The Harris family (The name was spelled differently in those days.) was said to originate in Wales. One branch went to Scotland in the 12th century and became allied with the Douglases. Edward Harris was born in Ayrshire Scotland in 1620 and married Flora Douglas. They moved to Glanmarquin in Donegal where Edward was ruling elder in the Raphoe Church in 1673. He had three sons: Edward, Robert and James. Rev. James Alexander also lived at Raphoe; he was reputed to be the father of the "seven sons" who came to America and finally Mecklenburg Co. The Harrises and Alexanders were closely related in the MD/PA area and in Mecklenburg (and likely in the old country as well).
My interest in HARRIS began when I learned that my ggg grandmother was Prudence McElhaney, the wife of David Leech, Esq, of York Co. SC. There is a very close connection between the McElhaney/McIlhenny and Harris families. In Lancaster Co. PA there were marriages between two McIlhenny sisters, Jane and Mary to two brothers, Charles and James Harris.
I have never been able to definitively establish the relationship between Prudence and the two sisters, but there is a wealth of circumstantial evidence pointing in that direction. In all likelihood these girls were close kin of Robert McIlhenny, who had property adjacent to David Leech in Lancaster Co. PA in 1747. Robert's family appears later in close proximity to David Leech of York Co. SC; both families were prominent in the Bethesda Presbyterian Church there.
Howe's History of the Presbyterian Church in SC, on page 439 has an account of the life of Rev. John Harris: he was born in 1725 of Welch parents, who settled on the Eastern Shore of Md, graduated at Princeton in 1753, and soon thereafter preached to the Churches of Wicomico and Monokin, in Somerset Co. MD.
Before the Revolution the ministry of Rev. John Harris had taken him to the Long Cane Presbyterian congregation in 96 District of South Carolina. He was a planter and landowner and became a member of the Provincial Congress of SC. He also practiced medicine.
However it seems likely that the Harrises who were allied with the McIlhennys and the Alexanders were another family. They were Scotch-Irish whereas Rev. John Harris of the Eastern Shore of Maryland was Welsh.
Robert Harris, son of Edward and Flora Douglas
Harris, married Dorothy Wylie and had 8 children
(apparently in Ireland):
John md1 Grizzell Steel and md2 Rebecca McBay.
William md Eliz Glen.
James md Mary McIlhenny and died 1778.
Margaret md Alexander Poer.
Thomas (1695-1801) md Mary Mckenny.
Samuel md Martha Laird and died 1789.
Robert md1 Frances Cunningham and md2 Ann Harris
Caldwell.
Charles (1717-76) was born in Donegal and married(1)
Jane McIlhenny in Lancaster Co. PA in 1736.
He married(2) Eliz. Thompson Baker. Charles died
in 1776.
All of Robert's sons except William are said to have migrated to North Carolina.
Edward Harris, son of Edward and Flora, had 3
children: Robert, William and Mary:
Robert Harris, Sr., son of Edward and grandson of
Edward and Flora, (1702-88) was born in Donegal. He
married Mary Ann Rogers in 1727; she died and he married
Margaret McElmon (an alternative name is given as
McIlhenny) ca 1744 near Litterkenny in Donegal.
Edward came to PA, to Swatara Creek in Lancaster ca 1745. About 1765 he moved to Mecklenburg NC near the Rocky River. He died there in 1788, and Margaret died the following year.
(This record makes a good case for the location of the McIlhenny family in Donegal with the Harrises and Alexanders.)
A William Harris was prominent in court and land records in Cecil Co., but it is not clear to this writer that he belonged to the PA family listed above. In a 1734 deed he is referred to as William Harris from Kent Co. [MD].
In 1790 Joseph Leech married Tabitha Harris in Halifax VA. (I haven't identified either of these two individuals.)
.....
