Hiram Harris (abt. 1794 - 1866)

Born about 1794 in Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Harris — married 16 Aug 1821 in Ripley, Indiana

Descendants

Died 11 May 1866 at about age 72 in Indiana

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Barry Smith [send private message] and Weldon Smith [send private message]

Biography

DNA and public records help point us to Hiram's ancestral relatives. At first, faint DNA evidence pointed to Isham Harris and Anne Campbell as parents. But later, stronger DNA evidence points to Samuel Harris and Nancy Duncan as the more probable parents.

Hiram's birth place and year are estimated from consistent census entries^[1][2] The LDS record identifying his birth year also places his birth in Charlotte County, Virginia.

Hiram Harris and Martha Harris were married on 16 Aug 1821, in Ripley County, IN^[3]. This is our first indication of this Harris family in IN, although Martha's parents patented Land in 1819 in Franklin County. See Spouse bio for a list of Hiram and Martha's nine children.

The family moved slightly south across the county line into Shelby Twp by the 1830 census for Jefferson Co^[4]. The family acquired land throughout the 1830s. A land patent for 80 acres was recorded in 1831^[5] and another patent for 40 acres in 1834^[6].

The Jefferson County Courthouse in Madison had additional property deeds with Hiram as Grantee: 1833 72 acres^[7], and 15 acres^[8] ; 1837 26.75 acres^[9]. Assuming no properties were sold, the family owned 234 acres by the time of their appearance in the1840 census.

Note that James Smith patented 80 acres in 26-5-11 between 1835 and 1838, making the Smith's and Harris's neighbors in diagonally adjoining sections for the 20 years prior to the marriage of Malissa Harris and Francis Smith.

1850 census for Shelby Twp^[2] shows the family with real estate valued at $1500. The children here are all listed and their listed ages are the basis of the approximate birth year shown. Melinda Gans, 26, is also shown living with the family and is shown as illiterate. Note that an Amanda Gans was living with the family in 1860, and a John Gans witnessed Hiram’s will.

In 1860^[1], Hiram and Martha still had Mary (35), Catharine (23), Amanda (16), Hiram (14) at home, together with a David Whilland (18) and Amanda Gans (9).

In 1860, the family purchased 25 more acres^[10]. And finally, in 1864 at age 70, 2 acres were purchased^[11], perhaps as a retirement location in town.

Hiram died 11 May 1866 at age 72 and is buried at Canaan Methodist Cemetery ^[12], although researcher Weldon Smith was not able to find the monument in 1998. Also shown buried there is son Samuel who died 10 Sep 1860, the son of H and M Harris.

Will of Hiram Harris

In the name of the Beloved Father of all, I Hiram Harris of the County of Jefferson State of Indiana do hereby make and publish this, my last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all former wills by me heretofore at any time made.

Item 1st: I devise and bequeath to my wife Martha Harris all my household and kitchen furniture, and also one promissory note against Edgar B. Bishop for one thousand dollars, said note bearing date January 13th, 1866 and due two years after date.

Item 2nd: I devise and bequeath to my sons Benjamin F. Harris and Hiram J. Harris and my daughters Mary A. Gordon, Martha J. Raybourn?, Catherine Harris, Eliza Nicholson, Malissa A. Smith, and Amanda Harris four promissory notes against Edgar B. Bishop for five hundred dollars each, said notes bearing date January 13th, 1866 and bearing numbers 2-3-4&5 of said notes, and whereas I have heretofore given to said daughters Mary A. Gordon, Martha J. Raybourn, and Malissa A. Smith each one milch cow over and above what I have given to the rest of my said kin, I therefore hereby devise and direct that my said daughters Eliza Nicholson, Catherine Harris, and Amanda Harris each have twenty seven? (silver?) dollars over and above an equal amount of said money when collected.

Item 3rd: I do hereby appoint my son Benjamin F. Harris Executor of this my last will and testament.

Witness my hand and seal this 26th day of April 1866. Hiram Harris seal

The State of Indiana, Jefferson County.

On this day appeared in the Clerk’s Office of said county John Gans and Benjamin Wadsworth the subscribing witnesses to the last will and testament of Hiram Harris, late of said county, deceased, who being duly sworn on their oath say they saw said Hiram Harris sign and seal the foregoing paper as his will, and that they subscribed the same as witnesses in the presence of each other and in the presence and at the request of said Hiram Harris. These deponents further say said Hiram Harris was at the time of making and executing said paper as his will of full age to devise his property, and of sound mind and memory and not under coercion and ?, and that he did publish and declare the same to be his will, and further say not.

