Name William Harris | Died 1868 | |
William Littleton Harris (1807–1868) was a Mississippi jurist.
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Early life
Harris was born in 1807 Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia. Harris moved to Mississippi in 1837 and lived in Lowndes County.
Career
Harris served as a circuit judge, helped write the Mississippi code of 1857. In 1858 Harris joined the Mississippi High Court of Errors and Appeals (now known as the Supreme Court of Mississippi). His best-known opinion was Mitchell v. Wells, decided in 1859. The case prohibited a formerly enslaved woman from inheriting from the estate of her white father. In essence, it held that once someone was a slave in Mississippi she would always be considered a slave, even though her father (and owner) had taken her to Ohio and freed her. The case illustrates the extreme southern position; it illustrates the uncompromising nature of southern law on the eve of Civil War.
Harris served as a commissioner to Georgia during the secession winter and delivered an address to the Georgia legislature supporting secession.
After the war his appointment to the High Court of Errors and Appeals of Mississippi was overthrown by president Andrew Johnson in 1867. He then moved to Memphis and formed a law firm with judge Hentry T. Ellett and Confederate Colonel James Phelan, Sr.
Death
Harris died of pneumonia November on November 27, 1868.