William Alexander Harris ( Kansas ) William Alexander Harris ( October 29 , 1841December 20 , 1909 ) was a United States Representative and Senator from Kansas . Early life and education . A son of U . S . Congressman William Alexander Harris ( 1805 – 1864 ) , William Alexander Harris , Jr . was born either in Loudoun County , Virginia or Luray , Virginia , while his father was serving in Congress . Harris attended the common schools and later attended and graduated from Columbian College ( later George Washington University ) , Washington , D . C . , in 1859 . A year later , he matriculated as part of the third or sophomore class at the Virginia Military Institute on 16 January 1860 . Official records reveal that he matriculated from Page County , though he actually had done so from Pike County , Missouri . In a class composed of future notables such as future commanding officer of the Stuart Horse Artillery , Roger Preston Chew , Harris fared well in class standing , graduating early in December , 1861 as 7 of 35 . The Civil War Years . After a brief stint as drillmaster with an artillery company formed in Page County , Harris was assigned to duty with Col . William N . Pendleton and , in the same month ( Nov . 1861 ) transferred as assistant adjutant general on the staff of General Cadmus Wilcox . Promoted to captain in January 1862 , Harris resigned from Wilcox ’ s staff in July 1862 and was assigned as a lieutenant and acting ordnance officer in Gen . Daniel Harvey Hill ’ s division . Promoted to the temporary rank of captain in the spring of 1863 , Harris was yet reassigned and named Chief of Ordnance of Gen . Robert E . Rodes ’ division . Following the loss at Gettysburg , Harris deserted from the army feeling that further effort was futile . However , some records reveal that he may have had other reasons for leaving the army in that he was denied a transfer to Major Harry W . Gilmor ’ s cavalry battalion . Early Life in Kansas . In 1865 , Harris and his Page County - native bride , Mary Lionberger , moved to Kansas . Shortly thereafter , Harris was employed as a civil engineer in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad until 1868 ; that year , he moved to Lawrence , Kansas . He was appointed agent for the railroad companies in the sale of the Delaware Reservation and other lands , and in 1884 moved to Linwood , Leavenworth County and engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock raising . Political life . Following in his father ' s footsteps , Harris eventually sought a life in politics . He was elected as a Populist member to the Fifty - third Congress ( March 4 , 1893 - March 3 , 1895 ) and was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 . He was a member of the Kansas Senate in 1895 and 1896 , and was elected as a U . S . senator from Kansas ( March 4 , 1897 , to March 3 , 1903 ) . He was an unsuccessful candidate for the governorship of Kansas in 1906 . Harris is believed to have been the only Confederate veteran ever elected to any office of importance in Kansas . Late Life and Agricultural Pursuits . Resuming his agricultural interests , Harris was extremely popular in the agriculture circles for his raising shorthorn cattle . Retiring from political life , Harris later became the vice president of the Denver , Laramie & Northwestern Railroad . Harris died in Chicago , where he had gone to work with the National Livestock Association , in 1909 ; interment was in Oak Hill Cemetery , Lawrence , Kansas .