# Thomas W. Harrison
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{{short description|American politician}}
{{other people|Thomas Harrison}}
{{ Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Thomas Harrison
| image = ThomasWHarrison.jpg
| honorific_suffix =
|state = [Virginia](/source/Virginia)
|district = [7th](/source/Virginia's_7th_congressional_district)
|term_start = March 4, 1923
|term_end = March 3, 1929
|predecessor = [John Paul](/source/John_Paul_Jr._(judge))
|successor = [Jacob A. Garber](/source/Jacob_A._Garber)
|term_start1 = November 7, 1916
|term_end1 = December 15, 1922
|predecessor1 = [James Hay](/source/James_Hay_(politician))
|successor1 = John Paul
| state_senate2 = Virginia
| district2 = [12th](/source/Virginia's_12th_Senate_district)
| term_start2 = December 8, 1887
| term_end2 = December 4, 1895
| preceded2 = Marshall McCormick
| succeeded2 = E. H. Jackson
| birth_name = Thomas Walter Harrison
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1856|08|05}}
| birth_place = [Leesburg, Virginia](/source/Leesburg%2C_Virginia), U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1935|05|09|1856|08|05}}
| death_place = [Winchester](/source/Winchester%2C_Virginia), Virginia, U.S.
| resting_place =
| party = [Democratic](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States))
| spouse = Julia Knight
Nellie Cover
| children =[Burr Powell Harrison](/source/Burr_Harrison) and 3 daughters
| alma_mater = [University of Virginia](/source/University_of_Virginia)
| occupation = [Lawyer](/source/Lawyer), [politician](/source/politician)
| committees =
}}
'''Thomas Walter Harrison''' (August 5, 1856 – May 9, 1935) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and politician. He served in the [Senate of Virginia](/source/Senate_of_Virginia) and in the [United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives).[{{CongBio|H000277}}]
==Early and family life==
Born in [Leesburg](/source/Leesburg%2C_Virginia), [Loudoun County, Virginia](/source/Loudoun_County%2C_Virginia) to attorney Matthew Harrison (1822-1875) and his wife, the former Anne Harriott of Washington DC, Harrison was descended from the [First Families of Virginia](/source/First_Families_of_Virginia). His lawyer grandfather Burr William Harrison represented [Loudoun County, Virginia](/source/Loudoun_County%2C_Virginia) in the Virginia House of Delegates 1840-1847. His great-grandfather [Richard Henry Lee](/source/Richard_Henry_Lee) served in the Continental Congress, including as its President, and in the Virginia House of Burgesses as well as the Constitutional Convention of 1787.[Sons of the American Revolution membership application of Burr P. Harrison available pp. 615-616 of 629 on ancestry.com] Thomas had an older sister Sallie and a younger sister Harriet. He attended local academies at Leesburg, Middleburg, and Hanover. His father owned relatively little property before the American Civil War,[In the 1860 census Mathew Harrison owned $9000 in real estate and $1300 in personal property and no slaves, 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Loutdoun County, family no. 543] but more in 1870 despite the wartime devastation.[Mathew Harrison owned $30,000 in real estate and $400 in personal property as well as had two domestic servants in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census for the northern Division of Loudoun County family no. 296] Thomas attended the academic and law departments of the [University of Virginia at Charlottesville](/source/University_of_Virginia_at_Charlottesville) and graduated in 1879.
Thomas Harrison married twice. He first married Julia Knight and they had daughters Katherine Young Harrison (1884-1973), Harriett Harrison (1886-1892) and Julia K. Harrison (1888-1889), then a son, [Burr Powell Harrison](/source/Burr_Powell_Harrison) (1904-1973) who like his father served in the Virginia Senate and U.S. Congress. He then married Nellie Cover.
==Career==
[Admitted to the bar](/source/Admission_to_the_bar_in_the_United_States) in 1879, Harrison began a private legal practice in [Winchester, Virginia](/source/Winchester%2C_Virginia). In 1883, he and fellow Democrat and lawyer [Richard Evelyn Byrd Sr.](/source/Richard_Evelyn_Byrd_Sr.) bought the ''Winchester Times'' from [Robert W. Hunter](/source/Robert_W._Hunter), and by 1899 the Times had become the weekly edition of Byrd's ''Winchester Evening Star''. The weekly's last edition was published on March 29, 1905.[Lester J. Cappon, Virginia newspapers 1821 - 1925: Guide to Virginia Historical Materials Part 1 (D. Appleton-Century Company Inc.1936) pp. 227-228]
Voters in [12th district](/source/Virginia's_12th_Senate_district) (composed of [Clarke](/source/Clarke_County%2C_Virginia), [Frederick](/source/Frederick_County%2C_Virginia), and [Warren](/source/Warren_County%2C_Virginia) counties) elected Harrison to the [Senate of Virginia](/source/Senate_of_Virginia) in 1887 (a seat previously held by Berryville attorney Marshall McCormick) and re-elected him once, so he served from 1887 to 1895. In 1895 changed the district boundaries substantially, and J.G. Cune was elected to the new senatorial district comprising Frederick and Shenandoah counties, and E.H. Jackson was elected in the new district encompassing Clarke, Page and Warren counties.[Cynthia Miller Leonard (ed), The General Assembly of Virginia 1619-1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members (Richmond, 1978) pp 547, 552, 556, 560, 564]
Meanwhile, Harrison had not been a candidate for re-election, because the Virginia General Assembly elected him as circuit judge for what was then Virginia's 17th judicial district, and he remained in that office from 1895 until September 1, 1916, when he ran for a seat in the U.S. Congress following the resignation of [James Hay](/source/James_Hay_(politician)). Harrison also won election to the [State constitutional convention in 1901 and 1902](/source/Virginia_Constitutional_Convention_of_1902), representing Winchester and Frederick County.
