Thanks for publishing so much good information on the Harris family on the Harris Hunter's web site. In my own research, I am trying to determine if any of the children of Sergeant John Harris of Shirley Hundred, Charles City County, later lived in Henrico. Is it possible that Major William Harris of Henrico was the Sergeant's son, and not son of Captain Thomas? That's what I'm proposing. My logic resulted from tracing the Sergeant's wife Dorothy as she moved from Shirley Hundred to Henrico. The patents (CAVALIERS AND PIONEERS Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents ) report that the Sergeant died early but they don't clearly show what happened to his wife. His daughter married John Baker and their patent reports Sergeant John as deceased. My idea is that Dorothy married neighbor Edward Gardner after the Sergeant died. The Gardners and Harrises lived next to each other in Shirley Hundred. The next fact, that Gardner died and his widow Dorothy married William Clarke, is shown in the patents as is the fact that, together with Clarke, Dorothy received land along the north side of the Appomattox. This appears to be land the same as or near to land Maj. William Harris held. And this location was just across the river from John Baker's patent. From reading the notes on Harris Hunters by Chuck and Phil Harris, I understand that there were two William Harrises in Henrico, one who died in Bacon's rebellion and the Major who died a few years later and that the confiscation of land seems to be tied to Captain Thomas' land. Could the William who died in Bacon's Rebellion be son of Captain Thomas, and the other William be the son of Sergeant John? Let me know what you think. I'm actually a descendant from Dorothy's marriage to William Clarke, but I'd still like to get the other connections right as well. If anyone needs me to upload the patents in question, I will be glad to do that. Thanks, Jim Farmer farmer@visa.com

I am looking for male HARRIS descendants that descend from the three HARRIS brothers that came to South Jersey in 1715 -- Thomas, Nathaniel and Samuel -- sons of Thomas Harris and Ruth James. My father descends from Nathaniel (AKA William Nathaniel) and has participated in the HARRIS DNA Testing project. This project was started by HARRIS descendants from HARRISes that were in Virginia but it has expanded to other locations and more samples are needed to confirm different lines of HARRIS families. As some of you know, there were at least five Thomas Harrises in New England in the middle 1600s, including the father of these three sons. DNA is one way to help identify which HARRIS families are connected in the past 350 years. This DNA test is very simple -- just a sample of saliva and it can be of so much value to serious genealogists. Two links are provided below for more information. If you are a HARRIS male descendant or know of one please check this out. I would love to prove that this line really does descend from this couple -- the Ruth James line descends from a well researched "royal lineage" -- and identify who Thomas Harris - the father - descends from. The Y-DNA testing must be through the male line with no breaks. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~harrisdna/ http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=Q41837&special=true There are numerous other surname projects as well that may be of help to other researchers. Happy Hunting. Connie Harris Bradshaw

I ran across this in Sumner TN records, and will list the names in the will with the link. Mentions lands in Virginia...does anyone know the connections for this family? Robert Harris Son Blair Harris Son Robert Harris Son Thomas Leroy Harris Daughter Agnes Cunningham Gohen Grandson Harris Gohen Daughter Mary Gibson Harris Daughter Frances Houston Robinson (later Shaw?) Daughter Araminta Juliet Orr Son in law Greenberry Orr Daughter Sarah Caroline Simpson Daughter Elizabeth Henrietta Harris Witnesses to the will Josiah E. Giles, John Giles, Albert Holmes http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnsumner/wtharris.htm

