Randolph HARRIS

The following bio was taken from page 228 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

William Randolph Harris, born August 3, 1904, is a native of Henderson. He had planned to enter Southern Methodist University after high school graduation, because his father, Dick Randolph Harris, was one of the founders and because his sister was a student there. When he had the chance to room with his old friend, Oren Arnold, a senior at Rice University, he changed his mind quickly for he’d always wanted to study engineering.

I, Virginia Livingston Morgan, really hadn’t particularly wanted to go to Rice, but, of course, I wanted to "go away to school." I was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, July 19, 1905. Although I’d lived in Houston all my life and many of my friends were going to Rice. I thought I’d like to go to the University of Arkansas. I finally chose Rice for I could live at home. What a lucky decision, because I couldn’t have selected a finer school, and, best of all, because I met Randolph there.

We decided to be married "after graduation" and chose my parents’ wedding anniversary, July 18, 1927, as the date. As we returned from our wedding trip to Colorado, we found "our" engineering had failed. The Harris family had always expected Randolph to take over The Rusk County News, which his dad had owned since 1892, so we decided to move to Henderson. He worked at the paper until March 1931 when he established The Harris Printing Company, which he still owns.

We lived with Mr. And Mrs. Harris for two years until we were able to build our own home in 1929, where we lived for almost thirty-five years.

Our first child, Dorothy Joanne Harris, was born August 30, 1930, just a week before Dad Joiner’s oil well blew in. On October 5, 1931, Jean Morgan Harris was born. Both girls graduated from Henderson High School, and they both received their degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.

We’ve taken an active part in "our town." I guess we’re all just "joiners." Randy is a charter member of Kiwanis, and in 1934 we both helped establish St. Matthews Episcopal Church, where he served on the Vestry many times. I have worked in the Woman’s Guild for a long time. Randy was a volunteer fireman for ten years. I helped organize the Pallas Athene Literary Society, The Woman’s Forum, and Friends of the Library, and I’m a charter member of the American Association of University Women. We’ve both been active in the Republican Party, and in 1964, Randy was elected an alternate delegate to the National Convention in San Francisco, and he has been a delegate a number of times to the State Conventions. We’ve worked on Christmas Seal campaigns and Easter Seal drives and on Community Concert drives for the sixteen years we’ve had the organizations in Henderson.

On July 24, 1954, Jean and Dorothy had a lovely double wedding. Jean married Thomas Welborn Forester, and Dorothy married Joel Moore Nash.

In 1963 Randolph sold The Henderson Daily News, and in the same year we sold our home in Henderson and bought a place a couple miles out of town.

In 1968 our house was completely destroyed by fire. We were both away at the time; so fortunately, no one was hurt. Thanks to our wonderful family and our friends, we were able to rebuild on the same spot and to get on with our lives. Like the mythical phoenix, we rose from the ashes.

Naturally, we are very proud of our grandchildren. They’re all four "great kids." Joanne Harris Forester (born September 8, 1956) has her degree from The University of Texas at Austin and is married to Bill David Bagley (born March 26, 1956). Now they have Charles Minton Bagley (born May 28, 1981). Robert Scott Forester (born June 15, 1955) is a sophomore at Henderson High School.

Elinor Anne Nash (born June 9, 1958) received her degree from The University of Texas in Austin in 1980. John Harris Nash (born April 21, 1960) will graduate from The University of Texas in 1981.

We’ve lived long enough to attend our fiftieth class reunion at Rice and to celebrate a lovely golden anniversary party, hosted by all our children—truly a high point in our lives!

As I look back on our busy, happy life together, it doesn’t seem very exciting. Only one thing marred our happiness, Dorothy’s sudden death, April 15, 1978. I am truly thankful for a wonderful husband, wonderful children, a pleasant home, and many good friends. I guess we really have "the good life."

Written by Mrs. Virginia Harris