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Burton Norvell Harrison Family
A Register of Its Papers in the Library of Congress


Prepared by Dennis Bilges 
Revised and expanded by Patrick Kerwin and Margaret H. McAleer 
2000
Manuscript Division, Library of Congress 
Washington, D.C.
Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress 
Manuscript Division, 2003


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Collection Summary

Title:    Burton Norvell Harrison family papers, 1812 - 1926 (bulk 1913 -
1921 ) 
ID No.:    MSS25080 
Creator: Harrison, Burton Norvell, 1838-1904 
Extent:    18,600 items ; 54 containers plus 3 oversize ; 22 linear feet 
Repository:    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C. 
Abstract:    Correspondence, diaries, reports, memoranda, manuscripts of
articles, speeches, and books, and other papers. Includes papers of J. B.
Harrison, Samuel Jordan Harrison, Burton Norvell Harrison, Mrs. Burton
Harrison (formerly Constance Cary), Fairfax Harrison, and Francis Burton
Harrison.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of
person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed
alphabetically therein. 
Names:
Harrison, Burton Norvell, 1838-1904 
Adams, Charles Francis, 1835-1915--Correspondence 
Arnold, Matthew, 1822-1888--Correspondence 
Beauregard, G. T. (Gustave Toutant), 1818-1893--Correspondence 
Blaine, James Gillespie, 1830-1893--Correspondence 
Carnegie, Andrew, 1835-1919--Correspondence 
Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873--Correspondence 
Clay, Henry, 1777-1852--Correspondence 
Cleveland, Frances Folsom, 1864-1947--Correspondence 
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908--Correspondence 
Craig, Austin, b. 1872--Correspondence 
Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897--Correspondence 
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889. 
Davis, Varina, 1826-1906 --Correspondence 
Depew, Chauncey M. (Chauncey Mitchell), 1834-1928--Correspondence 
Falkland, Byron Plantagenet, Viscount, 1845-1922--Correspondence 
Falkland, Mary Reade, Lady, d. 1920 --Correspondence 
Field, Stephen Johnson, 1816-1899--Correspondence 
Garrison, Lindley M. (Lindley Miller), 1864-1932--Correspondence 
Gurley, Ralph Randolph, 1797-1872--Correspondence 
Harris, Joel Chandler, 1848-1908--Correspondence 
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901--Correspondence 
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894--Correspondence 
Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920--Correspondence 
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845 
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826 --Correspondence 
Lee, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1807-1870--Correspondence 
Madison, James, 1751-1836 
Norvell, William W.--Correspondence 
Osias, Camilo, b. 1889--Correspondence 
Osmeña, Sergio, 1878-1961--Correspondence 
Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946--Correspondence 
Pardo de Tavera, T. H. (Trinidad Hermenegildo),
1857-1925--Correspondence 
Quezon, Manuel Luis, 1878-1944--Correspondence 
Stephens, Alexander Hamilton, 1812-1883--Correspondence 
Stuart, Jeb, 1833-1864--Correspondence 
Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892--Correspondence 
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence 
Harrison family 
Poplar Forest (Va.) 
Southern Railway (U.S.) 
Harrison, Burton, Mrs., 1843-1920. Papers 
Harrison, Fairfax, 1869-1938. Papers 
Harrison, Francis Burton, 1873-1957. Papers 
Harrison, J. B. (Jesse Burton), 1805-1841. Papers 
Harrison, Samuel Jordan, 1771-1846. Papers 

Subjects:
Land tenure--Virginia--Bedford County 
Railroads--United States 
Confederate States of America--Politics and government 
Delaware--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Prisoners and prisons 
Europe--Description and travel 
Fort Delaware (Del.) 
New York (N.Y.)--Politics and government--1865-1950 
New York (N.Y.)--Social life and customs 
Philippines--History--1898-1946 
United States--Foreign relations--1913-1921 
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865 
United States--Politics and government--1829-1837 
Virginia--Politics and government--1885-1950 

Occupations:
Lawyers
Secretaries

Administrative Information
Provenance:
The papers of the Burton Norvell Harrison family were given to the
Library of Congress between 1909 and 1931 by Francis Burton Harrison.

Processing History:
The papers of the Burton Norvell Harrison family were processed in 1970.
The finding aid was revised in 2000.

