State. Mr. Harrison's services, as Office Assistant, in prosecuting these measures, demonstrated his eminent fitness for the office he held, and in January, 1889, he was again appointed to that position. It often became his duty to advise in the construction of laws pertaining to other departments of the State Government, and to investigate questions of great importance. His opinions have uniformly been indorsed by the Attorney General. Not only in the office were the services of Mr. Harrison conspicuous; he has, with great credit to himself, represented the State in many cases in the courts, where perplexing questions of law were discussed by the ablest men. In the International bond suit which was defended by lawyers of recognized eminence, Mr. Harrison won for himself a reputation ior legal acumen and ability that would have gratified the pride of men older in the profession. In the discharge of his official duties he has shown himself to be, as expressed by Attorney General Hogg to the writer, "A good lawyer and an intelligent and faithful public officer."
Mr. Harrison is a Democrat of the strictest sect and, as such, boldly opposed the Prohibition movement, as he had every measure of a paternalistic nature or tendency. He is a firm believer in the capacity of the people for self-government, and is nothing if not a State's rights man. He repudiates all ideas of Federal interference in the domestic and internal affairs of the States. The words "Nation" or "National" are not in his vocabulary, and he never employs them in speaking or writing of the Federal government. His convictions on all public questions, when once formed, are firm, positive and aggressive. His nature, however, is full of cordiality, and he is as devoted to his friends as he is to his principles. Friendship is a plant of slow growth in his bosom; but when once rooted in the granite of his nature, remains forever. Unlike the dust upon the wing of the butterfly, it is not blown away by the first blast of adversity; but is steadfast through sunshine and the shadow. To his enemies he is bold, defiant and aggressive. In the Senate and on the stump he never shrank from uttering his convictions. The hiss of the opposition, or even threats of physical violence, would only strengthen his determination and courage. These qualities make him a most effective and impressive speaker. His very earnestness and vehemence command attention. His style is rugged, nervous and impassioned. He never selects any but the strongest Saxon words to express his meaning; and when denouncing any measure or person that he conceives to be mean, despicable or tainted with fraud, his speeches are logic on fire.
He was married on November 14, 1882, at Salado, Bell county, Texas, to Miss Mary S. Robertson, daughter of Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson. In this marriage, two of the oldest and most historic families of the country were united, Mrs. Harrison being a descendant of General James Robertson, of revolutionary fame, and founder of Tennessee, and granddaughter of Major Sterling C. Robertson, so famous and illustrious in Texas history. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have one child, a boy, James M. Harrison, born December 7, 1885.
Mr. Harrison is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and in private life is singularly chaste, abstemious and temperate. The writer of this article was very intimately associated with him during the session of the Twentieth Legislature, and never did he observe or hear of any act of which Mr. Harrison might have blushed to own anywhere. So sedulously did he avoid even the appearance of those evils which not infrequently mar the promising career of public men, that it became the subject of comment. All in all, he has been as faithful in the observance of the private duties of life as he has been heroic in the discharge of public ones. Source: Texas Genealogy Trails Website
. . . . . . . . . .
Waco, Tex., July 30. -- The funeral of Judge Richard H. Harrison, whose death was noted in today's News, was attended by an immense concourse of people. Judge Harrison, son of Gen. James E. and nephew of Gen. Tom Harrison, was one of the most popular men in Central Texas. He sprung from the revolutionary Harrison family, of which ex-President Harrison, deceased, was a member. His ancestry settled in Virginia, and from that State came to Texas. He was a modest man, rarely allowing his name to be used for political purposes. Gov. Hogg urged his acceptance of the place of Assistant Attorney General and the people thrust upon him the legislative honors he enjoyed. He was the author of the Confederate Soldiers' Home bill and other relief measures for the Southern veterans. Dallas Morning News, July 31, 1901
. . . . . . . . . .
R. H. Harrison.
WACO.
