Presidents and the Law: The Legal Career of Benjamin Harrison
If you every get a chance to visit Harrison House in Indianapolis (and I have!), I hope you encounter wonderful volunteers like I did who think so highly of Harrison that they would volunteer on his campaigns today if he were still alive. Even though many scholars don't list Harrison in the top tier when they rank the Presidents, there is much to admire about the man. He was a brave soldier, a strong supporter of the American worker, and it sounds like he was a very good lawyer too.
In 1852, Benjamin Harrison graduated from Miami University in Oxford. After completing college, Harrison studied law at the Cincinnati law office of Storer & Gwynne. Before completing his law studies, Harrison returned to Oxford to get married to Caroline Scott. He then returned to live on his father's farm while finishing his law studies. He inherited $800 after the death of an aunt, and used the money to move with Caroline to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1854. There he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in the office of John H. Ray. In 1858, Harrison entered into a law partnership with William Wallace and they opened their office called Wallace & Harrison.
In 1860, Harrison was elected as a Supreme Court reporter, a position which he said that he valued for its educational benefit. In 1862, Harrison left the practise of law to fight in the Civil War. Returning to Indianapolis after his service in the war, he re-establishing his law practice and returning to his office of Supreme Court reporter. He became a partner in the firm of Porter, Harrison, & Fishback.
While practicing law in Indianapolis, Harrison was the prosecuting attorney in a notorious case, the sensational double murder at Cold Springs of businessman Jacob Young and his wife in 1868. The incident shocked locals Indianapolis. Among those charged with murder was Nancy Clem, wife of a local well-respected grocer. Mrs. Clem allegedly was in debt to Mr. Young. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. In the second trial, Harrison personally took over the prosecution. It must have been a long trial because it is reported that Harrison called more than 250 witnesses and established that Mrs. Clem's alibi witness was bribed. His final argument to the jury lasted for eight hours (not unusual in some cases today, and perhaps not unusual then when people seemed to have a remarkable tolerance for listening to long speeches). Harrison tugged at the jury's heart-strings as he described the murder scene and spoke of the victim's orphaned daughter saying:
"It was a scene to freeze one's blood. Not only dead but burned! The little orphan left at home waited in vain for their return that night. How slow the moments must have passed."
The jury deliberated for 48 hours and came back with a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. Nancy Clem was the first woman convicted of murder in Indiana. The case attracted national attention.
In 1870, Harrison was with the firm Porter, Harrison, & Hines. He was appointed by President Grant to defend General Alvin P. Hovey and others in a suit for damages brought by Lambdin P. Milligan before the United States Circuit Court in 1871. Milligan had been found guilty in 1864 of antiwar activities and sentenced to death by a military commission in Indianapolis. In 1866, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling basing the decision on the fact that Milligan was a private citizen and should have been tried by a civil court not a military court. Milligan then filed a state suit claiming false arrest and imprisonment. Defendants in the case included former Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and General Ulysses S. Grant, who was now president. This case was one of the first civil rights trials in which a plaintiff sought monetary damages for a violations of his Constitutional rights.
Harrison's used the tactic of getting on record the whole story of Milligan's treasonous activity. His intention was likely to play to the jury's patriotic sentiments and to reduce any damages that may be awarded. According to reports, Harrison was not one to bully witnesses. His style was to present facts in a gentlemanly and businesslike manner. Harrison's tactics worked, as damages set at $5 and cost. Apparently Milligan was so incensed with the verdict that he never collected his damages. Milligan's attorney was Thomas A. Hendricks, who would later become Governor of Indiana and then Vice President under Cleveland in 1884.
Harrison tried fifteen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and one before the International Tribunal in Paris. While Harrison and Hendricks were opposing counsel in the Milligan case in Federal Court, they were also on opposite sides in the U.S. Supreme Court case New Albany v. Burke. Harrison represented the city while Hendricks represented Burke and other taxpayers of New Albany. A Federal Court had issued an injunction requesting that the taxpayers be paid interest from the city on bonds issued to construct a railroad. Harrison was successful in convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the lower court's ruling. This was Harrison's first win before the nation's highest court.