John Harris, son of Samuel and Martha Laird Harris, and grandson of James and Mary McIlhenny Harris, lived in York Co. SC. In 1777 he married Jane Moore (1756-1843). (In an article dated 1964 produced by Mr. Joseph E. Hart, Jr. on "Some of the Descendants of James Moore" he mentions 3 Jane Moores of appropriate ages. The only one he didn't otherwise account for was James' sister; he simply listed her with no dates or description. Of course this Jane Moore could have been a member of some other Moore family.) John Harris died in 1811.
Cousin Judy Spears kindly sent me material regarding
a pension application: the service of John Harris on
behalf of his wife, Jane. In 1777 living in Mecklenburg
he enlisted (this might well be in the area that became
York Co.). Children of John and Jane Moore Harris were:
Gates Washington Harris (1776-1811)
Isaac Ross Harris (1780)
Wylie Lord Harris (1882)
James Moore Harris (1785)
Margaret Harris (1787) md. John James Ward. Their
children:
In 1854 William was in Sumter SC; Wylie was in York; John was in Helena AR; Margaret was in MS. A grandson, John Harris was in York.
The 1790 York Co. census in the published consecutive
lists of the census on page 28, col 3 shows:
#58 John Harris (likely a member of the Harris
family who in Lawrence Co. AL was to marry a descendant
of John Leech.)
#59 James Moore
And on page 30, col 3
#20 John Moore
#21 William Leech (John and Wm Leech were brothers.)
Probably don't want this stuff: Here is everything I have on the descendants of John M. HARRIS and Elvina ROSS 1. John M.1 HARRIS was born 1797 in York, SC, and died March 20, 1848 in Mecklenburg Co, NC. He married Evalina E. ROSS April 19, 1825, daughter of Alexander ROSS and Rachel HILL. Children of John HARRIS and Evalina ROSS are: i. Melvina D. HARRIS, born January 12, 1828 in York, SC; died January 9, 1883. ii. John A. HARRIS, born August 27, 1830 in York, SC; died March 16, 1839. iii. Rachel E. HARRIS, born July 27, 1832 in York, SC; died May 27, 1880. She married J. Mason STRONG April 7, 1851. iv. Laura L. M. HARRIS, born August 27, 1835 in York, SC; died March 5, 1836. v. William F. C. HARRIS, born April 21, 1838 in York, SC. He married Frances I BARRON January 4, 1859. vi. Lorena E. HARRIS, born November 22, 1840 in York, SC. She married William B. PRESSLEY May 26, 1853.
In 1801 Robert Harris made inventory of the estate of Matthew Osborn. It included a number of slaves and a Bible.
Peter Harris appears in York in 1810 and 1820 and in Lawrence in 1830. The same man? who knows? That requires more research at the two localities.
Here are the names of some Harrises who died in York
Co.:
Robert Harris (1756-1841)
Jane Harris, wife of Robert Harris (1758-1816)
Col. James M. Harris (1783-1857)
Francis Harris, wife of James M. Harris (1784-1850)
In 1815 James Harris was a witness of the will of Andrew Morrison in Franklin Co. TN
Thomas T. Harris, apparently without children, died in 1827 leaving a Nuncupative will. He had four slaves, which he bequeathed to his newphew, James Edwards Thomas Harris, son of William B. Harris. A witness was Charles J. Gillaspie.
In the 1820 census Nehemiah Harris appears on page 36 (320010 21010). (In 1830 and 1840 he appears to be in Lawrence Co. AL and in 1850 in the home of Wm McGaughey with Dr. Joseph Leech.
In the 1830 Franklin Co. census page 125 are three Harris families between David Leech and Rice Collins (both of them York Co. families): James in the middle in his 80's; Samuel toward Leech in his 40's; Samuel A [Hearis] toward Collins in his 50's. Old man James seems to have gotten into this census shortly before he died.
James Harris, said to be born in NC in the 1740's had
a will in Franklin Co. recorded in 1831:
Wife Susannah Harris;
sons Samuel, David G., and James B. Harris;
Daughters Sarah, Rebecca, Marthy, Mary, Rhoda and
Susannah Harris.
This James appears to be the son of Samuel and
Rebecca Morrison Harris and the grandson of James and
Mary McIlhenny Harris, but his birthdate is given as
1759. He married Susannah Goss. They were from Rowan
Co (later Iredel).
