Edward Harris (Rhode Island)
Edward Harris was an American wool manufacturer, abolitionist, temperance supporter, and philanthropist who was the founder of the Woonsocket Harris Public Library, the first public library in Rhode Island, and the Harris Institute, which now houses the Woonsocket City Hall.
Harris was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island in 1801 and at a young age moved with his parents to Dutchess County, New York where he worked on the family farm and taught school. In 1818 he moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio, but he returned to Rhode Island in 1823 and started working with his uncles William Harris and Samuel Harris in their manufacturing businesses at Valley Falls, Rhode Island and then Albion, Rhode Island. In 1831 Edward Harris started his own small mill in Woonsocket. He eventually built several other successful larger mills in Woonsocket. Harris made large donations to many public causes in Woonsocket, including new roads for the city, the land for Woonsocket High School, the site of Oak Hill Cemetery, and the Harris Institute, which became Woonsocket Harris Public Library, and the former Harris Institute building is now Woonsocket City Hall. Harris served in the Rhode Island State Senate and House of Representatives and was a strong abolitionist and temperance supporter. In the 1840s he ran for governor as the Liberty Party candidate advocating for abolitionism. In 1859 Harris wrote a letter and sent a check to John Brown after his conviction. Harris hosted Abraham Lincoln at his North End home when Lincoln spoke at the Harris Institute in 1860. Harris was married to Rachel Farnham and then after her death to Abby Metcalf and had children in both marriages. Harris died in Woonsocket in 1871. Besides the Harris Institute, several of the buildings, which Harris constructed, survive, including Harris Warehouse.
