Background
Skinner was born into a wealthy political family. His father James C. Skinner was a state senator and clerk of the county court, and his grandfather, also named Harry Skinner, had served in both houses of the North Carolina legislature.
United States representative politician
Skinner was born into a wealthy political family. His father James C. Skinner was a state senator and clerk of the county court, and his grandfather, also named Harry Skinner, had served in both houses of the North Carolina legislature.
Born near Hertford, North Carolina, Skinner attended Hertford Academy and was graduated from the law department of the University of Kentucky at Lexington.
He was admitted to the bar in 1876 and commenced practice in Greenville, North Carolina. He served on the town council in 1878 before joining Governor Jarvis' staff and serving as aide-de-camp (1879–1886). He chaired the Democratic executive committees of the First Congressional District (1880–1890) and of Pitt County (1880–1892).
Skinner was elected as a Populist to the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899), but in 1898 was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection to the Fifty-sixth Congress. He served as United States attorney for the eastern district of North Carolina (1902–1910), after which he resumed the practice of law in Greenville, where he died on May 19, 1929, and was interred in Cherry Hill Cemetery.
Member staff of Governor T. J. Jervis, of North Carolina, 1880-1885. Member North Carolina House of Representatives, 1891. Member 54th and 55th Congresses (1895-1899), 1st North Carolina District (claims to have been the originator of asset banking, author of the alliance sub treasury, and first to suggest Government control of cotton crop of Southern states).
United States district attorney, Eastern District North Carolina, 1902-1910. Member American Medical Association (v.-p. for North Carolina), North Carolina Bar Association (president, 1915-1916).
Married Lottie Montsiro, of Richmond, Virginia, June 5, 1878 (died, 1878).