Hi, all, New to this list and HARRIS HUNTING. This is the info I have gathered on my husband's ancestor: William HARRIS [wife in 1819 was Sarah {Unk.}; there may have been a prior? marriage, possibly to a Mary?] I have discovered some new info on Will, but have not yet documented to my satisfaction. Possibly my William married a Mary before his marriage to Sarah of 1819? Anyone out there know of a William HARRIS that married a Mary, prob. ca. 1780 (and probably in VA, but possibly in NC)? The children of William HARRIS reportedly were (unsure of birth order!): (1) Mary HARRIS, b. 1779/1780, VA? NC? [These MIGHT be 2 different Mary HARRISes: if Wm.'s daughter never married, then the woman of that name in his 1819 household might be his daughter; however, if his daughter married {someone other than another HARRIS}, then this may have been his widowed daughter-in-law???] (2) Silas HARRIS, b. ca. 1784; m. Edith FRANKLIN; reportedly had 12 children, among them: Joel, Henderson, Ambrose. Does anyone have a will for Silas, the names of his children/grandchildren, and the name of Edith's father [was it Jesse FRANKLIN, or another FRANKLIN?] (3) Louisa/Louise HARRIS, b. unk. (4) William Lewis HARRIS, b. 1794? 1801? 1804?; m. Hannah SMITH; they had 8 children [my husband's ancestor.] Lewis' gravestone is very difficult to read, and the year LOOKS like 1794. However, his father's pension application indicates that the youngest son in this family was b. 1801. Census records for Wm. Lewis HARRIS record his year of birth as 1803 or 1804. Does anyone have a Bible for William Sr. OR any of his children or grandchildren that might clear up this birth year for Lewis? Lewis & Hannah's children were: [1] James H. {Hutchens? Henderson?} [m. Nancy Jane {Cartwright SMITH?}; [2] Henderson, b. 1826 [m. Rhoda SIMMONS]; [4] Nancy [m. Elias SIMMONS]; [4] John Calvin b. 1831 [called Calvin; m. Frances "Nancy" SIMMONS]; [5] Wm. L. [Jr.?]; m. Frances C. {Cannon SMITH?}]; [6] Elizabeth [m. C. Perry MCCANN]; [7] Charles [NFI]; [8] Charity Lucinda "Lucy" [m. {1} Wiley ROYAL{L}; {2} William M. "Bill" BROOKS. All these children had families. (5) Margaret HARRIS, b. unk. (6) Squire HARRIS, b. unk. (7) James HARRIS, b. unk. (8) Jacob HARRIS, b. unk. All of these children except Mary and one son, stated to have been born 1801 in Will's pension application but not named, were grown up and living on their own by 1819. William HARRIS was the only HARRIS in Wilkes 1790, and the ONLY HARRIS in Ashe Co., where he lived 1800-ca. 1814. There were three HARRIS families listed in Wilkes by 1820, according to the index (which is the only available information that I have located for that census so far. If anyone has easy access to this census, could I possibly get a lookup for these Harrises in 1820? Thanks!) William HARRIS lived on the middle fork of the Roaring River in Wilkes Co., and HARRIS CREEK began at the forks in Dockery in Walnut Grove Twp. and went north to the present-day Alleghany Co. line. I believe that either the mountain west of Moxley now called Carter's Mt., or the mountain west of Dockery and east of Dehart now called Shumate Mt., must be the same mountain named HARRIS MT. in several deeds involving assorted neighbors in this area of Wilkes Co. Does anyone know which mountain in Walnut Grove Twp. WAS HARRIS MT.? We have been told William, his son, Silas, and his grandson, Ambrose HARRIS [son of Silas] are all buried in Walnut Grove Church cemetery in Wilkes Co. [close by Shumate Mt. Rd.?, almost to the Dehart Community, which is only about a mile from where I believe his homesite may have been.] However, if they are indeed buried there, this information is not obvious: there are no gravestones for them, though there are unmarked graves. Does anyone know what denomination that little church was? Is the church still functioning? ----- Neighbors and possible relatives that were involved with Will in Surry Co. were: John JACKSON, Ratliff BOON, Ryal/Rials SIMMONS, Charles SIMMONS, Daniel BOON, and POSSIBLY John MCKINNEY, Robert HARRIS, Solomon HARRIS, Jonathan HARRIS [also found as HAIR/HARE], Jesse FRANKLIN and his son Barnett [Bernard, Barnhart] FRANKLIN. ----- Neighbors and possible relatives that were living close to Will in Ashe Co. were: James LEWIS, Peter GRAYBILL [GRAYBEAL], Peter BOWER, Henry CHAMBERS, John WILBER [WILBUR {WILBORN/WELBORN?}], Josiah DOUGHTEN, Benjamin SMITH, Josiah HART, William REVES [REEVES, RIVES], Alexander COX, John MCMILLAN, Mathias POE, John POE, William POE, Canada RICHARDSON, Joshua COX, William HERBERT, and Jesse MORE [MOORE, MOOR.] ----- Neighbors and possible relatives that were involved with Will in Wilkes Co. were: Willis ALEXANDER, Joseph & Benjamin HAMMON [AMMON/HAMON/HAMMOND], and Thomas WELSH/WALSH/WELCH. In 1790, Will's neighbors in Wilkes were: John, Benjamin & William HAMMON; Stephen & James CAUDILL [CAUDEL/CAWDELL/CAUDELL/CORDELL/CORDLE]; Ben, Thomas, & John ADAMS; Willis ALEXANDER; Thomas, Philip, & Rachel JOHNSON [JOHNSTON]; Edmund BOW [BOWE]; James WEBB; Charity HOUSLEY; Winnie WARNER; John THAXTON, William SPICER, Stephen & James CAUDILL; John, William, Robert, Randal/Randolph, Ralph and Colby HOLBROOK; William HARGIS [HARGESS/ HARGIS/HARGES]; William & Duke MEDLIN; James & Thomas LAWRENCE; Charles & John CATE [CATES]; Emmanuel ROSS; Christopher "Kit" MAYNARD [MANARD/MAINORD/MAINARD/MANER {MINOR? MANOR?]; William & Jacob LYON [LION]; Richard BOGGERS [BAUGESS?]; John HAGINS [HAGAN]; Abbie WYATT [WIETT/WIOTT/WYETT]; Susanna HARRISS [HARRIS, possibly later FUGATE {FUGIT/FUGOT}]; Thomas WALSH [WELSH/WELCH]; Zach, John & Wm. HOLBROOKS [HOLBROOK]; James {and Stephen} REID [REED/READ/REEDE]; Jonathan STAMPER; two Thomas BILLINGS; Sam STONES [STONE]; Jesse MINOR [MAYNARD?]; Gibson, James, & Drury MANOR [MAYNARD?]; and John or Joseph ['Jo.'] PREWITT [PRUITT/PRUET/PREWET]. ---- In 1804, Elkanah LEWIS sold land adj. Robert HOLBROOK in Surry Co. to William's son, Silas HARRIS; this deed was witnessed by William Lewis FRANKLIN. ----- Some allied descendant families include: WOODRUFF, GILLASPIE, CAUDILL, SIMMONS, SMITH, BROOKS, WILMOTH/WILMOUTH, & ROBERTS. As I said, I am unsure who the mother or mothers of William's 8 children were, who most of them married, and where they all finally lived. I do know that this large bunch lived [and live] in at least the following NC counties: Surry, Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe, Yadkin, Watauga, and possibly Caldwell, Stokes, & Rockingham. I know that some descendants live in such diverse places as VA, MD, OH, IL, CA, MO, AR, TN, and possibly KY, MS, AL, TX, OK (at least.) Anyone have an unmatched HARRIS that fits one of the children of William & was from NC??? Please contact me directly at my E-Mail below if you connect. Thanks! Pam [email protected]