Copyright Status:
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Harrison family
is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Preferred Citation:
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: Burton Norvell Harrison Family Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Notes
Samuel Jordan Harrison
Date Event 
1771 , Mar. 26 Born, Queens Creek plantation, Skimino, York County,
Va. 
1789 , Aug. 27 Apprenticed to Joseph Anthony, a merchant in Lynchburg,
Va. 
1793  Business trip to Philadelphia, Pa.; contracted yellow fewer and was
treated by Benjamin Rush 
1794  Became a Mason; reprimanded by the Quakers of the South River
Meeting 
1801 , Feb. 8 Married Sarah Hudson Burton 
1805 , Jan. 10 Charter member, Lynchburg, Va., government as one of the
city's four aldermen 
1807  Recorder of Lynchburg, Va. 
1809  Purchased part of Thomas Jefferson's "Popular Forest" estate,
Bedford County, Va. 
1819  Financial crisis in Harrison's business 
1846 , Feb. 8 Died, Lynchburg, Va. 

Jesse Burton Harrison
Date Event 
1805 , Apr. 7 Born, Lynchburg, Va., the son of Samuel Jordan and Sarah
Hudson Burton Harrison 
1821  Graduated, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Va. 
1824  Visited Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and met the Marquis de
Lafayette 
1825  L.L.B., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.; admitted to bar in
Va. 
1825 - 1829  Practiced law in Lynchburg, Va. 
1827 , Sept. 22 Delivered address at Hampden-Sydney College,
Hampden-Sydney, Va., "A Discourse on the Prospects of Letters and Taste
in Virginia"; became a member of the American Colonization Society 
1828 , Sept. 21 Met Henry Clay whom he supported politically; opposed
Andrew Jackson and his financial policies 
1829  Grand tour of Europe; studied at the University of Göttingen,
Göttingen, Germany, at the suggestion of George Ticknor and Edward
Everett 
1831  Delivered oration on death of James Monroe at the Presbyterian
church in Lynchburg, Va.
Delegate to national Republican Party convention, Baltimore, Md.
Met Salmon P. Chase in Cincinnati, Ohio, on way down the Ohio River to
New Orleans, La. 
1832  Moved to New Orleans, La., and admitted to Louisiana bar; met
Daniel Webster and Edward Everett during trips to Saratoga Springs,
N.Y., and New England for health reasons 
1835 , July 11 Married Frances Braud 
1836  Editor of Louisiana Advertiser, a Whig newspaper in New Orleans,
La. 
1841  Died, New Orleans, La. 

Burton Norvell Harrison
Date Event 
1838 , July 14 Born, New Orleans, La., the son of Jesse Burton and
Frances Braud Harrison 
1854 - 1855  Attended University of Mississippi, University, Miss. 
1859  Graduated, Yale University, New Haven, Conn., where he edited the
Yale Literary Magazine
Became associate professor of mathematics at the University of
Mississippi, University, Miss., and began the study of law 
1862 , Feb. Private secretary to Jefferson Davis 
1865 , May 10 Taken prisoner by Union Army; transferred from Old
Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C., to Fort Delaware; continued the study
of law in prison aided by Yale University classmates Eugene Schuyler and
S. Davis Page 
1866  European trip following release from Fort Delaware
Moved to New York, N.Y.; admitted to New York Supreme Court bar and
joined the law office of Judge Fullerton 
1867 , Nov. 26 Married Constance Cary 
1875  Secretary and counsel, Rapid Transit Commission, New York, N.Y. 
1876  Active in Samuel J. Tilden's presidential campaign 
1880  Attended Democratic convention in Cincinnati, Ohio; strongly
opposed William Jennings Bryan and his programs and gradually lost
interest in politics after 1880 
1883 , Nov. Published "Capture of Jefferson Davis" in Century Magazine 
1893  Declined appointments by Grover Cleveland as assistant secretary of
state and ambassador to Italy 
1904 , Mar. 29 Died, Washington, D.C. 

