Horace Harrison Harrison (August 7, 1829 – December 20, 1885) was an American

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and a member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

for the 5th congressional district of

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 ...

. He was the last Republican to serve as representative from Tennessee’s 5th congressional district, or to represent a significant portion of

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, until Andy Ogles was elected in 2022.

Biography

Harrison was born 7 August 1829 in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

in Wilson County to Joshua Stone Harrison and Judith Coleman Turner. He attended Carroll Academy and completed the course in ancient

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

under a private instructor. He moved with his parents to McMinnville,

Warren County, Tennessee Warren County is a County (United States), county located on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of the United States of America, U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census ...

in 1841.

Career

In Warren County, Harrison was clerk of the county court, master of the

chancery court The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...

, and

register of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

. In 1851 and 1852, he was clerk of the

Tennessee Senate The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the U.S. state of Tennessee , Tennessee's state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly. The Tennessee Senate has the power to pass resolutions concerning essentially any ...

. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1857, and commenced practice in McMinnville. He moved to

in 1859 and continued the practice of law. He served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

from 1863 to 1866 and was a chancellor of the Nashville division in 1866. He was a judge of the

Tennessee Supreme Court The Tennessee Supreme Court is the highest court in the state of Tennessee. The Supreme Court's three buildings are seated in Nashville, Knoxville, and Jackson, Tennessee. The Court is composed of five members: a chief justice, and four justice ...

in 1867 and 1868, one of the judges serving on the highly partisan "apocryphal" court, which was in place in Tennessee between the end of 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 ...

and the enactment of the Constitution of 1870. The justices who served on this court "without exception, were bitter partisans" who "had all been Union men, and... took the partisan view of all questions growing out of the war". Of this group, Harrison is described as one of several "of mediocre ability, who could not by possibility have reached a position of such importance in ordinary times". He was again a United States district attorney in 1872 and 1873. Harrison was elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress, but was unsuccessful as a candidate for re-election. He served from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1875. He was the last Republican to represent Tennessee's 5th congressional district until Andy Ogles was elected in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, following redistricting that led to the district being favorable to the Republicans. He was a delegate to the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

in 1880. He was a member of the state legislature in 1880 and 1881.

Death

On December 20, 1885, at the age of 56 years, 135 days, Harrison died in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He is interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Horace 1829 births 1885 deaths People from Lebanon, Tennessee Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee Republican Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court American prosecutors United States attorneys for the Middle District of Tennessee People from McMinnville, Tennessee 19th-century Tennessee state court judges 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly