Christopher Columbus Harris (1842-1935) served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Alabama's Eighth Congressional District from 1914 to 1915. Smith was a member of the Democratic Party and an active member of his community in Lawrence County. Mostly concerned with local affairs, Harris's primary focus was his law practice and his involvement in establishing and managing several banks in Decatur, Morgan County.

After his release, Harris returned to Alabama and worked as a clerk of the circuit court of Lawrence County from 1865 to 1867. During this time, he studied law and was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in 1866. On February 14, 1869, Harris married Julia Wert, with whom he had seven children, five of whom who lived to adulthood. Harris set up his first law practice in Moulton, Lawrence County, but in 1872, he moved his practice to Decatur and was employed by chief justice, Robert C. Brickell. In 1881, Harris helped establish the Bank of Decatur, which would change its name to First National Bank of Decatur in 1887. Harris served as president of the First National Bank until January 1913. Later that year, Harris organized Decatur's Bank of Commerce and was named the Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of the Eighth Congressional District.
In 1915, Harris was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third Congress to fill the vacancy left by the death of William Richardson, who served from 1914 to 1915. Harris declined to run for reelection, and the open seat was won by Edward Berton Almon. After leaving Congress, Harris became president of the City National Bank of Decatur, and on January 10, 1928, he was elected chairman of the bank's board of directors. Harris died in Decatur on December 28, 1935, and was interred in Decatur Cemetery.