Henry R. Harris

Who was Henry R. Harris?

Henry Richard Harris was a U.S. Representative from Georgia.

Born in Sparta, Georgia, Harris moved to Greenville, Georgia, in 1833. He attended an academy in Mount Zion, Georgia, and was graduated from Emory College at Oxford, Georgia, in 1847. He served as a member of the State constitutional convention in 1861. During the Civil War he served in the Confederate States Army as a colonel.

Harris was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and Forty-fifth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress.

Harris was elected to the Forty-ninth Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1886. He was appointed by President Cleveland as Third Assistant Postmaster General of the United States and served from April 1, 1887, to March 18, 1889. He engaged in agricultural pursuits. He died in Odessadale, Georgia, October 15, 1909. He was interred in Greenville Cemetery, Greenville, Georgia.