{{Short description|American judge (1833–1918)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Ralph Chandler Harrison | honorific_suffix = | image = Ralph C. Harrison.jpg | alt = | caption = Ralph C. Harrison | office = Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court | term_start = December 20, 1890 | term_end = January 5, 1903 | appointer = Direct election | predecessor = John D. Works | successor = Frank M. Angellotti | office1 = Presiding Justice of the First District California Court of Appeal | term_start1 = January 1905 | term_end1 = 1908 | appointer1 = Governor George Pardee | predecessor1 = New seat | successor1 = James A. Cooper | birth_date = {{Birth date|1833|10|22}} | birth_place = Cornwall, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1918|07|18|1833|10|22}} | death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | spouse = {{plainlist| *{{marriage|Juliet Waite|1865|1890|end=d}} *{{marriage|Ella Spencer Reid|1892}}}} | relations = | children = 3 | alma_mater = Wesleyan University <small>(BA, MA)</small><BR>Albany Law School <small>(LLB)</small> | signature = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Ralph Chandler Harrison''' (October 22, 1833 – July 18, 1918) was an American attorney and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California from December 20, 1890, to January 5, 1903.
==Early life== On October 22, 1838, Harrison was born in Cornwall, Connecticut.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=J. Edward|title=History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1|date=1963|publisher=Bender Moss Co|location=San Francisco, CA|pages=185–189|url=http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|accessdate=August 14, 2017|archive-date=December 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227124913/http://library.courtinfo.ca.gov/included/docs/SCJC_Vol_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> He attended Wesleyan University, graduating with a B.A. in 1853.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wesleyan University Club|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH18981019.2.156&srpos=79&e=-------en--20--61--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Los Angeles Herald|issue=19|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=19 October 1898|volume = 26|page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Word has been received of the death in San Francisco of Judge Ralph Chandler Harrison, one of the oldest alumni of Wesleyan University|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014086/1919-02-11/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=15&words=Chandler+Harrison+Ralph&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=ralph+chandler+harrison&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Norwich Bulletin (Norwich, CT)|publisher=Library of Congress Historic Newspapers|date=February 11, 1919|page=5|quote=Judge Harrison was a member of the class of 1853.}}</ref>
After graduation, he taught mathematics and ancient languages at Armenia Seminary, New York, from 1853 to 1856, and also obtained a M.A. degree at Wesleyan in 1856.<ref name="shuck">{{cite book|last1=Shuck|first1=Oscar Tully|title=History of the Bench and Bar of California: Being Biographies of Many Remarkable Men, a Store of Humorous and Pathetic Recollections, Accounts of Important Legislation and Extraordinary Cases, Comprehending the Judicial History of the State|date=1901|publisher=Commercial Printing House|location=Los Angeles, CA|page=[https://archive.org/details/benchandbarofcal00shuc/page/662 662]|url=https://archive.org/details/benchandbarofcal00shuc|quote=ralph c. harrison In 1857, he was elected to the Connecticut Legislature.|accessdate=July 23, 2017}}</ref> In 1857, he was elected to the Connecticut State Legislature. He then studied at Albany Law School, where he was awarded a LL.B. in 1859.<ref name="obit"/>
==Career== Harrison's law school classmate, David D. Colton, encouraged Harrison to move to California and in 1859 the two formed a law partnership in San Francisco.<ref name="shuck"/> In 1868, Harrison joined with Yale Law School-trained attorney, John R. Jarboe, in the firm of Jarboe & Harrison.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mercantile Library Association Election.|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18710116.2.3&srpos=100&e=-------en--20--81--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=16 January 1871|page=1|quote=Ralph C. Harrison, of Jarboe & Harrison}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=His Work Done, Honorable Career of John R. Jarboe. Incidents in the Life of One of San Francisco's Oldest and Ablest Lawyers|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18930706.2.62&srpos=141&e=-------en--20--141--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=36|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=6 July 1893|volume = 74|page=3|quote=Mr. Jarboe continued to handle the large business of the firm alone until three years later (186), when Ralph C. Harrison was made a member of the firm of Jarboe & Harrison. Ralph C. Harrison was at one time a Justice of the Supreme Court of California.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Obituary Record of Graduates of Yale University, Deceased During the Academical Year of 1894|url=http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1893-94.pdf|publisher=Yale University|accessdate=July 23, 2017|page=234|quote=Entry for John Rodolph Jarboe, class of 1855}}</ref>
In August 1890, Harrison won the nomination of the Republican Party for Supreme Court justice, and was elected to a 12-year term.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Republican Convention at Sacramento|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SRPD18900815.2.20&srpos=54&e=-------en--20--41--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Press Democrat|issue=27|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=15 August 1890|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The Supreme Court|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18910108.2.22&srpos=1&e=------189-en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22----1891---1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=39|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=8 January 1891|volume = 69|page=2}}</ref> In November 1902, Harrison sought a second term but lost the Republican nomination to Frank M. Angellotti.