I tried to send this before, but it doesn't look like it went through. Please excuse if it is a duplication Can anyone help me find the parents/ancestors of my gg-grandfather Elijah Harris? I know some of you are tired of hearing this, but I have been looking for his parents/ancestors for over 40 years. I have proven that he is not the son of many individuals, one for example is Tyree Harris. All the probable candidates end up marrying the wrong person or dying in the wrong place. I have joined the Harris YDNA group, and have no matches there. I have about decided that Elijah may have been illegitimate. Any help would be appreciated. Vernor Elijah Harris was born circa 1800 in VA. He married Eliza Jane Smith, daughter of William Smith and Sarah Witt, circa 1821 in Rockingham Co, NC; I am unsure of where they were married. However since Jane lived in Rockingham Co., NC, I consider it most probable that they married there. The marriage date is based on the birth of their first son Henry Fountain Harris. He died circa 1875 in Tamaroa, Perry Co, IL; Sometime between 1860 and 1870, Elijah and Jane moved to Southern IL where Jane died, and was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Tyrone Tws., Franklin Co IL.) Elijah returned to Pulaski Co Ky to live with his daughter, (this is confirmed by the 1870 census of Pulaski Co KY) then Elijah left Pulaski Co KY and returned to Southern IL again so he could be buried next to Jane. However at the time of his death, the roads were so bad that they could not get him back to the Greenwood Cemetery, and he was buried somewhere north of DuQuoin, Perry Co IL. and his grave was not marked. The first time I find Elijah Harris is in the 1840 census of Lee Co VA, where he is shown as head of household with the following residents: 3 Males 5 and under 10 1 Male 15 and under 20 1 Male 30 and under 40 2 Females under 5 1 Female 10 and under 15 1 Female 30 and under 40. He is found in the 1850 census of the 31st. District of Lee Co VA Elijah is next found in the 1860 census of Tazewell Post Office, Claiborne Co TN. Elijah is next found in the 1870 census of Pulaski Co KY living with his daughter and son-in-law. According to the census reports, Elijah could neither read or write. I have not found a record of him ever owning property. He was a Farmer. Children of Elijah Harris and Eliza Jane Smith were as follows: 2 i. Henry Fountain2 Harris was born in Sep 1822 in Rockingham Co, NC. 3 ii. Millie Harris (30); Variations of name: Melinda, Melley, Mildred was born circa 1824 in TN.17 4 iii. Eliza J. Harris (28)20,21 was born circa 1827. 5 iv. Samuel Harris was born on 13 Oct 1828 in KY. 6 v. William F. Harris Sr. was born in Feb 1834 7 vi. George Washington Harris was born on 12 Apr 1836 in Knox Co, 8 vii. Sarah Ann Harris was born on 26 Feb 1837. 9 viii. Martha Harris was born in 1839. 10 ix. Mary Armina Harris was born on 2 May 1842 in Tazewell, Claiborne Co, TN. 11 x. Margaret Elvina Harris was born on 2 May 1842 in Tazewell, Claiborne Co, TN. 12 xi. John Harris was born circa 1843 13 xii. Cerelda Harris was born on 24 Jan 1846 14 xiii. Ellendor Harris was born in May 1848 15 xiv. Celia Harris was born on 9 Jun 1851 in Lee Co, _________________________________________________________________ On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement

Vernor, I have just a couple of suggestions: 1st, don't give up; 2nd, do complete searches on all of his children in the possibility that some family history might be found on another line; 3rd, just because "Elijah" didn't own property, doesn't mean that there might not have been probate records or even a will left by grandparents, in - laws, or other relatives; 4th, the period of time between his approximate birth and later marriage / birth of children, seems like a long time. Were there military records from any of the places that he was found? He was too young to have participated in the war of 1812, but not too young for the Indian Wars and disturbances. Chances are there was a reason why he migrated where he did. It seems likely that he may have spent time in military service located in the same places where he eventually settled. Did his wife's family follow along? Granted, Smith is a very common name but it wasn't unusual for families to travel together. If he did serve in the military, there might be some record from his service and while it probably won't tell you anything specific, it might be a clue to where he came from. Kristina Harris -----Original Message----- From: Vernor Harris [mailto:vernorharris@hotmail.com] Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 11:27 AM To: HARRIS-HUNTERS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [HH] Elijah Harris b. 1800 I tried to send this before, but it doesn't look like it went through. Please excuse if it is a duplication Can anyone help me find the parents/ancestors of my gg-grandfather Elijah Harris? I know some of you are tired of hearing this, but I have been looking for his parents/ancestors for over 40 years. I have proven that he is not the son of many individuals, one