Alfred W. Harris
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates for Dinwiddie County
In office
December 7, 1881 – December 3, 1889
Preceded byE.H. Smith
Succeeded byL.E. Coleman
Personal details
Born1854
Fairfax County, Virginia
DiedMarch 24, 1920
Petersburg County, Virginia
Resting placeBlandford Cemetery
SpouseIda
Children5 sons and 2 daughters
Parent(s)Henry and Jemima
Alma materHoward University Law School
Occupationattorney, politician, farmer


Alfred W. Harris (1854-March 24, 1920) was an American lawyer and legislator in Virginia who represented Dinwiddie County in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1881 until 1888.[1][2][3]

Early and family life

Harris was born free in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1854, the son of Jemima and Henry Harris, whose very large family in Fairfax and neighboring Prince William counties had been free as early as 1776. He attended public schools in Alexandria, Virginia. He read law privately with George W. Mitchell, a Black lawyer, then enrolled in the Howard University Law School in Washington, D.C. and graduated in 1881.[4][5]

His father had died by 1870, when Harris worked as a laborer and lived with his 55 year old mother Jemima, 23 and 9 year old sisters, 15 year old brother and two other people in Alexandria.[6] A decade later, the census already characterized Harris as a lawyer (and his brother as a medical student), although their youngest sister no longer lived with the family and their household included two adopted siblings.[7]

Career

While in Alexandria, Harris edited the Summer Tribune and in April 1876 joined the editorial staff of the People’s Advocate.[3] Despite being admitted to the Virginia bar in Alexandria in 1880, after graduating from Howard's law school, Harris moved to Dinwiddie County outside Petersburg, Virginia, where he operated a farm of 12.5 acres as well as began a private legal practice.[8] He became associated with the Readjuster Party, which held power in Petersburg. Voters in Petersburg and surrounding Dinwiddie County elected and re-elected Harris to represent them in the Virginia House of Delegates during the Reconstruction era.[9] Harris became known as the best debater among the Black delegates in the Virginia General Assembly of his day.[10] As a legislator, Harris in particular pushed for the creation of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University).[11][1][12]

Personal and family life

In Alexandria on December 31, 1884, Harris married Ida R. Morris of nearby Prince William County, who would bear several children as well as survive him.[13] In the 1900 census, while Harris was again characterized as a lawyer, she was listed as a schoolteacher, and their household included five sons and 2 daughters.[14] In the 1910 census, the couple continued to live in Dinwiddie County with their 23 year old son (Alfred W. Harris Jr.) as well as their 17 year old daughter Alfreda, and younger sons Christopher (15), Franklin(12) and Clarence (10 years old).[15]

Death and legacy

Harris died in Petersburg on March 24, 1920, of arteriosclerosis and a complicated by stroke.[16] Alumni and staff of that college erected a gravestone at historic Blandford Cemetery to mark his legislative service.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Wallenstein, Peter (2004). Blue Laws and Black Codes: Conflict, Courts, and Change in Twentieth-century Virginia. University of Virginia Press. p. 55. ISBN 978-0-8139-2260-7.
  2. ^ Luqman-Dawson, Amina (2008). African Americans of Petersburg. Arcadia Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-0-7385-5414-3, (photograph).((cite book)): CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ^ a b Woods, Michael. "Alfred Harriss (1853–1920)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  4. ^ Luther Porter Jackson, Negro Office-Holder in Virginia 1865-1895 (Norfolk; Guide Quality Press 1945) p.20 at hathitrust.org or reprinted by UMI books on demand
  5. ^ His death certificate on ancestry.com lists his father's name as Harrison Harris
  6. ^ 1870 U.S. Federal Census for Alexandria Virginia, Ward 4, p. 54 of 109 on ancestry.com
  7. ^ 1880 U.S. Federal Census for Alexandria Virginia, District 5, p. 57 of 77 on ancestry.com
  8. ^ Jackson p. 20
  9. ^ Cynthia Leonard Miller, The Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 pp. 533, 537, 541, 545
  10. ^ Jackson p. 20
  11. ^ Jackson pp. 87-88
  12. ^ Hale, Frank W. (2006). How Black Colleges Empower Black Students: Lessons for Higher Education. Stylus Publishing, LLC. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-57922-145-4.
  13. ^ Virginia U.S. Select Marriages on ancestry.com
  14. ^ 1900 U.S. Federal Census for District 21, Namozine, Dinwiddie County, Virginia p. 21 of 27
  15. ^ 1910 U.S. Federal Census for District 23, Namozine, Dinwiddie County, Virginia p. 4 of 24
  16. ^ Virginia death certificate in Virginia Death Records 1912-2015 p. 244 of 599 on ancestry.com
  17. ^ Peters, John O. (2005). Blandford Cemetery: Death and Life at Petersburg, Virginia. Historic Blandford Cemetery Foundation, Inc. p. 118, 120. ISBN 978-0-977-251407.
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