Barbara Metzger, Your message is most interesting, for the Elsberry connection, but also because of the Gilliam connection to my Harris line. I can't explain the Granville and Wake County, North Carolina locations or make any direct connections to your Elijah Harris, but I can give you the sources of the Alberry and Gilliam connections to my Harris line. Elsberry is a variation of Alberry and there are many spelling variations, but all seem to originate from the old English "Aylesberry". Edward Harris-3rd married (1) Elizabeth Minyard about 1732 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia and they had 5 children: Mary, Stephen, Minyard, Edward and David. Their daughter Mary Harris married William Gilliam about 1755 in Lunenburg County, Virginia. Their son David married Nancy (Anne) Lane about 1773 in Charlotte County, Virginia. Edward Harris-3rd married (2) Sarah Gilliam about 1755 in Lunenburg County, Virginia and they had 3 children: Gilliam, unknown daughter and Braddock. They lived in Lunenburg and Charlotte Counties of Virginia and in Burke County, North Carolina from 1755 to 1783. David Harris and Nancy Lane had 5 children: Susannah, Mary, Isaac, Nancy and John. Isaac Harris was born 1780 in Burke County, North Carolina and he married Sarah Alberry about 1806 in Burke County, North Carolina. She was the daughter of Benjamin Alberry and Sarah Gracey. Benjamin Alberry was born as Benjamin Elsberry in Cecil County, Maryland. Isaac Harris and Sarah Alberry had 7 children: Sarah, Edward David, Alberry, Elizabeth, Isaac, Nancy and an unknown son. Maybe this will give you some ideas, as the Alberry name is quite rare and the Gilliam name is not seen often, so that to see them in the same Harris line in Illinois seems to be much more than coincidence. As to some of the given names in your line; I don't have an Elijah, but the names Thomas and James are quite common to my Harris line and the name Alsey is usually a pet name for Alice, but apparently was used as a male name also. Sincerely, James E. Hargraves In a message dated 8/20/2004 12:43:12 PM Pacific Standard Time, bametz@cox.net writes: The name Alberry struck me as I have a stray Jonathan Elsberry Harris in Saline/Williamson County Illinois in the mid 1860s and no one in my family can tell me anything about the name Elsberry. It is not a family name I have ever come across. My Harris line comes out of Granville and Wake Co North Carolina. Elijah Harris, Alsey Harris, Elijah W Harris, Thomas Harris, whose daughter was Merle Harris. Elijah married Delilah Shaw in Wake Co NC. in the early 1800s They seem then to have migrated to Wilson Co TN but were in Gallatin Co IL by 1820. Elijah dead by then but records show Delilah and children. County legend has it that Elijah died from an infection after his ear was bitten off during a fight. Son James A.is credited with founding Harrisburg Illinois. Sons Alsey (Aulsey, Alsy) and Gilliam (Gillam) served in the Black Hawk War in the 1830s. All sons married and became land owners in Saline and Williamson Cos., IL. Daughters married well. The internet world seems to be sure of old Elijah's father and mother...but it doesn't seem that anyone knows the actual source of the material. Neither I nor anyone else that I know of that has researched this line has ever gotten past Elijah (I) with any kind of documentation as to proof of parents. Another Harris puzzle. Barbara Metzger Carefree AZ ==== HARRIS-HUNTERS Mailing List ==== HH Archives: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl HH Site: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~confido/hindex2.htm HH Data Base: http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=harrishunters

The name Alberry struck me as I have a stray Jonathan Elsberry Harris in Saline/Williamson County Illinois in the mid 1860s and no one in my family can tell me anything about the name Elsberry. It is not a family name I have ever come across. My Harris line comes out of Granville and Wake Co North Carolina. Elijah Harris, Alsey Harris, Elijah W Harris, Thomas Harris, whose daughter was Merle Harris. Elijah married Delilah Shaw in Wake Co NC. in the early 1800s They seem then to have migrated to Wilson Co TN but were in Gallatin Co IL by 1820. Elijah dead by then but records show Delilah and children. County legend has it that Elijah died from an infection after his ear was bitten off during a fight. Son James A.is credited with founding Harrisburg Illinois. Sons Alsey (Aulsey, Alsy) and Gilliam (Gillam) served in the Black Hawk War in the 1830s. All sons married and became land owners in Saline and Williamson Cos., IL. Daughters married well. The internet world seems to be sure of old Elijah's father and mother...but it doesn't seem that anyone knows the actual source of the material. Neither I nor anyone else that I know of that has researched this line has ever gotten past Elijah (I) with any kind of documentation as to proof of parents. Another Harris puzzle. Barbara Metzger Carefree AZ

Family and Friends Today at 4:30 PM Rosalee Harris Lowe age 81 Spraytown, Indiana died during surgery for a hip replacement. She was married to the late Raymond Lowe Sr. in 1939 and he died in 1989 she is survived by two sons Raymond Lowe Jr. and Larry Lowe and two daughters Rosemary Lowe Owens and Ann Lowe Roseberry, several grandchildren and great grandchildren, she is also survived by one brother Carl Harris. proceding her in death are four children Tommy, Andy, Thomas Jr. and Betty Edith Lowe. three brothers Andrew, Alonzo, and Bobby and one sister Margaret. She was the daughter of the late Thomas Bedford Harris and Edith Whittaker Harris, she was born in Jeffersontown Kentucky on July 23, 1923 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.737 / Virus Database: 491 - Release Date: 8/12/04