In 1874, the firm became Harrison, Miller, & Elam and Harrison became the senior partner. He lost the case of Burke v. Smith in the US Supreme Court. The issue in that case was whether stockholders in the Indiana railroad corporation could be held liable for amounts in excess of the face amount of the stock. The company had become insolvent and wished for the stockholders to pay more. Harrison argued for the railroad, and the subscribers were represented by Michael Kerr. Appearing in the case with Kerr was James A. Garfield, making this the only time two future presidents were opposing counsel in the same case.
In 1881, Harrison was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate. While a senator, he argued six cases before the Supreme Court. Over his career he enjoyed mixed success in his Supreme Court arguments.
After serving as President of the United States from 1889 to 1893, Harrison returned to the practice of law. He acted as plaintiff's counsel in a complicated trial concerning the estate of James Morrison in Richmond, Indiana, in 1895. The estate in question was worth over $600,000 plus real estate. Harrison collected a large fee. During the trial the opposing counsel accused Harrison of using his status of ex-president to influence the judge and jury. Harrison resented the assertion. He told the jury:
I assert there is no ex-President in this case. I am here to discharge the sworn duties of my profession as I see them. If the people of this country have seen cause to honor me, it is no reason why I should not appear in the capacity of counselor nor a reason why I should be driven from this court.
In 1899, Harrison was selected as senior counsel to represent Venezuela before the court of arbitration in Paris in a border dispute between Great Britain and the Republic of Venezuela. The long time dispute was over the border between Venezuela and British Guiana. Tensions arose between Britain and the United States over the issue. The United States proposed arbitration and Britain eventually agreed to resolving the issue in this manner. Harrison was not successful in the case and the line that was finally drawn in 1899 favored Great Britain.
In Harrison's last case before the Indiana Supreme Court in 1900, he was successful in convincing the court in a dispute involving bonding limitations under Indiana's constitution. He convinced a divided court that city and school corporations were separate, giving school corporations much greater authority in the raising of funds through the issuance of bonds. This case was important to the development of the public education system in Indiana.
Harrison developed what was thought to be influenza or grippe in February 1901. He died from pneumonia at his home on Wednesday, March 13, 1901, at the age of 67.
In 1852, Benjamin Harrison graduated from Miami University in Oxford. After completing college, Harrison studied law at the Cincinnati law office of Storer & Gwynne. Before completing his law studies, Harrison returned to Oxford to get married to Caroline Scott. He then returned to live on his father's farm while finishing his law studies. He inherited $800 after the death of an aunt, and used the money to move with Caroline to Indianapolis, Indiana in 1854. There he was admitted to the bar and began practicing law in the office of John H. Ray. In 1858, Harrison entered into a law partnership with William Wallace and they opened their office called Wallace & Harrison.
In 1860, Harrison was elected as a Supreme Court reporter, a position which he said that he valued for its educational benefit. In 1862, Harrison left the practise of law to fight in the Civil War. Returning to Indianapolis after his service in the war, he re-establishing his law practice and returning to his office of Supreme Court reporter. He became a partner in the firm of Porter, Harrison, & Fishback.
While practicing law in Indianapolis, Harrison was the prosecuting attorney in a notorious case, the sensational double murder at Cold Springs of businessman Jacob Young and his wife in 1868. The incident shocked locals Indianapolis. Among those charged with murder was Nancy Clem, wife of a local well-respected grocer. Mrs. Clem allegedly was in debt to Mr. Young. The first trial resulted in a hung jury. In the second trial, Harrison personally took over the prosecution. It must have been a long trial because it is reported that Harrison called more than 250 witnesses and established that Mrs. Clem's alibi witness was bribed. His final argument to the jury lasted for eight hours (not unusual in some cases today, and perhaps not unusual then when people seemed to have a remarkable tolerance for listening to long speeches). Harrison tugged at the jury's heart-strings as he described the murder scene and spoke of the victim's orphaned daughter saying:
"It was a scene to freeze one's blood. Not only dead but burned! The little orphan left at home waited in vain for their return that night. How slow the moments must have passed."
