Emerson Columbus Harrington (March 26, 1864December 15, 1945) was an American politician who served as the 48th Governor of Maryland from 1916 to 1920. He also served as Comptroller of the Maryland Treasury from 1912 to 1916.
Early life, career, and family
Emerson Harrington was born to John E. Harrington and Elizabeth Thompson Harrington in the town of Madison in Dorchester County, Maryland. He attended the public schools of Madison until he turned 16, at which point he went on to attend St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. He received a bachelor's degree in 1884 and a master's degree two years later. He became a tutor at the college after graduation, and, as a result of an instructor falling ill, was elected to be an assistant professor. Before assuming his new position, he accepted a position as principal at the Cambridge Academy, a position he served in for 12 years. He married Gertrude Johnson on June 27, 1893, and with her had three children, Emerson C. Jr., Mary Virginia, and William Johnson.
State political career
After studying law, Harrington was admitted to the bar in 1898 and commenced practice soon thereafter. He worked with Frederick Douglass St. Clair Sr., an African American. In 1899, he was elected as the State's Attorney for Dorchester County, Snowden was pardoned posthumously due to inconsistencies in the case. Harrington met with a "colored" girl and her mother during a debate over the death penalty imposed on her alleged attacker.
Harrington was a believer in positive state action, once expressing his belief to the General Assembly of Maryland that “The time has come when the State ought to endeavor to get at the causes of existing misfortunes and evils: and remove, if possible, the causes. The causes of insanity, the cause of tuberculosis, and the causes of poverty should receive careful consideration. Only by removing these causes will these evils he finally lessened, and the cost to the State reduced.”
Harrington's term as governor ended on January 14, 1920, and afterwards he returned to his law practice. He remained active in politics, but was unsuccessful in an election for judge of the First Judicial Circuit in 1926, and was again unsuccessful in an election for the First Congressional District of Maryland.
Harrington served as President of the People's Loan, Savings and Deposit Bank of Cambridge, Maryland, and also as the President of the President of the Annapolis-Claiborne Ferry Company he had helped establish as governor. He held the position until operations were taken over by the state.
He died at his home in December 1945 from a short illness and was buried in the cemetery of the Christ Episcopal Church in Cambridge, Maryland.