- Walter Harriman (governor)
Walter Harriman (
April 8 ,1817 ndashJuly 25 ,1884 ) was an American preacher, merchant, soldier, and politician who served two terms as theGovernor of New Hampshire . He was a brevet brigadier general in theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War .Early life and career
Harriman was born in
Warner, New Hampshire , where he was raised and educated. He taught school at a number of academies inNew Hampshire ,Massachusetts , andNew Jersey from 1835 through 1840. While teaching, he studied theology and in 1840 joined theUniversalist Church . He later preached inHarvard, Massachusetts , and his native Warner.In 1849, Harriman entered politics as a Democrat and was elected to the New Hampshire state legislature, serving through 1850. The following year, he resigned as a minister and opened a store in Warner, partnering with
John S. Pillsbury , a futureGovernor of Minnesota and industrialist. In 1853, Harriman returned to politics and served asState Treasurer until 1854 when he moved toWashington, D.C. , to take the role as Clerk of the Pension Office, apatronage position which he held until 1856 when PresidentJames Buchanan took office and replaced Harriman with his own selection.Harriman returned to New Hampshire and was elected to the state legislature in 1858. He was subsequently elected to the state senate, serving there from 1859 through 1861. Upon the completion of his term, he entered the newspaper business as an editor in
Manchester, New Hampshire .Civil War
In 1862, Harriman was appointed
colonel of the 11th New Hampshire, a newly raised three-yearsregiment ofinfantry . He led his regiment fromCincinnati, Ohio , across the ruggedCumberland Plateau ofKentucky andTennessee to join Maj. Gen.Ambrose Burnside 's army inKnoxville, Tennessee . Harriman had no horse and walked with his men. During this 20-day journey, Harriman and his regiment camped for several days on theEmory River in Tennessee near the future location of the city of Harriman. (The directors of the company that later founded the city there decided to name it for him after having a conversation with an elderly man who fondly remembered Colonel Harriman and recalled the colonel saying that there should be a town near his regiment's campsite.) [ [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=H024 Dickinson] ]He interrupted his military service to run as a
War Democrat in the 1863 gubernatorial campaign. He siphoned off enough regular Democratic votes to give the election to Republican candidateJoseph A. Gilmore . Harriman rejoined the 11th New Hampshire in time for theBattle of the Wilderness during theOverland Campaign . He was captured and sent south as aprisoner of war . He was exchanged in September 1864, and mustered out as a brevet brigadier general in June 1865.Postbellum career
Following the Civil War's conclusion in early 1865, Harriman joined the Republican Party and served as the
New Hampshire Secretary of State until 1867, when he was elected as the state's governor. Harriman served two terms as Governor of New Hampshire from 1867 to 1869. Governor Harriman urged the public and the legislature to develop New Hampshire's agricultural, industrial and forest resources, in order to develop a post-war economy. He was very concerned with the education of post-war citizens of the state, and he signed an act creating teacher institutes. He personally drafted a law to get education out from under county commissioners, and he established an education fund with monies from the sale of state lands.In retirement, Harriman served as Naval Officer for the Port of Boston until 1877. He published his "History of Warner" in 1879, and then traveled to
Europe and theFar East from 1882–83. He published "Travels and Observations in the Far East" in 1883.Walter Harriman died the following year in
Concord, New Hampshire , where he is buried.In the early 1890s Harriman's son, Walter C. Harriman, was one of the founders of the city of
Harriman, Tennessee , which is named for Governor Harriman.ee also
*List of American Civil War generals
References
* W. Calvin Dickinson, [http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=H024 Walter C. Harriman] in the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
* [http://www.state.nh.us/nhdhr/glikeness/harrwalt.html Harriman at New Hampshire's Division of Historic Resources]Notes
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