US Congressman. He attended Yale and Cambridge Law School. Harris served in the Maryland House in 1833 and 1836. After completing his legal studies he became an attorney in 1840. He was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1862 and reelected in 1864, serving from 1863 to 1867. A Confederate sympathizer even though he opposed secession, Harris was censured by the House in 1864 for making treasonable utterances. In 1865 he was tried by a military court for illegally harboring two paroled Confederate soldiers. He was convicted, sentenced to three years imprisonment and disqualified from holding any federal elective or appointive office. President Andrew Johnson remitted the sentence and Harris completed his second term in Congress. He then returned to his family estate, Ellenborough, and resumed the practice of law. (bio by: Bill McKern)