Calvin J. B. Harris Biography


	This biography appears on pages 824-827 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				CALVIN J. B. HARRIS. 

	Practicing at the bar of Yankton, Calvin J. B. Harris has gained 
a good clientage, the result of his recognized ability to successfully 
solve intricate and involved legal problems. In other directions, too, 
he has left his impress upon the history of the state, notably as a 
member of the constitutional convention of. 1889. He was born in 
Danville, Vermont, on the 2d of February, 1844, and has, therefore, 
completed the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten, 
but in spirit and interests he seems yet in his prime and his activity 
as a member of the bar is undiminished. His father, William H. Harris, 
was likewise a native of the Green Mountain state. The earlier members 
of the family came from Massachusetts, where the first American 
ancestor settled on emigrating from England about 1630. William H. 
Harris was united in marriage to Louisa Danforth, a daughter of Leonard 
and Betsy (Henry) Danforth, the former a relative of the Patrick Henry 
family of Virginia. Mrs. Harris was a native of Vermont, to which state 
her parents removed from New Hampshire soon after the Revolutionary 
war. The maternal great-grandfather of C. J. B. Harris was Henry 
Little, who valiantly served in defense of the cause of liberty in the 
Revolutionary war. His great-granduncle, Henry Marchant, was the first 
United States judge of Rhode Island, a position to which he was 
appointed by President Washington, choosing that office in preference 
to a place in Washington's cabinet. He was also a member of the 
convention which framed the United States constitution. 

	In the public schools of Danville, Vermont, Calvin J. B. Harris 
acquired his early education, which was supplemented by study in the 
Phillips Academy of Danville, Vermont, and in the Burlington high 
school, in which he pursued his preparatory course. War drove all other 
thoughts from his mind, however, and with patriotic spirit aroused he 
offered his services to the government on the 30th of September, 1861, 
enlisting in the Sixth Vermont Infantry, with which he served until 
July 1, 1865, being first sergeant at the time of his discharge. He 
participated in the battles of Lees Mills, Williamsburg, the seven 
days, engagement in front of Richmond, the second battle of Bull Run, 
South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the third 
battle of Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Petersburg 
and, though often in the thickest of the fight in many of the most 
hotly contested engagements of the war, he was never wounded. He has 
maintained pleasant relations with his old army comrades as a member of 
Phil Kearny Post, No. 7, G. A. R., of Yankton, of which he has served 
as commander and has been the official delegate to many national 
encampments. 

	Following the close of the war Mr. Harris began reading law, 
pursuing his studies in Danville, in St. Johnsbury and in Montpelier, 
Vermont. He was admitted to practice at the bar of his native state in 
December, 1867, and there followed his profession through the ensuing 
two years. In 1870 he came to Yankton and has since been a 
representative of the bar of that city. In the early days he practiced 
all over the settled portions of Dakota territory, but with the rapid 
growth of his district his efforts have naturally been more and more 
closely confined to Yankton and he has appeared in connection with much 
important litigation tried in the courts of his district. 

	Mr. Harris has been a recognized leader in political circles as a 
supporter of the democratic party. While in his native city he was for 
two years superintendent of schools and since coming to Yankton has 
been honored with various public offices, serving as a member of the 
city council for two years and for two terms as mayor. He was for 
eleven years city attorney, comprising eleven separate terms, and his 
election to the office indicated the public confidence in his 
professional ability and in his devotion to the public good. In 1883 he 
became a member of the volunteer constitutional convention and in 1889 
was chosen a member of the permanent constitutional convention, which 
framed the present organic law of the state. He took an active part in 
its deliberations and thus left the impress of his individuality upon 
the history of South Dakota. 

	In January, 1881, Mr. Harris was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Noonan, a daughter of John Noonan, of Yankton, and to them have been 
born four children: C. J. B., of Chicago, who is engaged in the 
engraving business; Mrs. Alice Ladd, of Omaha. Josephine, living in 
Omaha, Nebraska; and William S., of Chicago. The family attend the 
Catholic church and Mr. Harris is a thirty-second degree Mason. Aside 
from his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic he is connected 
with the Union Veterans Union He stands today as one of the foremost 
citizens of Yankton, well fitted for leadership and active in advancing 
all those interests which Are vital forces in civic betterment and 
public improvement.