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Eve of Battle|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SRPD19020824.2.2&srpos=180&e=-------en--20--161--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Press Democrat|issue=34|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=24 August 1902|page=1|quote=It is now said that Judge Angelotti of Marin county will be named as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. This will mean the turning down of either Justice Ralph C. Harrison or Judge W. G. Lorlgan, both of whom seemed to be winners a few days ago.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Political Scheme to Force Nomination of C. H. Garoutte for the Chief Justiceship|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19010711.2.6&srpos=154&e=-------en--20--141--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=41|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=11 July 1901|volume = 87|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Would Occupy Vacant Seat, Many Aspirants for the Empty Bench in the Supreme Court Which Was Held by the Late Justice Van Dyke|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SU19060101.2.27&srpos=135&e=-------en--20--121--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Sacramento Union|issue=131|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=1 January 1906|page=2|quote=Ralph C. Harrison of San Francisco was also an Associate Justice of the high tribunal, but he failed to obtain renomination for another term.}}</ref>
In December 1903, Harrison was named a commissioner of the California Supreme Court, replacing John Haynes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judge Harrison Offered Place|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19031224.2.224&srpos=4&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 24, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=24|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=24 December 1903|volume = 95|page=16}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Five Judges Selected, Governor Will Name Present Supreme Court Commissioners to Appellate Tribunal|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SRPD19050110.2.20&srpos=85&e=-------en--20--81--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Press Democrat|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=10 January 1905|page=1}}</ref> In 1905, when the new Court of Appeal was established, Governor George Pardee named Harrison as the Presiding Justice of the First District.<ref>{{cite news|title=Judges of New Appellate Court|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19050411.2.8&srpos=6&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=133|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=11 April 1905|volume = 97|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Compels State Controller to Pay Salary of Justice|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19050723.2.45&srpos=23&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=53|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=23 July 1905|volume = 98|page=34}}</ref>
After stepping down from the bench in 1908, Harrison returned to private practice. He continued as trustee of the public and law libraries of San Francisco. In October 1917, Harrison and his wife (Ella Spencer Reid) visited Carmel-by-the-Sea and stayed at the La Playa Hotel for a few weeks. During this visit they bought the block between Camino Real and Casanova Street, south of Ninth Avenue.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/220513PC.pdf|title=A beloved library was named for someone who never lived there|author=Neal Hotelling|work=Carmel Pine Cone |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |date=13 May 2022 |page=27 |oclc=|access-date=2022-05-18}}</ref>
==Death== Harrison died after a brief illness, at the age of 84, on July 18, 1918, at his apartment in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite news|title=Oakland is Victor in Water Rate Case|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19110120.2.49&srpos=193&e=-------en--20--181--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=51|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=20 January 1911|volume = 109|page=5|quote=Ralph C. Harrison, and Jesse Ulienthal, legal representative of the John Hays Hammond water and power companies}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102102975/obituary-for-ralph-p-harrison-ban/|title=Ralph C. Harrison Dies After Brief Illness|author=|work=Concord Transcript|place=Concord, California |date=25 Jul 1918 |pages=2 |oclc=|access-date=2022-05-18}}</ref>
==Bar and civic activities== Harrison was a member of the San Francisco Bar Association, and served as a trustee of the San Francisco Law Library in 1871.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Bar Association, Meeting of the Executive Committee and Action Outlined|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18871013.2.2.3&srpos=98&e=-------en--20--81--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|issue=42|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=13 October 1887|page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Law Library Trustees|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18990326.2.103&srpos=2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=116|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=26 March 1899|volume = 85|page=9}}</ref> In January 1884, Harrison was elected a trustee of the California Academy of Sciences.<ref>{{cite news|title=Academy of Sciences|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18840108.2.17&srpos=39&e=-------en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22R.+C.+Harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=8 January 1884|page=1}}</ref> In April 1896, he was named president of the board of the San Francisco Public Library.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Public Library, Judge R. C. Harrison Unanimously Elected President.|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18960408.2.209&srpos=11&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22R.+C.+Harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=130|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=8 April 1896|volume = 79|page=16}}</ref> The Ralph Chandler Harrison Memorial Library in Carmel, California, is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hm-lib.org/about/ |title=Harrison Memorial Library], Library History|work= www.hm-lib.org |access-date=July 24, 2017}}</ref>