Dear Ira, If my relative's family genaeology is correct and we are descendants of Capt Thomas Harris, then there were Harrises of this line in Patrick Co, as well as New Kent, Buckingham, Bedford and Powhattan counties. Allison MacNaughton daughter of a Harris

My line of Harris from Charles City County to Isle of Wight County, Virginia, migrated to Lunenburg County, then Charlotte County, Virginia, then Burke, Rutherford and Wilkes Counties in North Carolina. (Rutherford believed to be a census location error). The descending line in America is: John, Thomas, Thomas Jr, Edward, Edward Jr., Edward-3rd, David, Isaac, Alberry Harris Sincerely, James E. Hargraves In a message dated 8/17/2004 6:40:09 PM Pacific Standard Time, barebear@insightbb.com writes: >From what I have been able to read, research, and find out, the Isle of Wight County, Virginia line was in the following counties in Virginia. Charles City Co. Isle of Wight Co. Henrico Co. Southampton Co. Greenville Co. Brunswick Co In North Carolina I have read and heard that they were in the following counties. Beufort Co. Montgomery Co Edgecombe Co. Warren-Bute Co. Granville Co. Surry Co. Halifax Co. Franklin Co. Chowan Pricinct, Albemarle Co. In Georgia I have read and heard that they were in the following counties. Greene Co. Columbia Co. Carroll Co. Wilkes Co. Does anyone know of other counties in Virginia, North Carolina, or Georgia that descendants of the Isle of Wight Harris line was in? Please respond through HH so that others may be helped. Ira L. Harris III A descendant of Claiborne "Ned" Harris

I am not aware that the Harrises of Patrick County VA have been shown to be descendants of Capt. Thomas Harris. I have not been able to go back farther than the three William Harrises who lived there around the end of the 1700s. There was a Claiborne and a Sherwood Harris there that make me think they were related to your line of Claiborne "Ned" Harris. Charles Harris

Charles, Thanks for your response. I read somewhere that some of the descendants of this line were found in Patrick County, Virginia. I do not have any documentation proving or disproving that. I simply put this information out in the hope that we could generate some response to pin down the counties in Virginia and North Carolina that this line was found in. As I said, they are not my line (Harris DNA results) We have to start somewhere, why not here? If we can pin down some of the counties a particular line was in, it may help us to clarify some of these lines further. We are all working on Harris', but too often we seem to be going over and over and over again the same ground. Clarifying the counties may also help the newbies to get an accurate line in tracing their suspected line. In looking at the IOW line of Harris' I found several Sherwood's and Claiborne's. I am presently trying to determine what counties their descendants were in, in the hope that I can get a line on the parents of my Claiborne "Ned" Harris. Ira L. Harris III A descendant of Claiborn "Ned" Harris

From what I have been able to read, research, and find out, the Isle of Wight County, Virginia line was in the following counties in Virginia. Charles City Co. Isle of Wight Co. Henrico Co. Southampton Co. Greenville Co. Brunswick Co In North Carolina I have read and heard that they were in the following counties. Beufort Co. Montgomery Co Edgecombe Co. Warren-Bute Co. Granville Co. Surry Co. Halifax Co. Franklin Co. Chowan Pricinct, Albemarle Co. In Georgia I have read and heard that they were in the following counties. Greene Co. Columbia Co. Carroll Co. Wilkes Co. Does anyone know of other counties in Virginia, North Carolina, or Georgia that descendants of the Isle of Wight Harris line was in? Please respond through HH so that others may be helped. Ira L. Harris III A descendant of Claiborne "Ned" Harris

From what I have been able to read, research, and find, the line of Captain Thomas Harris is found in the following Virginia counties. Henrico Co. Chesterfield Co. Goochland Co. Hanover Co. Louisa Co. Amelia Co. Lunenburg Co. Mecklenburg Co. Patrick Co. Pittsylvania Co. Are descendants of this line found in any other Virginia counties? (I am simply trying to determine who was in particular counties where my family line was. This is not my line. On the HARRIS-DNA study, the line of Capt. Thomas Harris starts with a 14.) Does anyone know what North Carolina counties, descendants of this line are found in? Please respond through HH so that others may be helped. Ira L. Harris III A descendant of Claiborne "Ned" Harris.