Hon. Richard Henry Harrison was born in Monroe county, Miss., September 8, 1857, and moved with his parents, in 1858, to McLennan county, Texas, where the years of his youth and early manhood were passed. His father was the late Confederate Brigadier General James E. Harrison, a descendant of the historic Harrison family of Virginia. Having the misfortune, in early life, to lose his father, the subject of this sketch was deprived of early educational advantages and of that liberal equipment for the law and for life which had been designed for him. At Salado, Bell county, Texas, however, he received instructions in the rudimentary English studies usually taught in village schools. Upon the death of his father, with that manly independence which has characterized his life, he resorted to the farm for a livelihood, and vigorously followed that pursuit until the fall of 1877, when, disposing of his crop, he joined the Texas Frontier Battalion, known as the Texas Rangers, under command of Major John B. Jones. Leaving the ranger force in September, 1878, he returned to McLennan county and took charge of the large farming interests of his uncle, General Thomas Harrison, and successfully conducted the same until the fall of 1879. So well did he discharge the duties of his employment, that General Harrison often declared that his revenue was doubled during the stewardship of his nephew, and interposed many objections to his abandoning the avocation of farming for that of law. During this period, with that indomitable persistence which is a part of his nature, and despite the advice and discouragement of friends, and the stubborn unkindness of surrounding circumstances, he began to prepare for that profession which he had dreamed of and looked to during his life with the rangers and during the long days of treadmill drudgery on the farm. At night and odd times he read law and English history. In January, 1880, having saved all of his earnings beyond that expended for the bare necessities of life, he entered the junior law class of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, and in September of the same year, passed into the senior class, and graduated in February, 1881. Illustrative of his career at college, it may be mentioned that Judge Nathan Green, one of the law professors, said to him, "If you only study one-half as hard when you enter the practice as you have here, your success is assured." In March, 1881, he was admitted to the Waco bar, and at once gained a fair practice. During the summer of 1884, without his personal solicitation or knowledge, a petition, containing about one thousand names of the best citizens of the county, was presented to him, requesting him that he offer himself as a candidate for the position of Senator, representing the Twenty-second Senatorial District, composed of the counties of McLennan and Falls. In the Democratic Nominating Convention, having no opposition, he was nominated by acclamation, but was opposed at the polls by Wm. R. Reagan, a brother of Hon. John H. Reagan, whom he defeated by a majority of 2500 votes in November, 1884. His legislative career was marked by an uncompromising devotion to his conception of right and unswerving hostility to all jobbery and extravagant expenditure of the public funds. He opposed all private claims upon the general principle that it led to jobbery, and that the courts, under legislative sanction, and not the Legislature, were the proper tribunals to determine their validity. He was very prominent and active in the railroad legislation of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Legislatures, and his was the first voice raised demanding the restoration of lands in Greer county to the public trust funds to which they belong. He had, at all times, the courage of his convictions, and his adherence to what he conceived to be his duty, was rigid. Fearlessly advocating, on the floor of the Senate, every measure that was presented looking to the best interests of the people, he was above using the common tricks of policy to catch popular applause. His sterling qualities of mind and character could not fail to command recognition and make him prominent among the ablest young men of the State. His career in the Senate attracted the attention of Hon. J. S. Hogg, Attorney General, and on April 20, 1887, he was appointed Office Assistant Attorney General. The labors devolving on the Attorney General's Department since 1887 have been very onerous. Questions, which had been slumbering for years, of the gravest import, were now brought before the courts of the country for adjudication. The vigorous measures instituted by that department to bring corporate power within the requirements of the. law, will occupy a prominent place in the judicial history of the State. Mr. Harrison's services, as Office Assistant, in prosecuting these measures, demonstrated his eminent fitness for the office he held, and in January, 1889, he was again appointed to that position. It often became his duty to advise in the construction of laws pertaining to other departments of the State Government, and to investigate questions of great importance. His opinions have uniformly been indorsed by the Attorney General. Not only in the office were the services of Mr. Harrison conspicuous; he has, with great credit to himself, represented the State in many cases in the courts, where perplexing questions of law were discussed by the ablest men. In the International bond suit which was defended by lawyers of recognized eminence, Mr. Harrison won for himself a reputation ior legal acumen and ability that would have gratified the pride of men older in the profession. In the discharge of his official duties he has shown himself to be, as expressed by Attorney General Hogg to the writer, "A good lawyer and an intelligent and faithful public officer."
Mr. Harrison is a Democrat of the strictest sect and, as such, boldly opposed the Prohibition movement, as he had every measure of a paternalistic nature or tendency. He is a firm believer in the capacity of the people for self-government, and is nothing if not a State's rights man. He repudiates all ideas of Federal interference in the domestic and internal affairs of the States. The words "Nation" or "National" are not in his vocabulary, and he never employs them in speaking or writing of the Federal government. His convictions on all public questions, when once formed, are firm, positive and aggressive. His nature, however, is full of cordiality, and he is as devoted to his friends as he is to his principles. Friendship is a plant of slow growth in his bosom; but when once rooted in the granite of his nature, remains forever. Unlike the dust upon the wing of the butterfly, it is not blown away by the first blast of adversity; but is steadfast through sunshine and the shadow. To his enemies he is bold, defiant and aggressive. In the Senate and on the stump he never shrank from uttering his convictions. The hiss of the opposition, or even threats of physical violence, would only strengthen his determination and courage. These qualities make him a most effective and impressive speaker. His very earnestness and vehemence command attention. His style is rugged, nervous and impassioned. He never selects any but the strongest Saxon words to express his meaning; and when denouncing any measure or person that he conceives to be mean, despicable or tainted with fraud, his speeches are logic on fire.
He was married on November 14, 1882, at Salado, Bell county, Texas, to Miss Mary S. Robertson, daughter of Colonel E. Sterling C. Robertson. In this marriage, two of the oldest and most historic families of the country were united, Mrs. Harrison being a descendant of General James Robertson, of revolutionary fame, and founder of Tennessee, and granddaughter of Major Sterling C. Robertson, so famous and illustrious in Texas history. Mr. and Mrs. Harrison have one child, a boy, James M. Harrison, born December 7, 1885.
Mr. Harrison is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and in private life is singularly chaste, abstemious and temperate. The writer of this article was very intimately associated with him during the session of the Twentieth Legislature, and never did he observe or hear of any act of which Mr. Harrison might have blushed to own anywhere. So sedulously did he avoid even the appearance of those evils which not infrequently mar the promising career of public men, that it became the subject of comment. All in all, he has been as faithful in the observance of the private duties of life as he has been heroic in the discharge of public ones. Source: Texas Genealogy Trails Website
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