Christopher Columbus HARRIS, Congress, AL (1842-1935)

HARRIS, Christopher Columbus, a Representative from Alabama; born near Mount Hope, Lawrence County, Ala., January 28, 1842; educated in the common schools and also by private tutors; enlisted in the Confederate Army in 1861 as a private in Company F, Sixteenth Alabama Infantry; was subsequently promoted to the rank of lieutenant; taken as a prisoner to Camp Chase, Ohio, where he remained until the close of the war; clerk of the circuit court of Lawrence County 1865-1867; studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Moulton, Ala., in 1868; moved to Decatur, Ala., in 1872 and continued the practice of law; in 1887 assisted in organizing the First National Bank of Decatur, of which he served as president until January 1913; organized the Bank of Commerce in 1913 and became its president; chairman of the Democratic executive committee of the eighth congressional district; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of William Richardson and served from May 11, 1914, to March 3, 1915; was not a candidate for renomination in 1914; became president of the City National Bank of Decatur, Ala.; elected chairman of the board of directors on January 10, 1928; died in Decatur, Ala., December 28, 1935; interment in Decatur Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present