Dear Harris-Hunters If you suspect your Harrises may have been of Louisa Co., VA (formed ca 1742 from Hanover Co., a burned county), you may want to try this website: _http://www.trevilians.com/deeds/deedix21.htm#top_ (http://www.trevilians.com/deeds/deedix21.htm#top) To get to the full index (with abstracts of the deeds elsewhere), chop off some of the ending of the above URL. This URL is for a specific page of the index and includes Harrises from Mary to end of alphabet. Theprevious page, of course, will have other Harrises. E.W. Wallace

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Found this URL on Dick Eastman's newsletter. For those of us who have ancestors in US Army at one time or another. -_http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2004/08/03/news/news01.txt_ (http://www.cumberlink.com/articles/2004/08/03/news/news01.txt) - This may bounce because rootsweb doesn't like html, it says!!1 Nothing ventured, nothing gained! E.W.Wallace

Hi, Harris-kins-and-friends! I haven't rec'd any mail from you in a week or so. Am I off the mail-list? If so, how do I get back on? Sue Endsley --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage!

Listers-- Looking for descendants of the Thomas Harris (b. abt. 1580 Hatherup, Gloucestershire, England)/Elizabeth Hills (b. abt. 1577 Gloucester, England) line. They migrated to Massachusetts and were buried in Charlestown, Suffolk MA. regards Holly Harris Jagger

Fran, It seems I can't send a post anymore without having to later correct an error made in the original post! Elias Bryant's daughter Nancy Bryant actually married Obediah Massey, brother of Warren Massey, in April 1813 in Patrick Co, VA . Warren Massey and Susannah Bartlett of Patrick Co were the parents of Nancy Massey, who married John Bryant in March 1829 in Rockingham Co, NC, with James Harris and James Gibson as sureties. John and Nancy Massey Bryant's son, my ancestor John Bryant, Jr, married Lucinda Stone in Patrick Co in 1859 -- Lucinda's parents were John Stone and Polly Massey, and Lucinda's maternal grandparents were Nancy Bryant (daughter of Elias) and Obediah Massey. Phew -- somewhere in here lies a connection to the Harrises, I just know it! I apologize for not catching this error in my first post. Regards, Rebecca Olenchak jjbb343@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.

Hi Fran, Many thanks for your most interesting post! Unfortunately, I don't think we connect in our Bryans/Bryants/Harrises lines. The father of my ancestor John Bryan/Bryant was William Bryan (this is how it reads on his tombstone in Patrick Co, VA), born 15 October 1760 in either North Carolina or Ireland (it reads both places in several different censuses). William and his wife Sarah A. had the following children: Polly, William, Abner Johnson, James N., my ancestor John, Louisa, Jane, Henry L., Sarah A., and possibly Alexander. I have no documented knowledge of my Bryans ever living in Buckingham or Albemarle Co....I suspect that William, Sr lived for at least a time in Halifax Co, VA where he was closely associated with the Lawson family of that county and Stokes Co, NC (William deposed in the Revolutionary War pension records of Moses Lawson, whom he referred to as his cousin, and William also stood up for Moses in his 1788 Caswell Co, NC wedding to Elizabeth Bradley -- bot! h Moses and Elizabeth are stated to have been of Halifax Co, VA). William also was on the 1790 and 1820 Stokes Co censuses as well as the 1840 Patrick Co census next to his sons John and Abner and suspected kinsman David Crews. As you see, John Bryan's family seems to have pretty much stayed in that southern VA/northern NC region, and John himself appears on all Patrick County censuses from 1840 to 1880 (his first wife Nancy Massey had died by 1838 as this is the year that John remarried to Frances Jones). So, I don't think this is the same man as your John A. O'Brien who was living in Buckingham Co in 1850. However! I do have another ancestor named Elias Bryan/Bryant who has proved to be as elusive as the William Bryan line, and interestingly, his daughter Nancy Bryant and Warren Massey of Patrick Co are purported to have been the parents of John Bryant's first wife Nancy Massey. Yet, I have been unable to find any blood connection between Elias and William, so Elias' roots at this point are pretty much wide open in my book. I do think it is noteworthy that Elias married Susannah Smallman whose sister-in-law was a Hollandsworth and James Harris (who provided surety for the marriage of John Bryant and Nancy Massey) was the son of Samuel Harris and Sarah Elizabeth Hollandsworth. I am intrigued by your 4th g-grandfather William Harris, who was born in Cumberland Co, VA and lived in Patrick Co for at least a time. Do you know the years in which he was residing in PCVA? Could he be kin to the William Harris-Sarah Steele line of Buckingham Co? From what I have been able to tell, it looks as if at least several of their children spent time in Patrick Co before migrating elsewhere. And the naming of a Harris descendant in KY of Henry Massey/Massie Harris is especially intriguing to me. At this point, the only other known surnames I have associated with the William and John Bryan line are Lawson, Massey, Harris, Gibson, Bridges, White, Rorrer, Foley, Jones and Stanley/Standley. The known surnames I have for the Elias Bryan line are Harris, Cox, Smallman, Massey, Lewis and Price. Do any of these names look familiar to you? (Apart from Harris, of course. :) ) I hope this post makes sense! The bottom line I guess is that I feel it may be unlikely that my William Bryan line connects to your O'Briens, but it is possible that my Elias Bryan line may connect back there somewhere -- at this point he is almost a total mystery to me. Thanks so much again for writing, Fran! Best regards, Rebecca Olenchak jjbb343@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.

