James Harlan was an American teacher, Iowa’s first Superintendent of Public Instruction, lawyer, university president, U.S. senator, and secretary of the Department of the Interior.
Background
James Harlan was born on August 26, 1820, in Martinsville, Illinois, United States; the second of 10 children born to pioneer farmers Silas Harlan and Mary (Connelly) Harlan. When James was three years old, the family moved to Park County, Indiana, where seven families formed a community called New Discovery in the wilderness.
Harlan’s boyhood was spent in that primitive setting of log cabins, living off the fruits of land and labor. Harlan credited his mother’s “persistent patience” in teaching him to read, aided by the Bible, Hervey’s Evening Meditations, and an almanac. His education was furthered by a Methodist circuit preacher and the schoolmaster who arrived when Harlan was seven years old.
Education
After teaching district school, James Harlan attended a local seminary. From 1841 to 1845 he studied at Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) in Greencastle, Indiana, United States.
When James Harlan was 18, Harlan began to teach at the district school. He taught there until entering Asbury University, now DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana, at the age of 21. At Asbury, Harlan excelled as a debater, worked in the missionary society, participated in political debate, and served as a delegate to the Whig congressional convention.
In March 1846 James and Ann Harlan journeyed to Iowa City, Iowa, where he had accepted the position of principal for the new Iowa City College. Contrary to the accepted practice of forming separate departments for boys and girls, Harlan integrated the sexes. In 1847 Harlan ran for the new position of State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
No sooner had he been declared winner than the validity of the election was challenged. The Democratic Party declared that the law authorizing the election had not been properly published according to the state constitution, thus invalidating Harlan’s election. Nevertheless, Harlan assumed the role and began the work of establishing an educational system for the state. He traveled throughout the state, interviewing and advising local school officials concerning the needs of schools. Harlan completed the first year in office, then, due to the controversy, agreed to run again. In the second election, he was defeated amid accusations that the Democratic Party had illegally discounted a portion of the votes and that those votes would have secured Harlan’s successful election.
After this defeat, Harlan studied law, opened a book and stationery store in Iowa City, spoke on religious and temperance issues, and was generally involved in the life of the community. In 1850 he was admitted to the bar. In 1853 Harlan accepted the position of president of Mount Pleasant Collegiate Institute, thus beginning a long association with the school and the town. Under Harlan’s leadership, the school began offering college degrees, built a gold-domed educational building, and was rechartered as Iowa Wesleyan University to reflect its status as an educational institution and its affiliation with the Methodist Episcopal church.
After two years as president of Iowa Wesleyan, the Iowa legislature, in March 1855, elected Harlan as the first Republican U.S. senator from Iowa. As a U.S. senator, Harlan earned respect as a persuasive and eloquent speaker. He lent his voice to halt the spread of slavery into new territories, to advocate freeing the slaves, and to recommend arming African Americans to fight against the Confederacy. He was influential in establishing the route for the Union Pacific Railroad, arguing that Congress should choose the location before any contracts were let and that it should be near the geographical center of the country, where it could lead out from the centers of population. Harlan’s work to pass the Pacific Railroad bills and the Homestead Act, his advocacy for agricultural interests, and his work on behalf of Native Americans were his major contributions as senator.
As Abraham Lincoln prepared to take office in March 1861, he consulted various advisers about choices for cabinet positions. One of those advisers was James Harlan. That consultation marked the beginning of a personal and political friendship between the two that extended to their children, with the president’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, marrying Harlan’s daughter Mary in 1868. For his second term, Lincoln appointed Harlan secretary of the interior. Lincoln died before Harlan took office, and Harlan served under Andrew Johnson until disagreement with Johnson’s philosophy on Reconstruction caused Harlan to resign after serving 14 months. As secretary, Harlan regulated the settlement and cultivation of public lands, urged forest conservation, and worked to protect American Indian tribes.
Reelected to the Senate in 1866, Harlan served one more term, then suffered defeat in 1872, and the family returned to Mount Pleasant. After his retirement from public life, Harlan served Iowa Wesleyan as trustee and the Methodist Episcopal church as lay preacher, worked in the temperance movement, and participated in Republican Party politics in the state. Harlan’s gift for oratory made him popular as a speaker at gatherings and celebrations. He was appointed one of the commissioners to erect the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Des Moines. On the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone, he began, “In the shadow of Iowa’s state capitol, to initiate...the erection of a monument to commemorate in art, the patriotic deeds of our heroes, human language is too feeble to fitly express my emotions.”
Harlan attended his last public event on May 17, 1899, when he was speaker and “President of the Day” for the laying of the cornerstone of the State Historical Building in Des Moines. Five months later he died in his rooms at the Harlan Hotel in Mount Pleasant. He was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Mount Pleasant. His home at 101 West Broad Street at Iowa Wesleyan College is preserved as the Harlan-Lincoln House museum.
Achievements
Religion
Harlan was an active member of the Methodist Church, and the support that he received from Iowa Methodists occasionally figured in political controversies.
Politics
As a student, Harlan's interest in politics was already marked. He was an ardent Whig. In 1855 Harlan was elected by the Iowa legislature to the United States Senate as a Free Soil Party candidate. In 1857 the US Senate declared the seat vacant because of irregularities in that legislative election. He was re-elected by the legislature and seated as a Republican, serving until 1865. During his first senatorial contest, Harlan built up a personal organization throughout the state which he utilized effectively in later contests. As a senator he concentrated on Western measures, homesteads, college land grants, and especially the Pacific railroad act, which he personally directed. He gave loyal support to the war measures of the administration and was intimate with President Lincoln. Upon returning to the Senate for the second time he was definitely aligned with the radical administration group and his most notable acts were his support of Johnson’s impeachment and his spirited defense of Grant’s Santo Dominican policy.
Personality
Tall, dignified, impressive looking, Harlan was strong of body and of will. He was a zealous partisan and a persistent fighter, tenacious of conviction whether based upon reason or prejudice.
Interests
Politicians
Abraham Lincoln
Connections
In 1845 James married Ann Eliza Peck. They had four children, Mary Eunice (Harlan) Lincoln, Julia Josephine Harlan, William Aaron Harlan, Silas James Harlan.
The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa
Iowa has been blessed with citizens of strong character who have made invaluable contributions to the state and to the nation. In the 1930s alone, such towering figures as John L. Lewis, Henry A. Wallace, and Herbert Hoover hugely influenced the nation’s affairs.