Born: June 13, 1861, Somersworth, New Hampshire.
Died: November 14, 1953, Berkeley, California.
Buried: Indian Hill Cemetery, Middletown, Connecticut.
Karl was the son of Calvin S. Harrington and Eliza Chase, and husband of Jennie Eliza Canfield.
He earned his AB degree in 1882, and his AM in 1885, from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. He studied at the University of Berlin (1887–89) and Yale University (1890–91).
He taught high school in Westfield, Massachusetts (1882–85), and Latin at Wesleyan Academy in Wilbraham, Massachusetts (1885–87).
He was a Latin tutor at Wesleyan University (1889–91); Latin professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1891–99); University of Maine (1899–1905); and Wesleyan University (1905).
While at the University of North Carolina, he directed the Glee Club.
a Hartford Wit