Rebecca Olenchak I read with interest your post on August 1, as there was a Harris/O�Brien connection in my family in the early 1800s and connected again in the late 1800s. It would be interesting to know if your Bryant was French or Irish. The Bryants (James) were French Huguenots and left Powhatan to Buckingham Co and from there to Kentucky, Missouri and Alabama leaving many descendants in Buckingham. At the same time, my 5th g-grandfather Patrick O�Brien/Briant/Bryant/O�Bryant (from Ireland) was living in Buckingham County. (at that time it was Albemarle Co). Their names were misspelled many times on the census and even today; there are Bryants who actually descend from my family - O�Brien. With that said, I found a possibility for your John Bryant and perhaps if I just list what I have you may find there is a connection. Let�s start with my O�Brien side��My ggg-grandfather Francis Kirkpatrick O�Brien had a brother named John A. O�Brien who was born in 1803 in Buckingham. I do not know anything else about him except that I felt he could be your John. The names of his siblings are William, Polly, Rebecca, Frank/Francis and Harrison. Do you have any idea if your John returned to Buckingham or the date of death of his wife Nancy Massey as I show this John living in Buckingham with his two sisters Polly and Rebecca in 1850? Polly�s Will, which mentions this John, is witnessed by a William T. Bryant in 1873. On my Harris side�..my 4th g-grandfather was William Harris, born 8-25-1755 in Cumberland Co, VA. I have been unable to prove who his parents were or any of his siblings. I do know that he was a soldier of the American Revolution and it is stated in his pension records that he left Buckingham Co and was living in Patrick Co, Virginia. He then moved to Barren Co, Kentucky where he was residing in 1833. I noticed in my records that a Harris descendant born in 1868 was named Henry Massey/Massie Harris. The connection in my records: Morris/Maurice O�Bryant b: 1800 Buckingham (son of Mark O�Brien, grandson of Patrick) married Elmina Harris b: 1815 on 11/20/1839 (daughter of William C. Harris, granddaughter of William Harris, born 8-25-1755). I know that Elmina died in Missouri in 1877. Elmina and Maurice had a daughter named Amanda Frances O�Brien born in 1840. The 2nd O�Brien/Harris connection is through my grandfather Russell Lee Harris, who was born and raised in Charlotte Co, VA, and was the gg-grandson of William Harris born in 1755. He moved back to Buckingham after marrying my grandmother, Frances, whose Mother was Lula O�Brien who was the daughter of the above Amanda who had married her 2nd cousin John Harrison O�Brien in 1865. I know you must be confused as I have reread this about 4 times as it is very confusing. I think the key is whether your Bryant is French or Irish. Do you have any other family names for your John Bryant? I look forward to hearing your comments. Fran Harris Hill, Richmond, VA __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com