Nathaniel Edwin Harris (January 21, 1846 – September 21, 1929) was an American lawyer and politician, and the 61st Governor of Georgia.

Early life

Harris was born in

Jonesboro, Tennessee Jonesborough (; historically also Jonesboro) is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 5,860 as of 2020. It is "Tennessee's oldest town". Jonesborough is part of the J ...

on January 21, 1846, to Edna (née Haynes) and Alexander Nelson Harris. His father was a physician and Methodist minister. He moved to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

to escape Union troops. At the age of sixteen, he joined the infantry of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

and served until the end of the American Civil War eventually becoming an officer in the 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment. After the war, he returned to his family's home in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

; however, they soon moved to

Bartow County, Georgia Bartow County is in the Northwest region of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 108,901, up from 100,157 in 2010. The county seat is Cartersville. Traditionally considered part of northwest Georgia, Bartow ...

. In 1867, Harris attended the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

(UGA) in

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, was a member of

Chi Phi Chi Phi () is considered by some as the oldest American men's college social fraternity that was established as the result of the merger of three separate organizations that were each known as Chi Phi. The earliest of these organizations was forme ...

fraternity and the

Phi Kappa Literary Society The Phi Kappa Literary Society is a College literary societies (American), college literary society, located at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and is one of the few active literary societies left in America. Originally founded in ...

, and graduated in 1870 with a B.A. degree. In 1889, he became a UGA trustee and served on that board until his death. After graduating college, Harris taught school for two years, studied law, and gained admittance to the state bar. He moved to

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

in 1873. He joined with future UGA chancellor Walter Barnard Hill to form the law firm of Hill and Harris. From 1874 to 1882, he also served as the Macon city attorney.

Personal life

Harris married Fannie Burke of Macon in 1873. He later married Hattie Gibson Jobe of

Elizabethton, Tennessee Elizabethton () is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of ...

in 1899. He had seven children with his first wife, including General Walter A. Harris.

Political life and the formation of the Georgia Institute of Technology

Harris was elected to the

Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republican Party (United States), Repu ...

in 1882 as a representative of Bibb County and was reelected through 1885. His campaign platform when running was the establishment of a technological college. As a state representative in 1882, Harris introduced the bill to establish the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

(originally called the Georgia School of Technology until assuming its current name in 1948). That bill was approved by the

Georgia General Assembly The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Each of the General Assembly's 236 members serve two-year terms and are directl ...

on October 13, 1885, after failing to pass through the legislature in 1883 and again in 1884. Harris received public support in this matter from

Henry W. Grady Henry Woodfin Grady (May 24, 1850 – December 23, 1889) was an American journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the Confederacy (American Civil War), Confederacy into the Union (American Civil War), Union after the American C ...

and John Fletcher Hanson. The bill called for Governor Henry Dickerson McDaniel to appoint a five-member commission to select the location of the new school and organize it. Harris was named to that group as chairman alongside Samuel N. Inman from Atlanta as the treasurer, Oliver S. Porter from

Newnan, Georgia Newnan is a city in and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, United States, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010 United States census, 2010. History N ...

, Edward R. Hodgson Sr. from Athens, and Judge Columbus Heard from Greene County, Georgia. Meeting in Atlanta on October 19, 1886, the committee took 23 separate ballots amongst themselves before selecting

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

for the school's location over Macon, Milledgeville, Athens and Penfield. Harris, Hodgson and Inman voted for their cities of residence on every ballot with Porter and Heard voting for Atlanta on the last ballot to give that city a majority. Harris was named the president of the school's Board of Trustees, and he served in that position the rest of his life. Elected to the

Georgia Senate The Georgia State Senate is the upper house of the Georgia General Assembly, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The Georgia State Senate and the lower house of the General Assembly, the Georgia House of Representatives, comprise the bicameral leg ...

from 1894 to 1895, Harris then served as judge of the Superior Court of the Macon Circuit from 1912 until his resignation in 1915 to successfully run for

Governor of Georgia The governor of Georgia is the head of government of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the commander-in-chief of the state's Georgia National Guard, National Guard, when not in federal service, and Georgia State Defense Force, State Defense Fo ...

. He was sworn in on June 26, 1915, and served until 1917 being the last governor of Georgia born outside the state of Georgia. During his tenure, Harris was noted for signing

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

into state law. He returned to his Macon law practice after his gubernatorial term and served as Pension Commissioner of Georgia from 1924 to 1925 in addition to being president of the Electoral College of Georgia. Harris was a first cousin of Alfred Alexander Taylor and

Robert Love Taylor Robert Love Taylor (July 31, 1850March 31, 1912) was an American politician, writer, and lecturer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served three terms as the 24th governor of Tennessee, from 1887 to 1891, and again from 1897 to 1899, and su ...

, both of whom were

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

men from, and Governors of, Tennessee.

Death

Harris died at his summer home in Hampton, Tennessee on September 21, 1929 and was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon.

References

External links