The jury deliberated for 48 hours and came back with a verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree. Nancy Clem was the first woman convicted of murder in Indiana. The case attracted national attention.
In 1870, Harrison was with the firm Porter, Harrison, & Hines. He was appointed by President Grant to defend General Alvin P. Hovey and others in a suit for damages brought by Lambdin P. Milligan before the United States Circuit Court in 1871. Milligan had been found guilty in 1864 of antiwar activities and sentenced to death by a military commission in Indianapolis. In 1866, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling basing the decision on the fact that Milligan was a private citizen and should have been tried by a civil court not a military court. Milligan then filed a state suit claiming false arrest and imprisonment. Defendants in the case included former Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton and General Ulysses S. Grant, who was now president. This case was one of the first civil rights trials in which a plaintiff sought monetary damages for a violations of his Constitutional rights.
Harrison's used the tactic of getting on record the whole story of Milligan's treasonous activity. His intention was likely to play to the jury's patriotic sentiments and to reduce any damages that may be awarded. According to reports, Harrison was not one to bully witnesses. His style was to present facts in a gentlemanly and businesslike manner. Harrison's tactics worked, as damages set at $5 and cost. Apparently Milligan was so incensed with the verdict that he never collected his damages. Milligan's attorney was Thomas A. Hendricks, who would later become Governor of Indiana and then Vice President under Cleveland in 1884.
Harrison tried fifteen cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and one before the International Tribunal in Paris. While Harrison and Hendricks were opposing counsel in the Milligan case in Federal Court, they were also on opposite sides in the U.S. Supreme Court case New Albany v. Burke. Harrison represented the city while Hendricks represented Burke and other taxpayers of New Albany. A Federal Court had issued an injunction requesting that the taxpayers be paid interest from the city on bonds issued to construct a railroad. Harrison was successful in convincing the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the lower court's ruling. This was Harrison's first win before the nation's highest court.
In 1874, the firm became Harrison, Miller, & Elam and Harrison became the senior partner. He lost the case of Burke v. Smith in the US Supreme Court. The issue in that case was whether stockholders in the Indiana railroad corporation could be held liable for amounts in excess of the face amount of the stock. The company had become insolvent and wished for the stockholders to pay more. Harrison argued for the railroad, and the subscribers were represented by Michael Kerr. Appearing in the case with Kerr was James A. Garfield, making this the only time two future presidents were opposing counsel in the same case.
In 1881, Harrison was elected by the Indiana General Assembly to the U.S. Senate. While a senator, he argued six cases before the Supreme Court. Over his career he enjoyed mixed success in his Supreme Court arguments.
After serving as President of the United States from 1889 to 1893, Harrison returned to the practice of law. He acted as plaintiff's counsel in a complicated trial concerning the estate of James Morrison in Richmond, Indiana, in 1895. The estate in question was worth over $600,000 plus real estate. Harrison collected a large fee. During the trial the opposing counsel accused Harrison of using his status of ex-president to influence the judge and jury. Harrison resented the assertion. He told the jury:
I assert there is no ex-President in this case. I am here to discharge the sworn duties of my profession as I see them. If the people of this country have seen cause to honor me, it is no reason why I should not appear in the capacity of counselor nor a reason why I should be driven from this court.
In 1899, Harrison was selected as senior counsel to represent Venezuela before the court of arbitration in Paris in a border dispute between Great Britain and the Republic of Venezuela. The long time dispute was over the border between Venezuela and British Guiana. Tensions arose between Britain and the United States over the issue. The United States proposed arbitration and Britain eventually agreed to resolving the issue in this manner. Harrison was not successful in the case and the line that was finally drawn in 1899 favored Great Britain.
In Harrison's last case before the Indiana Supreme Court in 1900, he was successful in convincing the court in a dispute involving bonding limitations under Indiana's constitution. He convinced a divided court that city and school corporations were separate, giving school corporations much greater authority in the raising of funds through the issuance of bonds. This case was important to the development of the public education system in Indiana.
Harrison developed what was thought to be influenza or grippe in February 1901. He died from pneumonia at his home on Wednesday, March 13, 1901, at the age of 67.