- Burton Harrison
Burton Norvell Harrison (July 14, 1838-March 29, 1904), was an American politician and public servant.
Early life
Harrison was born in
New Orleans ,Louisiana to Jesse Burton and Frances Braud Harrison. He attended theUniversity of Mississippi from 1854 to 1855. In 1859 he was graduated fromYale University . Later that year he took a job at the University of Mississippi as an associate professor of mathematics and began to study law.The Civil War and its Aftermath
In February, 1862 Harrison became the private secretary to Confederate President
Jefferson Davis . At the end of theAmerican Civil War he was captured by the Union Army and imprisoned atFort Delaware , where he resumed his long-interrupted law studies. In 1866, Harrison was released, settled inNew York City , and was admitted to the bar. Feeling himself established, in November, 1867 he married his sweetheart from hisRichmond, Virginia days,Constance Cary Harrison .Later life
In 1875, Harrison became the secretary and counsel of New York City’s Rapid Transit Commission. The following year he actively campaigned for presidential candidate
Samuel J. Tilden . In 1880, Harrison attended the Democratic convention inCincinnati where he opposedWilliam Jennings Bryan . Following 1880, Harrison began to lose interest in politics. In 1893 he declined PresidentGrover Cleveland ’s offers of appointments as Assistant Secretary of State and ambassador toItaly .Burton and Constance Harrison were the parents of
Francis Burton Harrison (1873-1957).Burton Harrison died while visiting
Washington, DC .ources/External Links
The Burton Norvell Harrison Family Papers at the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?faid/faid:@field(DOCID+ms003060)
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