Paula W. asked about a Harris male associated with a Byars wife.  I suggested she do a land patent (Virgina State Library website for land patents) search for the surname Byars, instead of Harris.  She should look over other land grants which involve the Byars family.  The oldest patents appear at the end of the long lists for Harrises (and even Byars).  I'm getting sleepy, but I think I did a surname search for Byars and up came this summary mentioning a William Harris of Hanover Co.  (Byar's Branch, Hanover Co. 1725.)  See bottom of e-mail. Hsnover Co., an historic place, had most of its records burned at the end of the Civil War--alas for us Harris Hunters. Paula should try to obtain copies of an article, I believe, by Malcolm H. Harris, MD, published long ago, I believe, in The Virginia Genealogist--an article about THREE William HARRISES in colonial Hanover Co.  Two Harris males he decided were father and son, but the third one had different associates, such as Alves.  So there is still more searching to do--for Alves. Most patents mention a watercourse, so she may have to do some searching for different watercourses.  And refer to a map which MAY show watercourses, as some of latter-day highway maps of counties compiled frequently by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation.  I was warned by one of the Virginia archivists long ago, however, that sometimes the landowners changed the name of the watercourse (especially small ones) to match his desires--or more frequently, his surname.  I cut and pasted this from the Library of Virginia land patent area (website) and it may not transfer well to internet. E.W.Wallace - related to one of those William Harrises of Hanover Co. http://image.lva.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/GetLONN.pl?first=420&last=&g_p=P12&collection=LO Patent  Author Harris, William, Capt. grantee. Title Land grant 24 March 1725. Summary Location: Hanover County. Description: 266 acres beginning at Thomsons Ash on the south side the Little River at the mouth of Byar’s Branch. Source: Land Office Patents No. 12, 1724-1726, p. 420 (Reel 11). Part of the index to the recorded copies of patents for land issued by the Secretary of the Colony serving as the colonial Land Office. The collection is housed in the Archives at the Library of Virginia. Other Format Available on microfilm. Virginia State Land Office. Patents 1-42, reels 1-41. Related See also the following surname(s): Harriss. Subject - Personal Harris, William, Capt. grantee. Subject - Topical Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- Virginia -- Hanover County. Subject -Geographic Hanover County (Va.) -- History -- 18th century. Genre/Form Land grants -- Virginia -- Hanover County. Added Entry Virginia. Colonial Land Office. Patents, 1623-1774. Library of Virginia. Archives.

Many thanks, Evelyn. I have located a distant cousin who just happens to live near Richmond, so she has begun searching in the library of Virginia. Yesterday she followed up on the Byars-Thomasson connection to Nathaniel Harris and made some good progress. She searched land records, after I forwarded your post to her. She plans on making more trips in the coming weeks. Paula Harris Wolkerstorfer On May 30, 2012, at 9:15 PM, EVELYN WALLACE wrote: > Paula W. asked about a Harris male associated with a Byars wife. I suggested she do a land patent (Virgina State Library website for land patents) search for the surname Byars, instead of Harris. She should look over other land grants which involve the Byars family. The oldest patents appear at the end of the long lists for Harrises (and even Byars). > > > I'm getting sleepy, but I think I did a surname search for Byars and up came this > summary mentioning a William Harris of Hanover Co. (Byar's Branch, Hanover Co. 1725.) > See bottom of e-mail. > > > Hsnover Co., an historic place, had most of its records burned at the end of the Civil War--alas for us Harris Hunters. > > Paula should try to obtain copies of an article, I believe, by Malcolm H. Harris, MD, published long ago, I believe, in The Virginia Genealogist--an article about > THREE William HARRISES in colonial Hanover Co. Two Harris males he decided were father and son, but the third one had different associates, such as Alves. So there is still more searching to do--for Alves. > > > Most patents mention a watercourse, so she may have to do some searching for different watercourses. And refer to a map which MAY show watercourses, as some of latter-day highway maps of counties compiled frequently by the Virginia Dept. of Transportation. I was warned by one of the Virginia archivists long ago, however, that sometimes the landowners changed the name of the watercourse (especially small ones) to match his desires--or more frequently, his surname. > > > I cut and pasted this from the Library of Virginia land patent area (website) and it may not transfer well to internet. > > E.W.Wallace - related to one of those William Harrises of Hanover Co. > > > http://image.lva.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/GetLONN.pl?first=420&last=&g_p=P12&collection=LO Patent > Author Harris, William, Capt. grantee. > Title Land grant 24 March 1725. > Summary Location: Hanover County. > > Description: 266 acres beginning at Thomsons Ash on the south side the Little River at the mouth of Byar’s Branch. > > Source: Land Office Patents No. 12, 1724-1726, p. 420 (Reel 11). > > Part of the index to the recorded copies of > patents for land issued by the Secretary of the Colony serving as the > colonial Land Office. The collection is housed in the Archives at the > Library of Virginia. > Other Format Available on microfilm. Virginia State Land Office. Patents 1-42, reels 1-41. > Related See also the following surname(s): Harriss. > Subject - Personal Harris, William, Capt. grantee. > Subject - Topical Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- Virginia -- Hanover County. > Subject -Geographic Hanover County (Va.) -- History -- 18th century. > Genre/Form Land grants -- Virginia -- Hanover County. > Added Entry Virginia. Colonial Land Office. Patents, 1623-1774. > > Library of Virginia. Archives. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to HARRIS-HUNTERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Paula, I'm catching up on the last several months of Harris Hunter postings and after seeing your post, I realized that you may have missed the research I posted here 2 Jan 2011 concerning information from the Louisa Co VA Personal Property Tax Lists (and more) that indicates your Nathaniel Harris b.1763 may be the son of Job Harris Sr. Here's the link to my previous post: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/HARRIS-HUNTERS/2011-01/1294036040 I can add that I find Nathaniel Harris last appears on the Louisa Co list in 1802 and first appears on the Washington Co. VA Personal Property Tax list in 1803. Hope this helps! Christine Schomaker