Dick HARRIS

The following bio was taken from pages 226-227 of the book entitled "Rusk County History" compiled and edited and used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.

Transcribed by Gloria Riley

Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator

Dick Randolph Harris, the third son of Job Weston Harris and Adeline Fredonia Harris, was born October 1, 1871, in Henderson, Texas.

Dick’s childhood was much like that of most children of that day, growing up in a big family of ten children.

He went to work at thirteen as a "printer’s devil" at the Rusk County News, which his older brother, Edwin W. Harris, with C. W. Dodson, had established in 1880.

Within five years, he became the editor and the business manager, in spite of the fact that he had little schooling. He read and studied constantly, and by 1892 he was able to buy the paper. He was associated with the newspaper business all of his life, as were at least seven other members of his family.

In 1914, he was elected President of the Texas Press Association; an office Dick held two terms.

Later, a group of voters in Henderson got up a petition asking him to run for Mayor, and so it was that he became the second Mayor of Henderson. Mr. E. B. Alford, Sr. was the first Mayor.

During his terms, Dick served eight or ten years, many improvements were made in the town. The streets were paved; a waterworks system was installed at Willow Lake; streetlights were erected; and a fire department was established. A paid fireman, Jess Gibbons, was hired to take care of the one fire truck. At that time there was no salary for the office of mayor, but at the end of his terms the townspeople gave him a testimonial dinner and a handsome chest of sterling silver.

About 1896, he married Frankie Day. They had one daughter, Ethel, who was born January 2, 1897. Frankie died, and in August 1903, Dick married Anna Laura Camp. She was born in Henderson, but her family had moved away when she was a little girl. Their son, William Randolph Harris, was born August 3, 1904.

It’s amazing that a man with so many interests and so many responsibilities could have much time for his family, but he was a wonderful husband, a good father, often planning little treats and surprises for the children. The family always made quite a celebration of Christmas time, and he would stamp around in the ashes on the hearth, making Santa’s footprints.

In those days, newspapers had "script," a sort of "trade off" whereby hotel accommodations, railroad passes, and a good many other things could be paid for with newspaper advertising. There were always free passes to the circus, the County Fair, and to the shows that came to town, and so the family had a lot of little treats and trips.

As he grew older, Dick delegated more and more of the responsibilities of the Rusk County News to his younger brother, Walter Harris, who managed the business for a number of years.

Dick loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing, gardening and experimenting with plants. He lived on a twelve-acre farm, exactly one mile from the town square. There he raised many kinds of fruits and vegetables, even a few rows of corn and cotton. He was always trying to improve his crops, which he irrigated with the water hose.

Before long, the leisure, even the hunting and fishing began to bore him, so he went back to work as editor of the paper.

When oil was discovered in Rusk County in 1930, "Mr. Dick," as many people called him, decided that Henderson needed a daily paper, so he and his brother, Walter Harris, and George Bowman of Cleburne, established the News Publishing Company. On March 20, 1931 the first edition of the Henderson Daily News was published. The old Rusk County News was published for a couple of years longer.

It is incredible that a man with so many interests and so many duties could find the time to serve his city in so many ways. He was on the Board of Stewards of the First Methodist Church for nearly fifty years, an active member of the Masonic Lodge, on the Board of the Chamber of Commerce, which he helped establish, a charter member of the Lion’s Club, a director of the Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank which was later reorganized as the Citizens National Bank. He was a man of integrity who was more than generous with his time and his money. He loaned money to people he knew could not repay him, just because he thought they needed a "lift." He was a great patriot, too. Once I went into the living room where he’d gone to listen to the radio, to a baseball game. He was standing with his hand on his heart, as "The Star Spangled Banner" was being played. It didn’t matter that there was no one in the room!

It’s no wonder that "Uncle Dick" was one of the most beloved men in Rusk County! He had many friends, both black and white, all over the State of Texas. When he died, on December 6, 1949, the flags on the Post Office and on the Rusk county Courthouse were flown at half-mast and most of the business houses were closed for the funeral.

Written by Mrs. Virginia Harris