==Personal life== Harrison married twice. In July 1865, he married Juliet Lathrop Waite and they had two sons, both of whom became attorneys: Richard Chandler Harrison, who practiced with his father in the firm of Harrison & Harrison; and Robert Waite Harrison, an assistant district attorney.<ref name="obit"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Langdon Names His Assistants|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19051209.2.109&srpos=165&e=-------en--20--161--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=9 December 1905|page=16|quote=Robert W. Harrison is the son of Appellate Judge Ralph C. Harrison. He is 33 years old, a graduate of Harvard, and is a lecturer at the Hastings Law School.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Twenty-fifth Anniversary Report, 1895-1920, Harvard College, Class of 1895|date=1920|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, MA|page=186|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SJJGAQAAMAAJ&q=%22ralph+chandler+harrison%22+san+francisco+bar+association&pg=PA186|accessdate=July 24, 2017|quote=Entry for Robert Waite Harrison}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Hotel Arrivals...Robert W. Harrison|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19020415.2.123&srpos=13&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22R.+C.+Harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 25, 2017|work=Los Angeles Herald|issue=196|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=15 April 1902|page=7}}</ref> After her death in August 1890,<ref>{{cite news|title=Deaths|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC18900804.2.98.2&srpos=35&e=------189-en--20--21--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22----1890---1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=65|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=4 August 1890|volume = 68|page=8|quote=HARRISON-In this city, August 2, 1890, Juliet Waite. wife of Ralph C. Harrison.}}</ref> Harrison married again in September 1892 to the younger Ella Spencer Reid in Rye, New York, at the country mansion of her uncle, Whitelaw Reid, later ambassador to the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news|title=Whitelaw Reid's Niece Soon to be Married at Ophir Farm|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87078000/1892-09-19/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=0&words=Chandler+Harrison+Ralph&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=ralph+chandler+harrison&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=The Evening Herald|publisher=Library of Congress Historic Newspapers|date=September 19, 1892|page=3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Harrison Married|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn99063952/1892-09-27/ed-1/seq-2/#date1=1789&sort=date&date2=1924&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&index=1&words=Chandler+Harrison+Ralph&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=ralph+chandler+harrison&andtext=&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=Evening Capital Journal (Salem, OR)|publisher=Library of Congress Historical Newspapers|date=September 27, 1892|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Widow of Former Supreme Court Judge Perishes in Flames|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SU19221013.2.152&srpos=14&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 24, 2017|work=Sacramento Union|issue=26142|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=13 October 1922|page=11}}</ref> His wife became involved with several art and literary societies in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pineconearchive.fileburstcdn.com/220520PC.pdf|title=Nothing is new under the sun, including lawsuits over buildings|author=Neal Hotelling|work=Carmel Pine Cone |place=Carmel-by-the-Sea, California |date=20 May 2022 |page=21 |oclc=|access-date=2022-05-20}}</ref>
Harrison was a member of the Bohemian Club in 1872.<ref name="obit">{{cite news|title=Ralph C. Harrison Dies After Brief Illness, Was Well-known Lawyer and Former Supreme Court Justice|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MG19180727.2.29|accessdate=July 24, 2017|work=Mariposa Gazette|issue=9|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=27 July 1918|page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Colonel Hawes Guest at Bohemian Dinner|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19130221.2.131.21&srpos=68&e=-------en--20--61--txt-txIN-%22ralph+c.+harrison%22-------1|accessdate=July 23, 2017|work=San Francisco Call|issue=113|publisher=California Digital Newspaper Collection|date=21 February 1913|volume = 83|page=14}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://www.cschs.org/history/california-supreme-court-justices/ralph-c-harrison/ California Supreme Court Historical Society page on Ralph C. Harrison] * [http://www.cschs.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/CSCHS-Harrison-Memorial.pdf In Memoriam] * [https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3812/ralph-c-harrison/ Ralph C. Harrison opinions on the California Supreme Court]. Courtlistener.com. * [https://www.courtlistener.com/person/6435/ralph-c-harrison/ Ralph C. Harrison opinions on the California Court of Appeal]. Courtlistener.com. * [http://www.courts.ca.gov/12523.htm Past & Present Justices]. California State Courts. Retrieved July 19, 2017. * [http://www.courts.ca.gov/2344.htm List of Past and Present Justices]. California Court of Appeal, First District.
==See also== * List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
{{S-start}} {{S-legal}} {{Succession box | before= John D. Works | | title= Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court | years= 1889–1903 | after= Frank M. Angellotti}} {{Succession box | before= New seat | | title= Presiding Justice of the First District, California Court of Appeal | years= 1905-1908 | after= James A. Cooper }} {{S-end}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Ralph Chandler}} Category:1833 births Category:1918 deaths Category:People from Cornwall, Connecticut Category:Wesleyan University alumni Category:Albany Law School alumni Category:19th-century California state court judges Category:Judges of the California Courts of Appeal Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of California Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Lawyers from San Francisco Category:California Republicans Category:Members of the Connecticut General Assembly Category:20th-century California state court judges