{{short description|American politician}} {{For|other people called Joseph Harper|Joseph Harper (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Joseph M. Harper NH.jpg | name = Joseph Morrill Harper | birth_date = {{Birth date|1787|6|21}} | birth_place = Limerick, Massachusetts, U.S.<br/>(now Limerick, Maine) | death_date = {{Death date and age|1865|1|15|1787|6|21}} | death_place = Canterbury, New Hampshire, U.S. | resting_place = Village Cemetery | office = Member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives | term_start = 1826 | term_end = 1827 | predecessor = | successor = | office2 = Member of the New Hampshire State Senate | term_start2 = 1829 | term_end2 = 1830 | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | order3 = President of the New Hampshire Senate | term_start3 = 1830 | term_end3 = 1831 | predecessor3 = Samuel Cartland | successor3 = Samuel Cartland | order4 = Acting Governor of New Hampshire | term_start4 = February 28, 1831 | term_end4 = June 2, 1831 | predecessor4 = Matthew Harvey | successor4 = Samuel Dinsmoor | order5 = Member of the United States House of Representatives<br>from New Hampshire's At large district | term_start5 = March 4, 1831 | term_end5 = March 4, 1835 | predecessor5 = Jonathan Harvey | successor5 = Samuel Cushman | spouse = Elizabeth Clough | profession = Physician<br>Banker<br>Politician | nickname = | party = Jacksonian | branch = United States Army, 4th Infantry | rank = Assistant Surgeon | service_years = | battles = War of 1812 }}

'''Joseph Morrill Harper''' (June 21, 1787{{spaced ndash}}January 15, 1865) was an American medical doctor, banker and Jacksonian politician in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, the New Hampshire State Senate and the New Hampshire House of Representatives and was acting governor of New Hampshire.

==Early life and career== Harper was born in Limerick (in modern-day Maine, then a part of Massachusetts) and attended Fryeburg Academy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lanman|first=Charles|title=Dictionary of the United States Congress|year=1866|publisher=Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7mEDAAAAYAAJ/page/n177 168]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_7mEDAAAAYAAJ }}</ref> He studied medicine and began the practice of medicine in Sanbornton, New Hampshire, in 1810.<ref>{{cite book|title=Monthly Biographical Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 1|year=1852|page=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-M5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA56 }}</ref> In 1811, he moved to Canterbury, New Hampshire, to continue his practice. He served as assistant surgeon in the 4th Infantry in the War of 1812.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=James Grant and Fiske, John|title=Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 3|year=1888|publisher=D. Appleton|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5sLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA88 }}</ref> After the war he returned to his medical practice, and was elected a Fellow of the New Hampshire Medical Society in 1821.<ref>{{cite book|last=New-Hampshire Medical Society|title=Records of the New Hampshire medical society from its organization in 1791 to the year 1854|year=1911|publisher=Rumford printing co|page=[https://archive.org/details/recordsofnewhamp00newh/page/161 161]|url=https://archive.org/details/recordsofnewhamp00newh }}</ref>

==Political career== He was a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1826 and 1827, and justice of the peace in Canterbury from 1826 to 1865.<ref>{{cite book|last=Livingston|first=John|title=Biographical sketches of distinguished Americans now living|year=1853|publisher=Published at 157 Broadway|page=[https://archive.org/details/teachingbyexample00livirich/page/58 58]|url=https://archive.org/details/teachingbyexample00livirich }}</ref> Harper served in the New Hampshire State Senate in 1829 and 1830, and was president of the State Senate in 1831. He became Acting Governor of New Hampshire in February 1831 when Governor Matthew Harvey resigned as governor in order to accept a position as a United States federal judge. Harper served as Acting Governor from February 1831 – June 1831.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/legport3/harper.html |title=Publications – Portraits of Legislators On State House Third Floor |publisher=New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources |accessdate=December 12, 2013 |url-status=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20121213192233/http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/legport3/harper.html |archivedate=December 13, 2012 }}</ref>

Harper was elected as a Jacksonian candidate to the Twenty Second and Twenty Third Congresses, serving as a U.S. Representative from March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1835.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lanman|first=Charles and Morrison, Joseph M.|title=Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States|year=1887|publisher=J.M. Morrison|page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalann01morrgoog/page/n256 218]|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalann01morrgoog }}</ref>

After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of medicine. He was justice of the peace from 1835 to 1865 and president of the Mechanics Bank of Concord from 1847 to 1856.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=James Grant and Fiske, John|title=Appletons' Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Volume 3|year=1888|publisher=D. Appleton|page=88|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5sLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA88 }}</ref>

Harper died on January 15, 1865, in Canterbury,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.nh.gov/nhdhr/publications/legport3/harper.html|title=Publications – Portraits of Legislators On State House Third Floor|publisher= New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources|accessdate= December 12, 2013}}</ref> and is interred in the Village Cemetery.

==Personal life== Harper married Elizabeth Clough on June 6, 1816. They had two sons and a daughter.<ref>{{cite book|last=Livingston|first=John|title=Biographical sketches of distinguished Americans now living|year=1853|publisher=Published at 157 Broadway|page=[https://archive.org/details/teachingbyexample00livirich/page/58 58]|url=https://archive.org/details/teachingbyexample00livirich }}</ref> Their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Harper (married surname Monmouth),<ref>{{citation |url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LHTL-SWF/sarah-elizabeth-harper-1820-1887 |title=Sarah Elizabeth Harper |website=FamilySearch |accessdate=January 25, 2026}}</ref> is featured on a New Hampshire historical marker, no. 283, in the town of Canterbury.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://services5.arcgis.com/NpRcz5H91hmOiFde/arcgis/rest/services/mv_markers22/FeatureServer/6/67/attachments/141?w=1226 |title=New Hampshire's Historical Highway Markers: 283 |via=arcgis.com |publisher=New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources |accessdate=August 23, 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== {{CongBio|H000224}} *{{Find a Grave|18268167}} *[http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=b28049a7078d7010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD National Governors Association profile]

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box |title=Acting Governor of New Hampshire | before=Matthew Harvey | after=Samuel Dinsmoor | years=February 28, 1831 – June 1831}} {{succession box |title=President of the New Hampshire Senate | before=Samuel Cartland| after=Samuel Cartland | years=1830– 1831}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{s-bef|before=Jonathan Harvey}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the U.S. House of Representatives<br>from New Hampshire's at-large congressional district|years=1831–1835}} {{s-aft|after=Samuel Cushman}} {{s-end}}

{{USSenNH}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Joseph M.}} Category:1787 births Category:1865 deaths Category:People from Limerick, Maine Category:Medical doctors from New Hampshire Category:Bankers from New Hampshire

Category:People from Sanbornton, New Hampshire Category:People from Canterbury, New Hampshire Category:United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Category:Democratic Party members of the New Hampshire House of Representatives Category:Democratic Party New Hampshire state senators Category:Democratic Party governors of New Hampshire Category:Presidents of the New Hampshire Senate Category:Jacksonian United States representatives from New Hampshire Category:Fryeburg Academy alumni Category:19th-century United States representatives Category:19th-century members of the New Hampshire General Court