Dear Pat: You wrote: I have two Richmond HARRISes. One, the Rev War soldier from Wake Co., NC and another much younger Richmond [b.ca1798] b. VA. The younger Richmond was also in Garrard Co., KY. I would like to separate the early Madison HARRIS families to see how many groups appear. I've tried to work with the Miller book but find that I can't quite get the right feel. I have proof that the older Richmond was b. in Bedford Co., VA. That his father's name was Daniel. That the family moved to Wake Co., NC when Richmond was young. My main question for this line is : Which line does this Daniel represent? The question for Richmond number 2 - Who does he belong to?? I've worked on this line for 10 years and am at the same place I was when I started. I don't have a spouse. Some of his children are: Elizabeth Ann, Harriett Jane, Thomas, Henrietta Mary, Henry, and Andrew Jackson. Any help you can give would be most appreciated. Pat T. MY RESPONSE: Dear Pat T. You are right to question some of the faulty conclusions made by William Harris Miller. Too bad he didn't go to the Madison Co., KY courthouse and check some records before he compiled his vast book--and made incorrect conclusions about many families who settled in Madison Co., KY. I do not do research in Wake Co., NC, and therefore I cannot help you distinguish any Harris families from that area. I do suggest you get a guide for North Carolina research--such as the LDS guide which I believe is online at www.familysearch.org Look for the link labeled something like Research Guidance. This will be a sketchy guide (but too long to print out), but it may give you some idea about what resources are available specifically for North Carolina--such as early land grants. I am fairly sure that Wake Co. was part of Lord Granville's area, and as such, his grants are said to have been in Granville District. Margaret M. Hofmann [note spelling] has several books of abstracts of these Granville grants. Get the citations from the same website given above (Fam Hist Library catalog) and also while in the catalog see what resources are available for Wake Co. for the time period you are interested in. Also check to see when Wake Co. was formed. I have a vague recollection that it was formed from old Orange Co., which has many early records missing--more's the pity!!! Now--about the Richmond Harris who was in Garrard or Mercer Co., KY. These counties are just across the river from each other, and the families intermarried a good deal, as I found out when I was researching my Kemper family of Garrard Co. Here is some info I picked up about Richmond Harris, as I believe he was earlier in Madison co., KY which area now covers six counties, I am told on good authority. 2003 Submitted by E.W.Wallace Mrs. William Breckenridge Ardery in KENTUCKY COURT AND OTHER RECORDS VOL II [Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1979], p. 170 states that Richmond Harris of Mercer Co., KY was son of Frederick Harris of Louisa Co., VA. She gives this excerpt from Kentucky records. Ky. Land Office--Va. Surveys, Bk 11, pg. 87--Wm B. Harris and Jas. Overton's Hrs., assee, of Wm. Stewart, assee of David Tanner, assee of Emanual Kelly, assee of Chas. Patterson, 1800 A, part of a 2000 a. entry, part of Treasury Warrant, 10694, located in Mercer Co., on Kentucky River, adjoining Isaac Winston's survey of 1600 acres on East side, bounded by lines of Winston and Ann Poage, Jan. 24, 1789. RICHMOND HARRIS [this writer's caps] assigns one half of land in within plat mentioned to James Overton, Jr., and desires to register grant accordingly. Feb 25, 1789. Signed Richmond Harris. Note: Richmond Harris was the son of Frederick Harris of Louisa Co., VA, see Franklin Co. Deeds. She adds this information: "Overton Harris, Mercer Co., Ky, Bk. 2 pg. 342-343--Appraisement of estate, Apr. 2, 1803. "Louisa Co. VA Deed Bk G, pg. 422--Frederick Harris of Louisa, appts son, Richard Harris, his atty. in fact to convey his Ky. lands, Mar. 4, 1794. "Richmond Harris to John Overton, Fayette Co., KY., Dt. Ct. Bk. B, pg. 98, Sept. 5, 1798--Richmond Harris of Louisa Co., Va., by attorney, Richard Harris, deeds John Overton of Fayette Co., Ky., 250 A. located in Mercer Co., on South side of Ky. River, consideration of $500.00" (Ibid, p. 170) Comment: If this is the Richmond Harris you seek, and, if indeed his father was Frederick Harris, I believe Frederick Harris was a brother to my Major Robert Harris (wife Mourning Glen [?]) of Louisa and Albemarle Cos., VA. It seems to me that I read somewhere rather recently that Frederick Harris's wife was an Overton. The above citation would lead one to explore that avenue, since Richmond Harris is associated with the Overtons in Kentucky. I believe another Overton female married a Winston. (For a lot of background on these folks, you have to go back to Virginia records.) (By the way, the way I read the Kentucky land grant, the original patentee was probably Charles Patterson. Therefore, the land office in Frankfort KY would have no information on the assignees, but the tax lists will show the current taxpayer, such as any Harris males. Tax lists for Kentucky are generally intact, and sometimes this is the only way you can locate persons in the county. The census-taker missed a few, but the taxpayer generally got his man. If not, the man was triple-taxed, according to the court records. Court records are another great resource.) I have not done a good deal of Overton research--at least of the later generations--there are too many ancestors whom I have not yet researched. However, said Major Robert Harris is said to be (and the evidence is quite strong that it is so) the son of William Harris and Temperance Overton). If indeed, your research indicates there is a strong link to Frederick Harris of colonial Louisa Co., let me know, and I probably can share some citations with you. Sometimes we have to do a LOT of research of original records in order to eliminate persons with a common surname--and I have lots of common surnames in my father's lineage!!! There is a family history or two in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City about the Overtons. Many of these family histories have been filmed, and, generally, they are available on loan from Salt Lake City to your local FHC for a small fee for a limited time. Another alternative is to try to effect an interlibrary loan, but many genealogical books do not circulate. If you are lucky with ILL, you may have to read the book in the library, so that a librarian can keep an eye on you. Many genealogists in the past have been very destructive of books which later genealogists seek. Good luck with your Richmond Harris. Do not overlook old Granville Co., NC records as a resource for a Richmond Harris of North Carolina. Many abstracts of the earliest deeds, wills, court records have been compiled by Zae Hargett Gwynn, by Thomas McAdory Owen, and by Brent Holcomb (early marriages) and lately by Timothy Rackley, whose e-mail address I have. There are lots of Harrises in colonial Granville Co., but I am told they came principally from Surry - and perhaps Isle of Wight Co. - in Virginia. They were not from the same area as the descendants of William Harris and Temperance Overton, whose land was principally in what is now Hanover Co. (formed from New Kent Co.) E.W.Wallace