Representative Daniel Mathias Harris View All Years

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Daniel Mathias Harris

Harrison County

Born in Montgomery County, Ohio, at the point where now is the city of Dayton, July 21, 1821. His parents died when he was but nine years of age, after which he went to Maury county, Tennessee, and there remained until 1854, in which year he moved to Audubon county, Iowa, where he practiced law. He was elected county judge of Audubon county, in 1856, being the second judge in that county. He served two terms and in the autumn of 1859 was elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of the Iowa Legislature. In 1886 he was elected to the twenty-first General Assembly. He was always a defender of the Democratic party and its platforms. He was a strong political factor in Iowa for thirty or forty years. His newspaper experience included the editorship of papers at Exira. It was he who aided in securing the grand lodge rule requiring all men to unite with the Odd Fellows' order in Iowa to refrain from addiction to drink or from engaging in the saloon business. This rule of the Iowa lodges obtained about 1885. Judge Harris was a stanch member of the Christian (Campbellite) church and ever stood for all that was high and noble in the community. He was married July 29, 1841, to Martha M. White native of Tennessee.

House District 42