Voters from [Virginia's 7th congressional district](/source/Virginia's_7th_congressional_district) elected Harrison as a [Democrat](/source/Democratic_Party_(United_States)) to the [Sixty-fourth](/source/64th_United_States_Congress) Congress; he would serve from November 7, 1916, to December 15, 1922. During the first four elections, Harrison's opponent was [Republican](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)) [John Paul Jr.](/source/John_Paul_Jr._(judge)) Harrison won the first contests, winning re-election to the [Sixty-fifth](/source/65th_United_States_Congress) and [Sixty-sixth](/source/66th_United_States_Congress) Congresses. However, in the [Sixty-seventh](/source/67th_United_States_Congress) Congress, he only served from March 4, 1921, until December 15, 1922, when the seat was awarded to Republican Paul, who had contested that election.
Harrison defeated Paul to win the seat in the [Sixty-eighth](/source/68th_United_States_Congress), then Paul became U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, so Harrison defeated other Republicans to win re-election to [Sixty-ninth](/source/69th_United_States_Congress), and [Seventieth](/source/70th_United_States_Congress) Congresses (March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1929).
He authored ''Harrison on Wills and Administration'' for the Michie Co. in 1927.
Harrison lost his re-election bid in 1928 to the [Seventy-first](/source/71st_United_States_Congress) Congress to Republican businessman [Jacob A. Garber](/source/Jacob_A._Garber).
==Death and legacy==
Harrison continued his legal practice in [Winchester, Virginia](/source/Winchester%2C_Virginia), until his death there on May 9, 1935. He was interred in Winchester's [Mount Hebron Cemetery](/source/Mount_Hebron_Cemetery_and_Gatehouse).
==Electoral history==
*'''1916'''; Harrison was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election with 61.29% of the vote, defeating Republican John Paul and Independent E.C. Garrison. He was simultaneously elected in the general election unopposed.
*'''1918'''; Harrison was re-elected with 88.99% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul.
*'''1920'''; Harrison was re-elected over Republican Paul, however, Paul contested the results of the election and was seated.
*'''1922'''; Harrison was re-elected with 62.29% of the vote, defeating Republican Paul.
*'''1924'''; Harrison was re-elected with 59.15% of the vote, defeating Republican J.H. Ruebush and fellow Democrat Dabney C. Harrison.
*'''1926''''; Harrison was re-elected with 64.92% of the vote, defeating Republican Walter R. Talbot and now-Independent Dabney C. Harrison.
*'''1928'''; Harrison lost his re-election bid to [Jacob A. Garber](/source/Jacob_A._Garber).
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Works==
*{{cite book|last=Harrison|first=Thomas W.|title=Harrison on Wills and Administration for Virginia and West Virginia (Three Vols.)|publisher=The Michie Company|year=1927|location=Charlottesville}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-hs}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Virginia
| district=7
| before=[James Hay](/source/James_Hay_(politician))
| years=1916–1922
| after=[John Paul](/source/John_Paul_Jr._(judge))
}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Virginia
| district=7
| before=[John Paul](/source/John_Paul_Jr._(judge))
| years=1923–1929
| after=[Jacob A. Garber](/source/Jacob_A._Garber)
}}
{{s-end}}
{{VirginiaRepresentatives07}}
{{Bioguide}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Thomas W.}}
Category:1856 births
Category:1935 deaths
Category:Virginia lawyers
Category:Democratic Party Virginia state senators
Category:Delegates to Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1901
Category:People from Leesburg, Virginia
Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from Virginia
Category:United States representatives removed by contest
Category:Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (Winchester, Virginia)
Category:Virginia circuit court judges
Category:20th-century Virginia politicians
Category:20th-century United States representatives
Category:19th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Thomas W. Harrison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Harrison) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_W._Harrison?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.