Reuben Harrison
Reuben Harrison was an American politician who was elected to the Illinois Senate.
Biography
Harrison was born on June 12, 1779 in Rockingham County, Virginia. In 1818, he moved to Kentucky and then in 1822 to Sangamon County, Illinois. In 1842, he was elected to the Illinois Senate in the 13th Illinois General Assembly representing Sangamon county with defeating Samuel Grubb and fellow whig William G. Cantrell.He was immediately embroiled in controversey. The state had just completed a reapportionment of seats in 1841 which created a new Senate district consisting of Sangamon county alone which had been carved out from the prior district which comprised Sangamon, Menard, Logan, and Christian counties. A dispute arose as the prior district was represented by Edward D. Baker who still had two years remaining on his term as Senator. The issue was referred to the Select Committee for resolution and it was decided that it would be unfair to have two senators representing Sangamon county and Harrison was excluded. No one contested the decision; and Harrision returned to his life as a farmer.