for example is Tyree Harris. All the probable candidates end up marrying the wrong person or dying in the wrong place. I have joined the Harris YDNA group, and have no matches there. I have about decided that Elijah may have been illegitimate. Any help would be appreciated. Vernor Elijah Harris was born circa 1800 in VA. He married Eliza Jane Smith, daughter of William Smith and Sarah Witt, circa 1821 in Rockingham Co, NC; I am unsure of where they were married. However since Jane lived in Rockingham Co., NC, I consider it most probable that they married there. The marriage date is based on the birth of their first son Henry Fountain Harris. He died circa 1875 in Tamaroa, Perry Co, IL; Sometime between 1860 and 1870, Elijah and Jane moved to Southern IL where Jane died, and was buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Tyrone Tws., Franklin Co IL.) Elijah returned to Pulaski Co Ky to live with his daughter, (this is confirmed by the 1870 census of Pulaski Co KY) then Elijah left Pulaski Co KY and returned to Southern IL again so he could be buried next to Jane. However at the time of his death, the roads were so bad that they could not get him back to the Greenwood Cemetery, and he was buried somewhere north of DuQuoin, Perry Co IL. and his grave was not marked. The first time I find Elijah Harris is in the 1840 census of Lee Co VA, where he is shown as head of household with the following residents: 3 Males 5 and under 10 1 Male 15 and under 20 1 Male 30 and under 40 2 Females under 5 1 Female 10 and under 15 1 Female 30 and under 40. He is found in the 1850 census of the 31st. District of Lee Co VA Elijah is next found in the 1860 census of Tazewell Post Office, Claiborne Co TN. Elijah is next found in the 1870 census of Pulaski Co KY living with his daughter and son-in-law. According to the census reports, Elijah could neither read or write. I have not found a record of him ever owning property. He was a Farmer. Children of Elijah Harris and Eliza Jane Smith were as follows: 2 i. Henry Fountain2 Harris was born in Sep 1822 in Rockingham Co, NC. 3 ii. Millie Harris (30); Variations of name: Melinda, Melley, Mildred was born circa 1824 in TN.17 4 iii. Eliza J. Harris (28)20,21 was born circa 1827. 5 iv. Samuel Harris was born on 13 Oct 1828 in KY. 6 v. William F. Harris Sr. was born in Feb 1834 7 vi. George Washington Harris was born on 12 Apr 1836 in Knox Co, 8 vii. Sarah Ann Harris was born on 26 Feb 1837. 9 viii. Martha Harris was born in 1839. 10 ix. Mary Armina Harris was born on 2 May 1842 in Tazewell, Claiborne Co, TN. 11 x. Margaret Elvina Harris was born on 2 May 1842 in Tazewell, Claiborne Co, TN. 12 xi. John Harris was born circa 1843 13 xii. Cerelda Harris was born on 24 Jan 1846 14 xiii. Ellendor Harris was born in May 1848 15 xiv. Celia Harris was born on 9 Jun 1851 in Lee Co, _________________________________________________________________ On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement ==== 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

Hi Vernor, I have copied the Harris-DNA list..... I noticed that you joined the Harris Y-DNA group and I did a quick check on your information. I hope you don't mind! You do have some 25/25 matches in the Turner surname project that you might want to check out. For anyone that is having problems in finding matches and signed the release form..... On the www.familytreedna.com log in to your myftdna web page and click on the update contract information. Uncheck the box called Private which says "Restrict match notifications to your surname project". This will then check all surnames that FTDNA has. Some times, your DNA results will match too many other people and you may want to keep it "private". Second, click on the link called "ysearch" to upload your DNA results to www.ysearch.org This is a database that has other research name projects from other companies. The second option does not have all the Familytreedna database as it is up to the person that did the test to submit DYS markers. I have been following the email group GENEALOGY-DNA for the last few weeks and found a wealth of information. It is a very busy group and if you join, expect +40 emails a day! Good luck, Craig ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vernor Harris" <vernorharris@hotmail.com> To: <HARRIS-HUNTERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 4:26 AM Subject: [HH] Elijah Harris b. 1800 > I tried to send this before, but it doesn't look like it went through. > Please excuse if it is a duplication > > Can anyone help me find the parents/ancestors of my gg-grandfather Elijah > Harris? I know some of you are tired of hearing this, but I have been > looking for his parents/ancestors for over 40 years. I have proven that he > is not the son of many individuals, one for example is Tyree Harris. All the > probable candidates end up marrying the wrong person or dying in the wrong > place. I have joined the Harris YDNA group, and have no matches there. I > have about decided that Elijah may have been illegitimate. Any help would be > appreciated. > > Vernor