Representative Henry William Harrington

Henry William Harrington (September 12, 1825 – March 20, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician who served one term as a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1863 to 1865. A member of the Democratic Party during his congressional tenure, he participated in the legislative process at the federal level during the Civil War, representing the interests of his Indiana constituents in a period of profound national crisis.

Harrington was born near Cooperstown, New York, on September 12, 1825. He attended the common schools of the area before pursuing further education. In 1845 he entered Temple Hill Academy in Livingston County, New York, where he remained for three years. After completing his studies there, he read law in Geneseo, New York, preparing for a professional career in the legal field.

In 1848 Harrington was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Nunda, New York. He built his early legal career in that community before deciding to move west. In 1856 he relocated to Madison, Indiana, where he continued the practice of law and established himself in his adopted state. His growing involvement in public affairs and party politics in Indiana laid the groundwork for his later national service.

Harrington became active in Democratic Party politics and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1860, 1868, and 1872, participating in the selection of the party’s presidential nominees during a turbulent political era. He was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving from March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1865. As a member of the Democratic Party representing Indiana, Henry William Harrington contributed to the legislative process during his one term in office, taking part in debates and votes in the House of Representatives while the nation was engaged in civil war. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1864 to the Thirty-ninth Congress.

After leaving Congress, Harrington continued his public service in the federal revenue system. He served as collector of internal revenue for the third district of Indiana from October 27, 1866, to March 3, 1867, administering federal tax laws during the early Reconstruction period. Following this appointment, he resumed his legal practice, maintaining his professional identity primarily as an attorney even as he remained engaged in political life.

In 1872 Harrington moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he continued to practice law. Two years later, in 1874, he returned to Indiana, settled in Indianapolis, and again engaged in the practice of law. His political views evolved in response to the economic and monetary issues of the 1870s, and in 1876 he ran unsuccessfully as the Greenback Party candidate for governor of Indiana. In that race he finished third behind Democrat James D. Williams and Republican Benjamin Harrison, receiving 12,710 votes. After this gubernatorial campaign, he once more devoted himself to his legal work in Indianapolis.

Henry William Harrington died in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 20, 1882. He was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Alpena, Michigan, closing a career that combined legal practice, party activism, and service in both Congress and the federal revenue system during some of the most consequential decades of the nineteenth century.