Hi, everyone, Forgive my late response to these Culpeper, VA messages-- I have been busy reading census microfilms of my Harris family, and not looking at my mail much... I am very familiar with many lines in the Spotsylvania/ Orange/Culpeper area of Virginia, as that is where my Will Harris came from when he moved to NC just after the Rev War. All in all, researching this area of Virginia has been a highly frustrating experience--having looked under rocks in these (and many other) counties, I have yet to find any document that clearly defines a relationship between any of several Harris men, other than this John Harris, grandson of John KAINS, apparently being the son? or brother? of the Joseph Harris mentioned in the will, along with what seem to be John's sisters, Barbary and Eve. I have been unable to identify where, exactly, this land was--- Comical Run, wherever it was, is no longer named that. Does anyone out there have any document that names this particular stream or know what it is now called? If so, I would greatly appreciate any help. I strongly suspect that KAINS' land may have lain in what is now a county bordering West Virginia---or even in what is now that state. And who were the children of John, and/or children of Joseph? I don't have a clue. Does anyone have these people in any other documents? (Even John Blankenbaker, the gifted and generous Germanna Colony researcher, has expressed curiosity and a little frustration with this KAINS. This appears to be the sole document for him and his little extended family of Harrises...) The lack of further records for this little group is particularly frustrating to me---because there is a very good possibility this bunch MIGHT be ours.) - If David Harris of Culpeper was related to Francis Kirtley, I have found no proof of it in these counties. If they were somehow related, the documentation that would show it, if it still exists, would be found earlier and in another county. (I should state that the Francis KIRTLEY in the documents below, and that was named executor of David HARRIS, was the second of that name in this area of Virginia. Francis KIRTLEY, Sr., died in 1763.) The second Francis reportedly married a daughter of Honorious POWELL; he, along with the STANTON (i.e., Staunton River,) STROTHER, MADISON, JEFFERSON, and MARSHALL families, to name a few, were large landowners in the area that included what is now Shenandoah National Park (Francis KIRTLEY, Sr., at one point, owned at least 20,000 acres.) --- Allow me to share some more history of this area of Virginia (I think it helps put into perspective what a massive area we are talking about here...I apologize to those of you who are uninterested, and you may skip the rest of this mail if you are "not into it"...) I will post HARRIS records for this area in another mail or two (or so,) so those of you who stop reading here but have interest in those records should check them out. - Pam pamstone@digital.net --- I have studied this area a lot, trying to sort out the migrations of Harrises into it, within it, and out of it. - Some other large landowners or grantees of large portions of land for the purpose of group settlement in the 1730's and 1740's in this area of Virginia (which included a very large section of central and western Virginia, as well as a portion of what is now West Virginia) were: - John & Isaac VAN METER, from whom Jost HITE purchased a large portion of their combined 40,000-acre grants (a lot of which he sold to numerous Orange/Culpeper families, as evidenced by many deeds from him in the Orange records.) - William BEVERLEY of Essex Co., VA, with his 118,000+ acres known as the "Mannor of Beverley", most of which was in what later became Augusta Co., VA (which he had jointly patented in 1736 with "Sir John RANDOLPH of the City of Williamsburgh, Knight, John ROBINSON of King and Queen County, and Richard RANDOLPH of Henrico County, Gent" and from those partners Beverley purchased their shares.) He also owned land referred to as "the Octuna Tract"--I don't know whether that was another name for Beverley Manor, or whether it was another tract altogether. Does anyone know? - Andrew ROSS and Morgan BRYAN, who together obtained a grant in 1730 by order of the Governor and the Council of the Virginia Colony for 100,000 acres on which to settle families from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. ROSS was from Pennsylvania, and a Quaker, BRYAN was from Delaware, and was not---how this partnership came to be is a little mystery all by itself. Ross' own 2,300+ was in what is now Frederick Co., VA, while Bryan's land on which he resided [he owned 4 tracts totalling 2,100+ acres] was in what is now Berkeley Co., WVA, on Mills' Creek. Morgan BRYAN moved from Orange Co., VA to Rowan Co., NC in 1748, and died there in 1763. Numerous histories of this area of the Virginias and of northwest North Carolina incorrectly state that Morgan Bryan's [also as BRYANT] wife died in Virginia, and that his son, Joseph, did, too, and that Morgan himself died in 1793 at his home on the Yadkin River, "The Point". All of this information is wrong, and is caused by a mixing up of generations of Morgan Bryans. [If anyone has Morgan as an ancestor, let me know, and I will share documents on him.] - Morgan ap MORGAN, or "Morgan an", as he later signed himself, was one of the settlers of Ross and Bryan, with 1000 acres, also on Mills Creek in what is now Berkeley Co., WVA. A well-educated Welshman, Morgan was prominent in his adopted town of Christiana, Delaware, and became so in his new home in Orange Co., serving in many public offices. He is said to have left a very large family---probably Morgan Morgan X still lives in that area of West Virginia! - Well, that's it for this one. - Next come the docs! :-) - Pam pamstone@digital.net ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ira L. Harris III" <barebear@evansville.net> To: <HARRIS-HUNTERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 11:03 AM Subject: [HH] Will: John Kains, 1767, Culpeper County, Virginia > Source: Culpeper County, Virginia Will Book A. > Abstracted & Compiled by John Frederick Dorman > Washington, D.C., 1956 > > Pages 435-437. Will of John Kains, dated 6 January 1767 > John Kains of the County of Culpeper and Parish of Bromfield > To my grandson John Harriss that part of my land that lies on the > east side of Comical Run altogether with the houses and plantations > whereon I now live. > To Joseph Harris and his wife...all > his estate he was then possessed of, not given by will in writing, to > John Harris, except one bed and cap box to Barbary Harris, the said > Barbary to have her choice, and a small box to Eve Harris. John > Thomas... On the motion of the said John Harriss > administration (with the wills annexed) is granted him. > > Ira L. Harris III > Evv., In. > ==== HARRIS-HUNTERS Mailing List ====