William J. Harris

William Julius Harris
William Julius Harris
United States Senator; from Georgia
	In office; March 4, 1919 – April 18, 1932
Preceded by	Thomas W. Hardwick
Succeeded by	John S. Cohen
Personal details
Born	William Julius Harris; February 3, 1868; Cedartown, Georgia
Died	April 18, 1932 (aged 64); Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic
Education	University of Georgia

William Julius Harris (February 3, 1868 – April 18, 1932) was a United States senator from the state of Georgia. He was a great-grandson of Charles Hooks, who had been a Representative from North Carolina, and son-in-law of Joseph Wheeler, Confederate General and Representative from Alabama.

Early life

Harris was born in Cedartown in Polk County, Georgia, and attended the common schools. He graduated from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1890.

He married Julia Knox Hull Wheeler (November 27, 1870 - January 6, 1959), daughter of Joseph Wheeler.

Career

He engaged in the general insurance business and banking at Cedartown, Georgia. He served as private secretary to U.S. Senator Alexander S. Clay from 1904 to 1909.

Entering politics, Harris was elected as a Democrat to the Georgia Senate in 1911 and 1912. From 1913 to 1915 he served as appointed Director of the United States Census Bureau; he also served as Acting Secretary of the Department of Commerce from 1913 to 1915. In 1915 he resigned when he was appointed as a member of the Federal Trade Commission.

He was chairman of the FTC 1917-1918. In 1918, he was elected as a Democrat to the US Senate, and reelected in 1924 and 1930. He served in total from March 4, 1919 until his death. While in the Senate, Harris was a member of the National Forest Reservation Commission from 1929 to 1932.

He died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. Funeral services were held in the Chamber of the United States Senate. His interment was in Greenwood Cemetery in Cedartown.

After Harris' death in 1932, the governor of Georgia, Richard Russell, Jr., declared a special election for September of that year to fill the vacant seat. Russell declared his own candidacy and won the election to replace Harris.

Personal

Harris was the son of physician Dr. Charles Hooks Harris and his wife Margaret Ann (Monk) Harris. He had four brothers and five sisters. Among his brothers were U.S. Army Major General Peter C. Harris and Alabama physician Dr. Seale Harris.^[1]^[2]

On July 28, 1905, Harris married Julia Knox Hull Wheeler in New York City. Their daughter Julia Wheeler Harris was born in 1909.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Harris, James Coffee (1911). The Personal and Family History of Charles Hooks and Margaret Monk Harris. J. C. Harris. pp. 9–10, 102–106. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
^ ^a ^b "Senator W. J. Harris Dies in Washington: Georgian Succumbs at 64 to Long Illness—Won Seat in 1918 Battle for Wilson" (PDF). The New York Times. April 19, 1932. p. 21. Retrieved 2023-11-01.

Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, 2002, Robert A. Caro, p. 174 ISBN 978-0-394-72095-1

United States Congress. "William J. Harris (id: H000259)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

External links

Media related to William Julius Harris at Wikimedia Commons

Party political offices
Preceded by Thomas W. Hardwick	Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator from Georgia (Class 2) 1918, 1924, 1930	Succeeded by Richard Russell Jr.
Political offices
Preceded by Edward Dana Durand	Director of the United States Census Bureau 1913 – 1915	Succeeded by Samuel Lyle Rogers
U.S. Senate
Preceded by Thomas W. Hardwick	U.S. senator (Class 2) from Georgia 1919–1932 Served alongside: M. Hoke Smith, Thomas E. Watson, Rebecca Latimer Felton and Walter F. George	Succeeded by John S. Cohen

[JCH-1] Harris, James Coffee (1911). The Personal and Family History of Charles Hooks and Margaret Monk Harris. J. C. Harris. pp. 9–10, 102–106. Retrieved 2023-11-01.

[obit-2] "Senator W. J. Harris Dies in Washington: Georgian Succumbs at 64 to Long Illness—Won Seat in 1918 Battle for Wilson" (PDF). The New York Times. April 19, 1932. p. 21. Retrieved 2023-11-01.

[1]

[2]

v t e United States senators from Georgia
Class 2	Few Jackson Walton Tattnall Baldwin Jones Crawford Bulloch Bibb Troup Forsyth Walker Ware Cobb Prince Troup King Lumpkin Berrien Charlton Toombs H. Miller Norwood B. Hill Barrow A. Colquitt Walsh Bacon West Hardwick Harris Cohen Russell Gambrell Nunn Cleland Chambliss Perdue Ossoff
Class 3	Gunn Jackson Milledge Tait Elliott Berrien Forsyth Cuthbert W. Colquitt Johnson Dawson Iverson J. Hill Gordon Brown Gordon Clay Terrell Smith Watson Felton George Talmadge Mattingly Fowler Coverdell Z. Miller Isakson Loeffler Warnock

