Z 2035.000
HARRIS (JAMES BOWMAR) AND FAMILY PAPERS


Biography/History:

James Bowmar Harris, son of Wiley Pope and Frances Mayes Harris, was born in Monticello, Lawrence County, Mississippi, on January 1, 1852. The Harrises and their children, Cynthia Agnes, Frances Mayes, James Bowmar, Mary Vivian, and Wiley Pope, Jr., were living in Jackson, Hinds County, Mississippi, by 1870. Wiley Pope Harris established a law practice in Jackson, and he also served in the Mississippi legislature.

About 1884, James Bowmar Harris married Sallie McBee McWillie, granddaughter of Mississippi governors William McWillie and Tilghman Tucker. The couple had four children, Frances Mayes, Sallie McWillie, Wiley Pope II, and William McWillie II. In December of 1891, Harris established a law partnership with Edward Mayes, former dean of the law school of the University of Mississippi in Oxford. The law firm of Mayes and Harris counted among their clients the Illinois Central, Memphis and Charleston, Mississippi and Tennessee, and Yazoo and Mississippi Valley railroad companies and the Western Union Telegraph Company. The law partnership of Mayes and Harris was dissolved about 1910, and both attorneys established separate offices. Harris also served as United States attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. He was a member of the Mississippi and Jackson bar associations. Harris served one term as president of the Mississippi State Bar Association between 1919 and 1920. He practiced law until his death at the age of seventy-one on April 26, 1923.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of the incoming and outgoing correspondence of James Bowmar Harris, miscellaneous correspondence of other family members, annotated typescripts of all correspondence, and family genealogical material. The majority of the collection concerns the genealogical research of Harris on the Harris and McWillie families of Mississippi and the Blewett, Earle, Hampton, Harrison, Lee, McBee, Tucker, and Turner families of Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The correspondence of James Bowmar Harris consists of letters from family members, including his cousins, the Reverend George C. Harris, J. B. Harrison, Blewett Lee, Callie Sykes, and Callie C. Young, regarding the Early, Flournoy, Hampton, Harris, Harrison, Lee, Tucker, and Turner families. Three letters are unrelated to genealogical research. Two letters are from James Z. George, and they concern Georges health and a Mr. Gordon. The remaining letter is from E. H. Anderson discussing his fathers resignation.

There is miscellaneous correspondence from other family members, including Elisha W. Harris, the Reverend G. W. D. Harris, the Reverend George C. Harris, Robert Stewart, and Ansel Wold, clerk of the United States Congress. Subjects of these letters include the Harris, McBee, Myrick, Tucker, and Turner families. Of particular interest is a letter from the Reverend G. W. D. Harris to Elisha W. Harris discussing his experiences as a Union prisoner-of-war. Also of note is a letter from Ansel Wold to Sallie McWillie Harris asking her to proofread the enclosed biographies of several Tucker family members who served in the United States Congress. The genealogical material consists of research notes of Sallie McWillie Harris and Sallie McBee Tucker on the McBee and Tucker families, a Harris family lineage chart, and research notes on the Earle, Harris, and Harrison families.

Series Identification:

  1. Incoming and Outgoing Correspondence (James Bowmar Harris). 1893-1897; n.d. 1 folder.

    Box 1, folder 1.

  2. Miscellaneous Correspondence (Harris Family). 1849-1927; n.d. 1 folder.

    Box 1, folder 2.

  3. Genealogical Material. n.d. 1 folder.

    Box 1, folder 3.