Edward Harris

Who was Edward Harris?

Edward Harris was a North Carolina lawyer, politician, and judge.

Born in Iredell County, North Carolina, Harris read law to enter the bar in 1791, and thereafter engaged in private practice in New Bern, North Carolina.

On April 27, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson nominated Harris to a seat on the United States Circuit Courts for the Fifth Circuit, vacated by Henry Potter. The seat was one of a group of circuit court seats that had been created by the Midnight Judges Act, and to which John Adams had appointed many of his supporters in the closing days of his administration. Harris, one of only three judges appointed by Jefferson pursuant to that Act, was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 29, 1802, and received his commission on May 3, 1802. However, his service terminated on July 1, 1802, due to the repeal of the Act and the accompanying abolition of the court.

Harris was thereafter a member of the North Carolina General Assembly from 1802 to 1803, and again in 1807. He was a Judge of the Superior Court of North Carolina from 1811 to 1813, and a trustee of the University of North Carolina 1805–1813