HARPER, ALFRED JOHN (1864–1926). Alfred John Harper, newspaperman, politician, and lawyer, the son of Robert E. and Fannie N. (Hodges) Harper, was born at Forest, Mississippi, on May, 17, 1864. He moved to Texas in 1881 and for a time edited the Limestone New Era and later the Mexia Ledger. He was admitted to the bar in 1891 and the following year was elected district clerk of Limestone County. In 1896 he was elected county judge and in 1903 state senator. From January 1, 1911, to December 31, 1917, he served as judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Harper married Margaret L. Ingram on December 23, 1901. They had four children. He died on May 31, 1926.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Dallas Morning News, June 1, 1926. Frank W. Johnson, A History of Texas and Texans (5 vols., ed. E. C. Barker and E. W. Winkler [Chicago and New York: American Historical Society, 1914; rpt. 1916]).