John Gans Benjamin Wadsworth

Subscribed and sworn before me this 26th day of May 1866 - David G. Phillips, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas Certified to be a true, full, and complete copy of the last will and testament of Hiram Harris, late of said county, deceased, and that the original is now on file in my office. Witness my hand and seal of said court, at Madison May 26, 1866.

DNA

In 2023, a patrilineal descendant of Hiram Harris took the 37-STR marker Y-chromosome test offered by FTDNA. The results placed him in group 21, which as of June 2023 has nine testers. While Hiram's descendant has no exact matches, he has the modal count for group 21 at every one of the measured markers; those expected to be his closest relatives just each happen to have a unique mutation at at one or two of the measured markers.

Multiple testers in the group trace lines back to Thomas Harris and Rachel [Maddox] who lived in Anne Arundel and later Prince George's County, Maryland.

See the freespace page for more details.

It is now undoubtable that Thomas Harris was Hiram's patrilineal ancestor.

Thomas had three known sons who lived to adulthood, and only one of them had descendants known to have come to Virginia: Samuel Harris b. ca. 1721. Because Hiram was reportedly from Virginia, the most likely hypothesis is that he descends from Samuel. This would make him either a son (very unlikely), grandson, or great-grandson of Samuel.

An autosomal test taken by another of Hiram's descendants reveals a large cluster of matches who descend from Thomas and Rachel Harris, including descendants through all of their sons and daughters known to have living descendants (and a few other "floating clusters" in addition with plausible connections). This descendant has also a large cluster of matches to descendants of Joseph Duncan and Joseph Duncan Jr. of Fauquier County. Joseph Jr. had a daughter Nancy who married Samuel Harris in Fauquier Co. in 1789, so the current best hypothesis is that Hiram was the son of Samuel and Nancy Harris born a few years after they married. A probate record from Kentucky suggests that Samuel and Nancy had moved west, correlating with Hiram's first known appearance in Indiana soon after it opened to settlement.

Sources

• Note: The referenced Deeds were held in the Jefferson County Courthouse, and were accessed in 1998. In 2002, much of the courthouse was destroyed by fire. These referenced records may no longer be available.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4NF-B2N : 13 December 2017), Hiram Haris, 1860.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHJ2-GH7 : 12 April 2016), Hirum Harris, Canaan, Jefferson, Indiana, United States; citing family 304, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ A record of this marriage appears in Violet Toth’s Marriage Index of Ripley, IN; Hiram and Martha's marriage is also noted as a simple line item in a journal, attested by Mr. John Ritchey. We have a photocopy of the page.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1830," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHPC-2NJ : 24 August 2017), Hiram Harris, Lancaster, Jefferson, Indiana, United States; citing 136, NARA microfilm publication M19, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 28; FHL microfilm 7,717.
5. ↑ Land Patent #2222, 15 Dec 1831; W H of NE Q of 14-6-11; 80 acres
6. ↑ Land Patent #4075, 8 Oct 1834; NE Q of SE Q of 22-5-11
7. ↑ Deed v1 pg 92, 16 Feb 1833:: Abraham Hite conveyed to Hiram Harris, for $450, 72 acres, part of SW 22-5-11
8. ↑ Deed v1 pg 93 , 27 Feb 1833; Peter Ryker conveyed to Hiram Harris, for $50, 15 acres, part of SE 21-5-1
9. ↑ Deed v O (9?) pg 40, 3 Jul 1837; James Cravens conveyed, for $100, 26.75 acres to Hiram Harris, part of NW 22-5-11
10. ↑ Deed, v28 p 127, 26 Nov 1860; William Jones conveyed 25 acres to Hiram Harris, no plat or sale price recorded
11. ↑ Deed, v28 pg 70, 18 Jun 1864; Thomas Mitchell conveyed to Hiram Harris 2 acres of pt SE Q of NW Q of 5-5-12 for $400
12. ↑ (21-5-11); DAR Cemetery Records of jefferson County, call# 977.201J45da

Acknowledgements

• Family researchers
  • profile manager, g-g-grandson Weldon Smith
  • profile manager, g-g-g-grandson Dr. Barry Smith

DNA

• DNA triangulation between a g-g-grandson and his cousins, at 23andMe, proved that Hiram is their MRCA.
• Another male Harris descendant, matching both g-g-grandson and his other cousins above, and still carrying the Harris surname, shows Y-chromosome haplogroup I-M253, which is thus likely Hiram's haplogroup as well. As yet, there is no tree confirmation of this Harris' familial connection