Harrison, Fairfax, 1869-1938

Fairfax Harrison was born in New York 13 March 1869, the son of Burton and Constance (Cary) Harrison and the brother of Francis Burton Harrison. He graduated from Yale in 1890 and got a M.A. degree from Columbia University. He practiced law in New York and was solicitor for the Southern Railway, president of the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway; and president of the Southern Railway from 1913-1937. Harrison was the author of many works including the Devon Carys, Landmarks of Old Prince William, Proprietors of the Northern Neck, the Belair Stud, the Equine FFVs, the Roanoke Stud and the Virginia Carys. He died 2 February 1938.

Fairfax Harrison was a lawyer and railroad president. His father Burton Norvell Harrison was a member of an old Virginia family, and served the Confederacy as private secretary to Jefferson Davis. His mother was a Fairfax, and a popular writer of fiction during the late 19th century. Along with his railroad career, Harrison was a scholar, genealogist, and historian. He published family genealogies and several volumes on the history of horse breeding. Further information is available in Supp. two, Dictionary of American Biography.

The son of Burton Norvell Harrison (1838-1904) and Constance Cary Harrison (1843-1920), Fairfax Harrison was born 13 March 1869 in New York, New York. He received his A.B. from Yale University in 1891 and his Master's of Arts from Columbia University in 1892. Admitted to the New York bar in 1892, Harrison became a solicitor for the Southern Railway in 1896. In 1906, he became a vice-president, and in 1913, president of the Southern Railway, retiring in 1937. Harrison served as vice-president of the Virginia Historical Society and as chairman of the committee overseeing the compilation of the Index of Virginia by Earl G. Swem (1870-1965). Harrison also wrote several histories on Virginia, including works on the Northern Neck, on horses and horse racing, and the Harrison and Cary families. Harrison married Hetty Cary (1871-1943) 6 June 1894. Harrison died 2 February 1938.