Constance Cary Harrison
Date Event 
1843 , Apr. 25 Born, Fairfax County, Va. 
1867 , Nov. 26 Married Burton Norvell Harrison 
1876 , July Published "A Little Centennial Lady" in Scribner's Monthly 
1890  Published Flower de Hundred (New York: Cassell. 301 pp.) 
1892  Published Belhaven Tales (New York: Century Company. 212 pp.)
Published A Daughter of the South, and Shorter Stories (New York:
Cassell. 281 pp.) 
1893  Published Sweet Bells Out of Tune (New York: Century. 231 pp.) 
1894  Published A Bachelor Maid (New York: Century Company. 224
pp.) 
1895  Published An Errant Wooing (New York: Century Company. 258
pp.)
Published A Virginia Cousin and Bar Harbor Tales (Boston and New
York: Lamson Wolffe and Company. 202 pp.) 
1899  Published The Anglomaniacs (New York: Century.Company. 216
pp.) 
1901  Published A Princess of the Hills: An Italian Romance (Boston:
Lothrop Publishing. 306 pp.) 
1904  Published Sylvia's Husband (New York: D. Appleton. 221 pp.) 
1905  Published The Carlyles: A Study of the Fall of the Confederacy"
(New York: D. Appleton. 283 pp.) 
1906  Published Latter-Day Sweethearts (New York and London: The
Authors and Newspapers Association. 323 pp.) 
1911  Published Recollections Grave and Gay (New York: C. Scribners.
386 pp.) 
1920 , Nov. 21 Died, Washington, D.C. 

Fairfax Harrison
Date Event 
1869 , Mar. 13 Born, New York, N.Y., the son of Burton Norvell and
Constance Cary Harrison 
1890  B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 
1891  M.A. and legal studies, Columbia University, New York, N.Y. 
1892  Admitted to New York bar; practiced law with firm of Bangs,
Stetson, Tracy, and MacVeagh 
1894  Married Hetty Cary 
1896  Solicitor, Southern Railway Co.; moved to Washington, D.C. 
1901  Published A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad
System of the Southern Railway Company (Washington, D.C.: 1519 pp.) 
1903  Assistant to Samuel Spencer, president of the Southern Railway Co. 
1906  Vice president, Southern Railway Co. 
1910 - 1913  President of the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railway
Co. 
1913  Elected president of the Southern Railway Co. 
1913  Translated and published Roman Farm Management: The Treatises
of Cato and Varro (New York: Macmillan. 365 pp.) 
1917 - 1920  Chairman, Railroads War Board 
1924  As president of Southern Railway Co., permitted payment of first
common stock dividend in company's history 
1938 , Feb.2 Died, Baltimore, Md. 

Francis Burton Harrison
Date Event 
1873 , Dec.18 Born, New York, N.Y., the son of Burton Norvell and
Constance Cary Harrison 
1895  B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 
1897  L.L.B., New York City School of Law, New York, N.Y. 
1898  Admitted to bar in New York state 
1900 , June 7 Married Mary Crocker (died 1905) 
1903 - 1905  Member, Fifty-eighth Congress, 13th District of New York 
1904  Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor of New York 
1907  Married Mabel Judson Cox (divorced 1919) 
1907 - 1913  Member, Sixty-third Congress, 20th District of New York 
1913 - 1921  Governor-general of the Philippines 
1919  Married Elizabeth Wrentmore (divorced 1927) 
1927 , Apr. 8 Married Margaret Wrentmore (sister of third wife, later
divorced) 
1933  Retired to estate, Teanich, in Alness, Scotland 
1949  Married Maria Teresa 
1957 , Nov. 22 Died, Flemington, N.J. 

Scope and Content Note

The papers of the Burton Harrison family span the years 1812-1926 and
consist of the papers Samuel Jordan Harrison (1771-1846), merchant in
Lynchburg, Virginia; Jesse Burton Harrison (1805-1841), lawyer and
Whig newspaper editor; Burton Norvell Harrison (1838-1904), Jefferson
Davis's private secretary during the Civil War; Mrs. Burton Harrison
(1843-1920), short story writer and novelist; Fairfax Harrison
(1869-1938), railroad executive; and Francis Burton Harrison
(1873-1957), congressman and governor-general of the Philippines from
1913-1921. The papers are arranged in seven series: Family
Correspondence and the papers of Samuel Jordan Harrison, Jesse Burton
Harrison, Burton Norvell Harrison, Mrs. Burton Harrison, Fairfax
Harrison, and Francis Burton Harrison. 
The Family Correspondence series covers the period from 1824 to 1922. A
lengthy correspondence between Jesse Burton Harrison and his
brother-in-law, William W. Norvell, contains Norvell's reflections on
national and state politics during the Jacksonian era and Harrison's
accounts of his travels through Europe between 1829 and 1831. Of further
interest are letters written by Burton Norvell Harrison during the Civil War
while serving as Jefferson Davis's private secretary and after the war as a
prisoner at Fort Delaware. The series also includes letters written by
Constance Cary Harrison (Mrs. Burton Harrison) while living and
traveling in Europe in the 1890s.