Another possibility for the identity of James Harris is James Harris born 1750, son of Robert and Margaret Harper Harris. This James was the 1st cousin of the other one. Both of them grandsons of James and Mary McIlhenny Harris.
In 1828 in Lawrence Co. AL Thomas Sidney Harris (1803-74) married Matilda Henry (1811-80), daughter of Samuel Henry, Jr. They appear to have moved to Leake Co. MS ca 1831 with two small children. This Harris family was allied with Dickeys and lived successively in Halifax Co. VA, Pendleton SC, Logan and Livingston KY, and some of them found their way to Lawrence Co. AL.
In 1830 William Harris married Nancy Stovall in Lawrence Co. AL.
There were many Harrises in the 1830 census; among them was Peter Harris and Nehemiah Harris. N. Harris appears in 1840.
Page 183 of the 1840 Lawrence Co. census shows James Harris living near William McGaughey and David Leech. (In 1850 William L. McGaughey is living in Itawamba Co. MS with Dr. Joseph H. Leach age 31, Nehemiah Harris age 66, and Nehemiah McGaughey age 16 in his household. In 1860 Dr. Leach and Dr. Nehemiah McGaughey have adjacent homes, perhaps in practice together. One might venture to guess that the young doctor's mother may have been a Harris.)
Most of the following comes from my friend, Odessa
Isbell:
Rev. Thomas Jefferson Harris (Baptist) was born in
1800 in VA. He came to Lawrence Co. and married Martha
Lou Wallace, daughter of Samuel W. Wallace in 1837. The
children of Thomas and Martha Harris were:
William
Marion D.
Rebecca
Judith Frances
Sarah Anna
George Martin
Mary Christine
Thomas Jefferson, Jr.
John S. and
Jay Clay.
William D. Harris married Eliz. C. Wallace, sister of Martha.
In 1833 Robert Harris entered land in Twp 6S 9W.
James M. Harris married Frances G. Harris in Lawrence in 1838. A James M. Harris appears in the 1810 York Co. SC census.
From Don Harris :
Calvin M. Harris was said to be in Lawrence Co.in
1841 when he married Amalissa McGaughey. They were in
Blount Co. AL in 1850 and in Shelby Co in 1860. He was
born in Tn in 1818.
In 1842 Christopher Columbus Harris was born near Mt. Hope. A Confederate soldier, he became a U.S. Congressman from Alabama in 1814-15. He died in 1935 and is buried at Decatur.
In 1883 Walter R. Harris married Martha Ash; she was the daughter of Robert Ash and the granddaughter of William and Sarah Leech Ash. (To establish the identity of Walter R. Harris is a primary object of your writer.)
In the 1850 census for Itawamba Co. MS on page 323 is found Wm L. McGaha 66, farmer b. in TN. McGaha had 10 children in his home and also Nehemiah Harris, 66, b. TN. We may speculate that Harris was the brother of Mrs. McGaha (McGaughey). One of the children was Nehemiah R. Harris, aged 16. Also in the home was Dr. Joseph H. Leach, 31.
(This from a McGaughey correspondent):
G.W.McGaughey (1786) of Lawrence Co. AL, son of
William McGaughey, of Washington Co. VA, then Green Co.
TN, then
Maury Co. TN. had a son, William L.M., born 1804. He
married Mary Harris and moved to Itawamba Co. MS.
In 1842 John T. Harris of Lafayette Co. for $200 sold half a lot in Oxford on the Public Square to William A. Ward.
Worth S. Ray referred to the Harris family in his book, The Mecklenburg Signers and their Neighbors, p 534. He described them as "just another one of those families from the Eastern Shore of Maryland..." However your writer has not been able to connect the Harris family of PA with Rev. John Harris, born in 1725 of Welch descent with the (presumably) Scotch Irish clan who came down and largely people that part of Mecklenburg Co. that later became Cabarrus.
(Correspondence re the families mentioned here is welcomed.)
© 2001 Larry Clayton