HARMON, JUDSON
Judson Harmon was an attorney, judge, and two-time Ohio governor with presidential aspirations. He served as attorney general of the
United States under President GROVER CLEVE-
LAND from 1895 to 1897.
Harmon was born February 3, 1846, in New-
ton, Hamilton County, Ohio, the oldest of eight
children of Benjamin Franklin Harmon and
Julia Bronson Harmon. Because his father was a
teacher, the young Harmon was schooled at
home. Later, when his father entered the min-
istry, Harmon attended public schools. An apt
student, he was enrolled at Denison University
by the age of sixteen, and he graduated in 1866.
The Civil War was an ever present intrusion
on Harmon’s college years. Funds for education
were scarce, and young men were needed on the
battlefield, not in the classroom. Harmon often
earned money between terms by serving with
local militia units responsible for defending his
home district against Southern raids. He was
profoundly affected by the assassination of Pres-
ident ABRAHAM LINCOLN in 1865. When Lin-
coln’s body lay in state in Springfield, Ohio,
Harmon went through the line of mourners
three times. Years later, he said that he had been
in awe—and that he had never seen such a
crowd of sad and disheartened people.
After graduating from college, Harmon
moved to Columbus, Ohio, and followed his
father into the teaching profession. He lasted a
year. Upon deciding to pursue a legal career, he
moved to Cincinnati and read law in the office
of George Hoadly. He received his law degree at
Cincinnati Law School in 1869, and he was
admitted to the Ohio bar the following year. In
June 1870, Harmon married Olivia Scobey, of
Hamilton, Ohio, and settled into the life of a
successful young attorney.
After seven years of practice, Harmon was
elected judge of the COMMON PLEAS court in
Cincinnati; two years later, he was elected to the
local superior court. He left the bench in 1887
when his teacher and mentor, Hoadly, was
elected governor of Ohio. To help his old friend
with the transition to public office, Harmon
assumed Hoadly’s caseload at the firm of
Hoadly, Johnson, and Colston. At Hoadly’s urg-
ing, Harmon also took a greater interest in
national politics. Though Harmon had origi-
nally supported the REPUBLICAN PARTY on war
issues, he found himself unable to support its
program of Reconstruction after the Civil War.
By 1887, Harmon was closely associated with
Hoadly’s supporters, the conservative faction of
the DEMOCRATIC PARTY in Ohio.
Harmon’s ties to the governor and the state
Democratic party reaped rewards. In June 1895,
President Cleveland appointed Harmon to suc-
ceed RICHARD OLNEY as attorney general of the
United States. In this office, Harmon established
a national reputation as a lawyer. As attorney
general, he directed several major antitrust
prosecutions, including one against the Trans-
Missouri Freight Association (United States v.
Trans-Missouri Freight Ass’n, 166 U.S. 290, 17 S.
Ct. 540, 41 L. Ed. 1007 [1897]) and one against
the Addyston Pipe and Steel Company (United
States v. Addyston Pipe & Steel Co., 78 Fed. 712
[E.D. Tenn. 1897]).
In United States v. Texas, 162 U.S. 1, 16 S. Ct.
725, 40 L. Ed. 867 (1896), a WATER RIGHTS case,
he espoused a theory of absolute territorial sov-
ereignty that has come to be known as the Har-
mon doctrine. Harmon said, “[T]he rules,
principles and precedents of INTERNATIONAL
LAW imposed no liability or obligation on the
United States” to let parts of the waters that were
diverted upstream by the United States flow to
Mexico. According to Harmon, nations had
exclusive jurisdiction and control over the uses
of all waters within their boundaries. (Since
