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; Constance Cary 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, Constance Cary 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.