The Samuel Jordan Harrison series consists of letters written to Harrison
by Thomas Jefferson. Topics discussed include civic affairs in Lynchburg
and Harrison's purchase from Jefferson of a tract of land in Bedford
County, Virginia, originally part of Jefferson's Poplar Forest estate.

The Jesse Burton Harrison series includes letters from Henry Clay, Salmon
P. Chase, and Ralph Randolph Gurley. The series also contains Harrison's
notes on conversations with James Madison on a wide variety of topics
during Harrison's visit to Montpilier in November 1827. Printed matter
includes a broadside from the American Colonization Society.

The Burton Norvell Harrison material includes correspondence with
leading Confederate political and military figures, such as Robert E. Lee,
Jeb Stuart, and Alexander Hamilton Stephens. While in prison at Fort
Delaware after the Civil War, Harrison corresponded with Varina Davis,
wife of Jefferson Davis, concerning her husband's welfare and the matter
of Confederate postwar monetary obligations. Miscellaneous items include
a series of drawings executed by Constance Cary, Harrison's future wife,
depicting a visit she made to the Delaware prison. After his release from
prison, Harrison moved to New York City where he established a
successful law practice. Later correspondence includes letters to and from
Grover Cleveland and United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen
Johnson Field.

The papers of Constance Cary Harrison document her literary career and
life as a New York hostess. The material includes a number of diaries, the
first of which describes the adjustment of the newly-married couple to life
in New York after Burton Harrison's release from prison. Correspondents
include Charles Francis Adams, Matthew Arnold, G. T. Beauregard, James
Gillespie Blaine, Andrew Carnegie, Frances Folsom Cleveland, Charles A.
Dana, Depew Varina Davis, Chauncey DePew, Lord and Lady Falkland,
Joel Chandler Harris, Benjamin Harrison, Oliver Wendell Holmes,
William Dean Howells, Robert E. Lee, Gifford Pinchot, Walt Whitman,
and Woodrow Wilson. The series also includes manuscripts and drafts of
many of Harrison's literary works, beginning with her first published story,
"A Little Centennial Lady," which appeared in Scribner's Monthly in 1876.

The papers of Fairfax Harrison concern his role as a railroad executive and
president of the Southern Railway Company. The series includes a
statement by Harrison on Woodrow Wilson's eight-hour day order and
correspondence between Harrison and his brother, Francis Burton
Harrison, while the latter was governor-general of the Philippines.

The collection is strongest in material for the period 1913-1921 covering
Francis Burton Harrison's tenure as governor-general. His papers provide
insight into the diplomatic history of Woodrow Wilson's presidency
relating to the United States occupation of the Philippines. A strong
advocate of Philippine independence, Harrison worked toward this end
during his governorship and developed important friendships with such
noted Philippine leaders as Austin Craig, Camilo Osias, Sergio Osmeña,
T. H. Pardo de Tavera, and Manuel Luis Quezon, all of whom are
represented in the general correspondence.

The Subject File in this series includes reports and memoranda described
as "Philippine Papers" providing important information on the islands
during this period. The Subject File also contains "Personal and
Confidential" letters to Lindley M. Garrison, secretary of war, and "Special
Dossier" files relating to Manuel L. Oregon, W. Cameron Forbes,
Harrison's predecessor, and the "Slavery in the Philippines" controversy
between William C. Rivers and Dean Worcester. The series contains some
of Harrison's speeches and writings and a large collection of newspaper
clippings and other printed matter concerning the Philippines. A small
group of congressional files from Harrison's two terms as a representative
from New York completes the series.

Aris Sonis Focisque: The Harrisons of Skimino was edited by Fairfax
Harrison based on material collected by Francis Burton Harrison and
privately printed in 1910. The study traces of the Harrison family from its
early Quaker origins in seventeenth-century Virginia.

Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in eight series:

Family Correspondence, 1824-1922, n.d. 
Samuel Jordan Harrison, 1812-1817. 
Jesse Burton Harrison, 1822-1882. 
Burton Norvell Harrison, 1838-1928, n.d. 
Constance Cary Harrison, 1859-1919. 
Fairfax Harrison, 1886-1943. 
Francis Burton Harrison, 1899-1926, n.d. 
Oversize, 1859-1914, n.d.

April 15, 2004