v t e Democratic Party of Georgia
Chairs	Thomas Hardeman Jr. (1872) L. N. Trammell (1880) Charles F. Clay (1883–) B. H. Bigham (1886) Hoke Smith (1888) William Yates Atkinson (1890–1892) Allen Fort (1892–1894) Alexander Stephens Clay (1894–1898) Fleming W. Dubignon (1898–1900) E. T. Brown (1902–1904) E. J. Yeomans (1904–1906) Alexander Lawton Miller (1906–1908) Hewlett A. Hall (1908–1909) Charles R. Pendleton (1909–1910) W. C. Wright (1910–1912) William J. Harris (1912–1913) William S. West (1913–1914) E. J. Reagan (1914–1916) John James Flynt Sr. (1916–1920) William Jerome Vereen (1920–1921) G. E. Maddox 1925–30 Lawrence S. Camp 1930–32 Hugh Howell (c. 1935–1937) Charles S. Reid 1937 Jim L. Gillis 1939 William Y. Atkinson Jr. 1942 J. Lon Duckworth (1943–1946) James S. Peters (1948–1954) John Sammons Bell (1954–1960) J. B. Fuqua (1962–1966) James Gray (1966–1970) David H. Gambrell (1970–1972) Charles Kirbo (1972–1974) Marge Thurman (1974–1982) Al Holloway (Interim Chairman, 1982) Bert Lance (1982–1986) John Henry Anderson (1986–1990) Ed Sims (1990–1994) John Blackmon (1994–1998) David Worley (1998–2001) Calvin Smyre (2001–2004) Bobby Kahn (2004–2007) Jane Kidd (2007–2010) Mike Berlon (2011–2013) Nikema Williams (acting, 2013) DuBose Porter (2013–2019) Nikema Williams (2019–present)
House Leaders	George Busbee Clarence Vaughn Al Burruss Larry Walker Jr. Jimmy Skipper DuBose Porter Stacey Abrams Bob Trammell James Beverly
Senate Leaders	John R. Riley Thomas F. Allgood Charles Walker Michael Meyer von Bremen Robert Brown Steve Henson Gloria Butler
Presidential primaries	2004 2008 2016 2020
Other	1988 Democratic National Convention

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States Israel
Artists	Photographers' Identities
People	US Congress
Other	NARA SNAC

v t e Chairs of the Federal Trade Commission
Member-selected (1915–1950)	Joseph E. Davies (1915–1916) • Edward N. Hurley (1916–1917) • William J. Harris (1917–1918) • William Byron Colver (1918–1919) • John Franklin Fort (1919) • Victor Murdock (1919–1920) • Samuel Huston Thompson (1920–1921) • Nelson B. Gaskill (1921–1922) • Victor Murdock (1922–1923) • Samuel Huston Thompson (1923–1924) • Vernon W. Van Fleet (1924–1925) • John F. Nugent (1925–1926) • Charles W. Hunt (1926–1927) • William E. Humphrey (1927–1928) • Abram F. Myers (1928–1929) • Edgar A. McCulloch (1929) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1930) • Charles W. Hunt (1931) • William E. Humphrey (1932) • Charles H. March (1933) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1934) • Ewin L. Davis (1935) • Charles H. March (1936) • William Augustus Ayres (1937) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1938) • Robert E. Freer (1939) • Ewin L. Davis (1940) • Charles H. March (1941) • William Augustus Ayres (1942) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1943) • Robert E. Freer (1944) • Ewin L. Davis (1945) • William Augustus Ayres (1946) • Garland Ferguson Jr. (1947) • Robert E. Freer (1948) • Lowell B. Mason (1949–1950)
Presidential appointments (1950–present) Acting chairs italicized	James M. Mead (1950–1953) • Edward F. Howrey (1953–1955) • John W. Gwynne (1955–1959) • Earl W. Kintner (1959–1961) • Paul Rand Dixon (1961–1969) • Caspar Weinberger (1970–1970) • Everette MacIntyre (1970–1973) • Lewis A. Engman (1973–1975) • Paul Rand Dixon (1976) • Calvin J. Collier (1976–1977) • Michael Pertschuk (1977–1981) • David A. Clanton (1981) • James C. Miller III (1981–1985) • Terry Calvani (1985–1986) • Daniel Oliver (1986–1989) • Janet Dempsey Steiger (1989–1995) • Robert Pitofsky (1995–2001) • Timothy Muris (2001–2004) • Deborah Platt Majoras (2004–2008) • William Kovacic (2008–2009) • Jon Leibowitz (2009–2013) • Edith Ramirez (2013–2017) • Maureen Ohlhausen (2017–2018) • Joseph Simons (2018–2021) • Rebecca Slaughter (2021) • Lina Khan (2021–present)