I have read, with interest, the information on the Benjamin Harris's posted recently. I wish to enquire about my own Benjamin Harris, my ggrandfather. He was born in 1782 in Virginia or West Virginia...likely around Charlestown, West Virginia which was then in Berkeley County, Virginia. I have no documented history earlier than his marriage in 1807 in Wayne County, KY. To Ruth Pendleton (Penneton in the local records). Another branch of the family has printed a history without documentation or attribution which says his father was a William Harris and his ggfather a Henry Harris. This document says his father lost his land in a dispute settled by George Washington. It says that Benjamin was an itinerant shoemaker when he met Ruth Pendleton at the Pendleton Plantation, though I have found no record of such a plantation. It also says her father was deceased and named Rufus Pendleton, though the marriage record shows approval of her marriage through a third party by her father Robert Penneton. The family history also says that Benjamin returned to Charlestown, the area of his home, to serve as a substitute in the war of 1812 before returning home to Crab Orchard, KY following a devastating earthquake in Charlestown. I am curious whether anyone else has any records which might match this Benjamin Harris.

A couple of historical notes (political also) for shawhollow. 1.  West Virginia was not formed until Civil War times.  Lyman Chalkley made some notes (mostly court records, if I remember correctly) for the area which became [at least part] of West Virginia.  The title of his work is something like this:  The Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish.[in Virginia?]  I am writing this from this aging memory. This work has been digitized, but the three volumes have separate indexes.  Just do a google search for Lyman Chalkley and see if these Chronicles appear.  As far as I know, Ancestry.com does not yet have them--but changes appear daily. If I remember, the key to the index may be on the second page or beyond. The link generally appears at the bottom of the page.  I have not looked at it on the net for years. (I know one Harris appears there--my ancestor, Christopher Harris, of colonial Louisa and Albemarle Co. VA.  His second bride was one of those Scotch-Irish lasses--Agnes McCord, the mother of most of his Harris children.  Most Scottish women retained their maiden names, but Agnes later became Mrs Harris in the records.  She had inherited some land in that area adjacent to Albemarle Co., and the will/deed may have been in her maiden name. 2.  Wayne Co. KY was formerly Pulaski Co.  Pulaski was formed 1798 from Green and Lincoln Cos.   There was a courthouse fire in Pulaski in 1871.  However, there are some circuit court records, and deeds dating back to 1799.  (I am referring to Dr. George K. Schweitzer's little book on Kentucky Genealogical Research.  He has been headquartered in Chattanooga, TN.  He no longer attends national genealogical conferences, where he generally lectured in a costume suitable for his subject matter.  But google for Dr. S. as someone may be selling his books.  They used to be relatively inexpensive.  And they will help you a lot, but you have to learn his abbreviations. given in the early part f each of his books.) There are a couple of county histories, says Dr S., and with luck and with a google.books search you may find they have been digitized.  There is a public library in Somerset, KY [Pulaski Co] and at the time of publication of Dr. S's book the Historical Society was headquartered there.  Google for both the library and the historical society.  Both will like donations for any research they do for you. (Wayne Co is where my old KY pioneer--Michael Stoner--died with nun-cupative will, but is buried, I am told, at Mt. Sterling cemetery near where his eldest son and his remarried widow lived.  For some years, according to a book by Michael L. Cook, C.G., Stoner operated a ferry across the Cumberland River.  First time I saw a round rainbow [or a reflection] was on a part of the Cumberland River.  I wish you success in finding your Harris.  Experts tell us to find court records  Everybody sued everybody else--mostly for debt. E.W.Wallace ________________________________ From: Shawhollow <shawhollow@comcast.net> To: harris-hunters@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2012 3:04 PM Subject: [HARRIS-HUNTERS] Another Benjamin Harris I have read, with interest, the information on the Benjamin Harris's posted recently. I wish to enquire about my own Benjamin Harris, my ggrandfather. He was born in 1782 in Virginia or West Virginia...likely around Charlestown, West Virginia which was then in Berkeley County, Virginia. I have no documented history earlier than his marriage in 1807 in Wayne County, KY. To Ruth Pendleton (Penneton in the local records). Another branch of the family has printed a history without documentation or attribution which says his father was a William Harris and his ggfather a Henry Harris.  This document says his father lost his land in a dispute settled by George Washington.  It says that Benjamin was an itinerant shoemaker when he met Ruth Pendleton at the Pendleton Plantation, though I have found no record of such a plantation.  It also says her father was deceased and named Rufus Pendleton, though the marriage record shows approval of her marriage through a third party by her father Robert Penneton. The family history also says that Benjamin returned to Charlestown, the area of his home, to serve as a substitute in the war of 1812 before returning home to Crab Orchard, KY following a devastating earthquake in Charlestown. I am curious whether anyone else has any records which might match this Benjamin Harris. ------------------------------- 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