All this sharing of "early" Harris family research is great. I am saving the postings for future research. I have been trying to get past my great-grandparents unsuccessfully for years. My Grandfather is Gillum Edgar Harris b. 24 March 1884 in KY, d 1936 in CO. His mother was Ermine Edgar b. Dec 1847 in KY. His Father was George Harris b.? d ? also of KY. George had a brother James who signed a selective service form for Gillum in Sept of 1918. It appears that George was deceased by that time as his mother was listed as a widow at her death also in 1918. Can anyone in this Harris group connect to this Harris line? I have no male Harris descendents to test DNA. Thank you. Richard Price

Harris is such a common name, that I admire your persistence.  Your partial query is posted below. Richard Price asks: My Grandfather is Gillum Edgar Harris b. 24 March 1884 in KY, d 1936 in CO. His mother was Ermine Edgar b. Dec 1847 in KY.  His Father was George Harris b.? d ? also of KY.  George had a brother James who signed a selective service form for Gillum in Sept of 1918.  It appears that George was deceased by that time as his mother was listed as a widow at her death also in 1918. Can anyone in this Harris group connect to this Harris line?  I have no male Harris descendents to test DNA. Partial answer from a Harris-Hunter: Have you got some of the censuses pertaining to this family:  1890 (non-existent) 1900; 1910; 1920; 1930? And then back to *ancient history*.  Tax records are good census substitutes.  You may have to trace the movements of a sibling of your grandfather Harris. An important census:  1880 census. Do you know whether your grandfather, born 1884 in KY, had other OLDER siblings? Reason I ask:  The 1880 US census, wherein each person enumerated was asked these two questions:  1)  Where was your father born?  2)  Where was your mother born?  These clues should not be overlooked.  They may hold some valuable information. My experience: My great-grandfather died in Texas ca 1881, the year after this 1880 census was taken.  His widow was a much younger person, and she gave us his birthdate but named the wrong place in Kentucky as his birthplace.  When I was informed that that part of Kentucky belonged to the Chickasaw Indians in 1818 (his alleged birthdate), I had to start looking elsewhere.  (You have to learn some history--and geography--as you go along.) But Great-grandfather in Texas said his father was born in North Carolina (1880 census).  His mother was born in Kentucky.  This hinted that there must have been a Kentucky wedding prior to 1818, the birth year of my great-grandfather, whose eldest son was named Samuel John [John for maternal grandfather] Williams. But I used naming patterns to try to pinpoint where there might be Samuel Williamses (Williams is, amazingly, not as hard as Harris to pin down, unless the name is John Williams.) Samuel Williams is a relatively uncommon name among Williamses of early Kentucky.  Luckily, as I am a book browswer, I picked up a book printed for the DAR concerning rejected Rev War pension claims.  Here was a Samuel Williams.  Well, it was worth my while to follow up on this clue, as flimsy as it may be. The Rev War pension claim was rejected because of lack of the soldier serving six months, but the claimant said he was born 1759 in Granville Co., NC.  He filed his claim in Henderson Co., KY.  So, I set about exploring the records of Henderson Co., KY, and found not one but two Samuel Williamses--one Sr. and one Jr.  This cannot always establish a relationship, genealogists warn us.  Furthermore, the two Samuel Williamses had married brides whose surname was Stephens--one a widow of David Stephens, who died after the French and Indian War, and the other bride not yet of age. The bride's guardian Samuel F. Williams gave consent for her to marry Samuel S. Williams in 1817. (Was she marrying her stepbrother?  It appears that way, and he may have had a previous wife as there seems to have been an older son--one year older than my ancestor--at least the 1850 census on stated the age.  (Well, the extended family had a letter written June 1845 from Columbus, KY, which is on the Mississippi River, and it was signed Aunt Ann D. Stephens.  So, I wanted some material wherein these two surnames could be found--Williams and Stephens.  Another older letter from an Illinois family also linked the Stephens family to my great-grandfather. Aha--there was a Stephens family of early date in Henderson Co., KY--and his first name was David, the name of my great-grandfather--and also of my Father. This was rather slim evidence, but a kindly person who was also interested in Williams families of Henderson Co, KY uncovered a bail bond (for debt) of the older Samuel F. Williams for the younger Samuel S. Williams.  Would a concerned father go bail for a soon-to-be jailed debtor?  Most probably. For the most part, tax lists exist for most of the counties in Kentucky.  Does your Harris show up on a Kentucky tax list?  Even if he owned no land, but he owned a horse, he would be listed. Increasingly, familysearch.org has wiki publications for how to research each state.  Since most of our people before the 20th century were agricultural people, chances are your Harris had (rented or not) land to farm.  (Not everyone had a distillery.)  You need to explore all the records which exist for the time and the place(s) where your Harris ancestor lived.  Yes, this takes time, but it sharpens your skills.  Join a genealogical society, if you can.  You will learn a lot. E.W.Wallace    ________________________________