HARRISON, EMILY STEWART, 1874-1973.
Emily Stewart Harrison papers > Harrison Family papers

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Scope and Content Note

Among the Emily Harrison papers are materials that pertain primarly to other Harrison relatives including her father, Z.D. Harrison; her aunt and uncle, Emily Hendree [Stewart] Park and Robert Emory Park; her sister, Fanneal, and a more distant relative, James M. Ball. There are also papers that belonged to Z.D. Harrison's friend, Judge Richard H. Clark.

Prominent Atlanta attorney Zadok Daniel Harrison (1842-1935) served as Clerk of Georgia's Supreme Court for sixty-six years (1868-1934). He attended Oglethorpe University in 1862 until he left to fight in the Civil War; upon his return he practiced law in Atlanta and shortly thereafter began his tenure with the supreme court. He helped organize the Georgia Bar Association and served as its president in 1922-1923.

Harrison's personal papers include a small amount of correspondence, most of it concerning his service as Georgia's Supreme Court Clerk and as a member of the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church. There are, however, a few family letters located here. [See Series 2 for additional personal letters.] Correspondents include Bishop Lewis W. Burton and Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court Richard B. Russell. A few articles and speeches are included, notably a biographical sketch of Judge Richard H. Clark, some of whose papers are located in this series. Among the personal papers are clippings, insurance papers, and a few items having to do with the Georgia Bar Association (1886-1914), the Georgia Supreme Court (1866-1869) and Oglethorpe University.

The Z.D. Harrison papers also include a substantial number of records having to do with the Protestant Episcopal Church. Some of these materials pertain to Harrison's own church, St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Atlanta and include the Women's Auxiliary Minute Book (1900-1906) and church finance committee records for 1885. [See series 8 for a photograph of Cary B. Wilmer, rector (1900-1924).]

A greater number of records in this series have to do with the Diocese of Atlanta and were accumulated during Harrison's membership on the Board of Officers of the Diocesan Corporation, and the Diocesan Standing and Finance Committees. Most of the records, dating 1908-1925, concern the activities of these three bodies and include correspondence, minutes, and reports. They are arranged chronologically by type of document. The papers address various topics including the election of clergy, the administration of church pension funds, home missions and church property.

A small group of materials concerns the Georgia Diocese of the Protestant Episcopal Church and includes several items about John Waltrous Beckwith, Bishop of Georgia. Among these papers are letters, clippings, writings, legal papers and a biographical sketch. [See Series 8 for photographs of Bishop Beckwith and an engraving of Bishop Stephen Elliott.] The second section of Series 7 contains two folders of items having to do with Emily Hendree [Stewart] Park, one of Emily Harrison's aunts, after her marriage to Robert Emory Park. Park, an Emory College alumnus and trustee was active in Georgia politics and served as state treasurer for several terms beginning 1 October 1900. The Park items in this series concern some of the couple's activities as well as Mrs. Parks' work with the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs. Included are copies of two wills Mrs. Park made prior to her marriage in 1892. [See Series 2, Correspondence, for other documents written by or about Mr. and Mrs. Park.]

Other miscellaneous Harrison family items include some of Fanneal Harrison's writings and two folders containing newspaper clippings and miscellaneous memorabilia having to do with members of the Harrison family.

James M. Ball, Atlanta banker and businessman, married Emily Harrison's great aunt, Sarah Hendree. A few of his papers, primarily concerning business dealing, appear in this series of collected family papers. Included are letters, legal documents and financial records dating 1854-1882, which pertain to his business affairs in Atlanta involving the Atlanta Paper Mills (later known as the Fulton Paper Mills). The pre-1865 papers relate to Ball's business activities in Boston, New York, Savannah, Macon, and Tuskegee, Alabama.

Another small group of papers, primarily legal records, belonged to Atlanta attorney and judge Richard H. Clark (1824-1896). The papers apparently fell into the hands of Harrison family members through his friendship with Z.D. Harrison. Clark served in the Georgia state senate in 1849, the Secession Convention in 1861 and as judge of the southwestern circuit, 1862-1866. He moved to Atlanta after the Civil War and sat on the bench of both the Atlanta City Court and the Stone Mountain Circuit. He edited, along with Jared Irwin and Thomas R.R. Cobb, the 1861 Code of the State of Georgia. Clark's papers include deeds, mortgages, and other legal documents drawn up in various Georgia counties by him and his partner, Osborne Augustus Lochrane.

Arrangement Note

Arranged by record type.