Harris was born in East Machias, Maine, on June 14, 1814, and attended Washington Academy in the same town.

[2] Having lived in Maine throughout the American Civil War, he was considered by many as a candidate for the United States Senate.

Nevertheless, Harris resigned from his position at Bowdoin in 1871 after having grown tired of such activities as fund-raising.

There, he wrote much more often, especially in the 1880s when he published his first major work, The Philosophical Basis of Theism, which received notice from England to Japan.

Additionally, God the Creator and Lord of All explained his doctrinal system and he had been writing an unfinished book at the time of his death.