John F. Harris (politician)

John F. Harris was likely born sometime between 1827 and 1831.[1][2] He was a slave until the American Civil War (1861–1865). As a slave, he worked as a carpenter.[3] After achieving his freedom, he began to study law and was largely self-taught. Like fellow African American lawyer Nathan S. Taylor, studied law in the offices of Percy and Yerger, one of the best firms in Greenville.[4] Harris was said to "carry a saw under one arm and a Mississippi [Law] Code under the other and ... when he was not doing carpenter work he was reading the Code.[5] Harris was admitted to the Greenville bar in December 1870.[2] He continued to work as a carpenter even as he worked as a lawyer and public servant, once joking that he feared a return of slavery would force him back to his previous job, and besides, "law business is powerful dull".[3]

There were few black lawyers in Mississippi at the time,[4] and there was not always unity among them. In December 1873, Harris attempted to disbar fellow African American lawyer, John D. Werles.[6] Harris became politically active in the late 1870s, running for Chancery Clerk in 1879.[7] A Republican, he was politically aligned with Republican civil rights activists John R. Lynch and James L. Alcorn and was opposed by Democrats for being hostile to whites.[8]

He became a city councilman in Greenville by 1884, holding the position until 1889.[9][10] In 1890 he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives. As a Representative, Harris opposed the 1890 constitutional convention.[11] The 1890 convention considered provisions for the disenfranchisement of blacks as being the most important. Indeed, the implementation of these measures was the reason for the convention's very existence.[12] In February 1890, Harris gave a speech in favor of an appropriations bill which gave $10,000 for the placement of a Confederate memorial monument. The speech was in part a reply to opposition to the monument led by white representative Ed S. Watson.[13] This speech has been used as evidence that Harris was supportive of the Confederacy and what it stood for.[14]

Harris' career was not uniformly successful. He was brought to court on charges of criminal activity at least twice. In 1888, he was accused of bribery and corruption.[15] In 1903, he was acquitted of a crime, this time of receiving money for stolen property.[16]

In 1905, Harris became a leader in the Mississippi state affiliate of the Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League.[17] He was also a member of the Knights and Daughters of Jacob, a fraternal organization which worked to raise money to support widows and orphans.[18]

He died at his home in Greenville on the morning of August 20, 1913.[19]