Harris, Montgomery P.

HARRIS

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 12/31/2008 at 16:21:58

Montgomery P. Harris

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.31, Council Bluffs)
Montgomery P. Harris, Council Bluffs, by profession a lawyer, and who has recently become identified with the legal profession of Pottawattamie County, was born November 20, 1587, in the village of Sandy Hill, Washington Co., N. Y.; his father, Horace Harris, was born in the town of Queensbury, Warren Co., N. Y., in 1818, and was the son of Moses Harris, one of Washington's most trusted spies during the Revolution; the mother of M. P., A. A. (Boone) Harris, was born in the village of Greenville, Washington Co., N. Y., in 1822, and is a great-niece of the historical Daniel Boone; there were eight children in the family, of whom the subject of this sketch is the sixth. When eight years of age, he was placed in the common schools of his native village, which he continued to attend until his fourteenth year, when he was sent to the academy of that place, where he graduated in 1876. In the winter of the same year, he entered the law office of the Hon. N. G. Paris as a law student and clerk. His career as a law student is best told in his own words: "On the 8th day of December, 1876, I called on Mr. Paris for the purpose of making arrangements to study law in his office. My clothes were far from being of the finest texture, nor were they in the best of repair, my mother's time being occupied in looking after so many. I learned at an early age to be satisfied with the best she could do for me, and found no fault. I stepped into the library and made known my business. Mr. Paris looked me over from head to foot, during which trying time I concluded that he thought I had better go to work instead of spending my time studying law. He consented, however, to allow me the use of his books upon condition that I would do the office work, to which I quickly and gladly consented, and on the 11th I commenced a regular clerkship in his office. The four years I spent in his office as a student I shall never forget. They were trying and eventful ones in my life, and many times I was sorely tried and very nearly discouraged. I had everything imaginable to contend with; circumstances which were very embarassing, indeed, seemed to have been the rule instead of the exception." Through it all, however, the determination and will to succeed carried him through, and on the 10th of September, 1880, at the village of Saratoga Springs, he was admitted to the bar of New York. In May, 1882, Mr. Harris came to Council Bluffs, where his reference gave him an entree to the best society. He was shortly admitted to the bar of Iowa, and has begun the struggle of establishing a practice in Council Bluffs, in which his natural ability as an orator gives him great advantage. He is an Episcopalian, a member fo the society of I. O. O. F., and a stanch Republican.