Thomas Sidney Harris (1803 - 1874)

Born 14 Apr 1803 in South Carolina or Tennessee, United States [uncertain]

Husband of Matilda Ann (Henry) Harris — married 24 Apr 1828 in Lawrence County, Alabama, United States

Descendants

Died 6 Jul 1874 at age 71 in Leake County, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Thomas Sidney Harris was born in 1803 in South Carolina or Tennessee. He died on July 6 or 16, 1874.

From a history of Leake County, Mississippi (via Betty Wall) On April 12, 1834, the Board (of county police) designated "the house in which Thomas S. Harris now resides" as the "place of holding said court until the seat of Justice for the County shall have been permanently located." (19. Police Court Minutes, Leake County, Book D, page 7). On June 19th, the Board, meeting again "at the house of Thomas S. Harris, ordered "that the County seat be and the same is hereby located on East ½ of Southwest ¼ of Section 3 (a small hole appears in the page immediately after the number 3), Township 10, Range 8 East, provided the Board obtains the Land." [For whatever reason, this location did not materialize]. . . The July 31, 1834, meeting, held again in the Harris home, ordered that the "seat of Justice of this county be and the same is hereby located in the North ½ of the East ½ of the northwest quarter of Section 12, Township 10, Range 7 East, and that the same be called Carthage." . . . The list of lots sold in the first auction has not been located, nor has the original plat of the town. . . It is known that the house of Thomas S. Harris was in the area. It was not until the 28th of November that Thomas S. Harris obtained, through the Columbus Land Office, the tract of Land from which the town of Carthage was carved. The reason for the discrepancy in dates at this point must be noticed. As a claimant of a pre-emption under the Act of Congress passed June 19, 1834, Harris swore in an affidavit on November 4, attested by John D. Boyd and Nehemiah T. Mills, that in the year 1833 (prior to the formation of the county in December of that year) he, and no other person, was residing upon the northwest quarter of Section 12, Township 10 North of Range 7 East, and that he "cultivated a crop of turnips and vegetables on the said quarter section in the year 1833." He further stated that N. T. Mills, who likewise obtained a pre-emption nearby in the southwest quarter of Section One, cultivated a part of the property that year (Affidavit of Thomas S. Harris, Pre-emption Certificate No. 7518, The National Archives, Record Group No. 49, Records of the Columbus, Mississippi Land Office). In 1833, and perhaps earlier, Thomas S. Harris was living upon the quarter section of Land, which entitled him to a pre-emption when the Act of Congress was passed in June of 1834. In July, the Board of police selected the site for the town, and by mid-September, a plat of the town had been prepared. On November 28, Harris made his formal purchase of the property, included in his 153.81-acre tract, for which he paid $1.25 per acre, at the Land office in Columbus. The fort-acre tract for the town was deeded on June 15, 1835 by Harris and his wife, Matilda, the description reading: " To John D. Boyd, President of the Board of Police, and his successors in office, 40 acres in Section 12, Township 10, Range 7 . . . For the consideration of the advantages that may accrue to them from the proximity of the location of the seat of justice to his Land, and the sum of five dollars to him in hand paid by the same John D. Boyd. (bcwall note: the Land was in essence, donated by Thomas S. Harris and wife, Matilda and is so noted in other 'histories' I have read.) 1840 First census of Leake Co: Thomas S. Harris 1841 State of Mississippi census for Leake County: Thos. Harris, 2 males and 4 females.

Name

Name: Thomas Sidney Harris ^{[1] [2]}

Birth

Birth: 14 Apr 1803, ^[2] in Tennessee ^[3] or South Carolina ^{[4] [5]} (location uncertain)

Marriage

Marriage: 24 Apr 1828, in Lawrence, Alabama ^{[1] [6]}

Wife: Matilda Henry

Children of Thomas and Matilda Harris:

Julia Ann Matilda Harris Allen

William H. Harris

Sophia A. Harris

Permelia Saphronie Harris

James Luther H. Harris

Lotty M Harris

Sitha Harris

Frances Charlotte Harris

Emma Aldora Harris

Thomas Harris

Salomy C. Harris

Residence

• Residence in 1841: Leake County, Mississippi ^[7]
• Residence in 1850: Beat 5, Leake County, Mississippi. Age: 41 ^[4]
• Residence in 1860: Leake County, Mississippi. Age: 58. ^[3]
• Residence in 1866: Leake County, Mississippi ^[8]
• Residence in 1870: Leake County, Mississippi. Age: 68; Census Post Office: High Hill. ^[5]

Death

Death: 06 Jul 1874. Age: 71 ^[2]

Burial

Burial: Salem Cumberland Presbyterian Cemetery, Leake County, Mississippi. ^[2]

^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [7] [8] [6]}

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Ancestry.com. "Alabama, Marriage Collection, 1800-1969". Ancestry.com. Citing Hunting For Bears, comp. Alabama marriage information taken from county courthouse records. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library, and Dodd, Jordan R., comp. Early American Marriages: Alabama, 1800 to 1920 : record for Thomas Sidney Harris.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} "Thomas Sidney Harris". Find-A-Grave memorial #11867887. www.findagrave.com, accessed 18 January 2013.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Ancestry.com. Digital Image. 1860 US Census. Leake, Mississippi; Roll: M653_586; Page: 559; Image: 115; Family History Library Film: 803586.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Ancestry.com. Digital Image. 1850 US census. Beat 5, Leake, Mississippi; Roll: M432_376; Page: 38A; Image: 80.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Ancestry.com. Digital Image. 1870 US census. Leake County, Mississippi; Roll: M593_736; Page: 330A; Image: 151; Family History Library Film: 552235 : "Record for L S Hams".
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} "Indexes for Lawrence County Marriage Books 1818-1947." Online Database. Lawrence County Archives. www.lawrencecoarchives.com. Accessed 18 Jan 2016.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Ancestry.com. "Mississippi, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1805-1890." : Jackson, Ron V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. "Mississippi Census, 1805-1890". Compiled and digitized by Mr. Jackson and AIS from microfilmed schedules of the U.S. Federal Decennial Census, territorial/state censuses, and/or census substitutes : Record for Thomas S. Harris
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Ancestry.com "Mississippi, State and Territorial Census Collection, 1792-1866" : Mississippi State and Territorial Censuses, 1792-1866. Microfilm V229. 3 rolls. Heritage Quest : Record for Thomas S Harris.

See also:

• "Ancestry.com". "U.S. General Land Office Records, 1796-1907". Online publication. Original data - United States. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Office Records. Automated Records Project; Federal Land Patents, State Volumes.