William Harris Sr (1647 - 1693)

Born 1647 in Gloucestershire, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Innes) Smith — married 24 Jul 1672 in Newport, Rhode Island

Descendants

Died 12 Jun 1693 at about age 46 in Lyme, New London, Connecticut

Problems/Questions Profile managers: John Putnam [send private message] and Darlene Carerros [send private message]

Biography

Birth

1647 Block Island, WA, RI.,, United States^[1]

Research Discussion

I am writing to Dave and others that have listings at Rootsweb on different William Harris and have a list of about 40 e-mail addresses to send what I am writing about regarding William Harris Family.

William Harris, ancestor of the family to be discussed in these articles has brought about various postings regarding them. I first off will start with a chronological order relating to what is now known as Block Island since about 1790, The reason that I must start off in chronological order by years is that from the facts that I put forth which were written by others, the WILLIAM HARRIS supposedly born about 1647 at Block Island and died 1693 IS NOT the original William Harris that migrated to NEW SHOREHAM.

I will first quote from "Some Notes On Block Islanders Of The Seventeenth Century," by G. Andrews Moriarty, A.M., LL.B., F.S.A., as Contributed by the Block Island Historical Society. [These notes are by no means exhausive, but they represent considerable research carried on from time to time by the writer in connection with his own ancestry. If they are of interrest to persons concerned in early New Shorelham, he willbe amply repaid.]

"The Island of Manisses, alias Claudia, alias BLOCK ISLAND, alias NEW SHOREHAM, for it has been known by all these names at one time or another, appears in recorded history a century before most other parts of New England, for it was visited by the Italian navigator Verrazzano in 1523, when he was exploring the coast of North America for the French King Francis I. Verrazzano remained some time at the Island, which he named Claudia in honor of Claude of Orleans, Queen of King Francis. Ninety years later, in 1614, the Dutch naviagator, ADRAIN BLOCK, visited the Island and it appears on the early Dutch map of the coast as "Block Eyland". When the English came they named their town NEW SHOREHAM, and while the name Block Island has endured, the name of the town still remains NEW SHOREHAM."

1636 ~~ "The Island's continuopus history commences in 1636 with the murder of CAptain John OLDHAM, the Massachusetts sea captain and trader, by the Isloand Indians at the time of the Pequot troubles. John Endicott and Captain John UNDERHILL were sent out on a punitive expeditioin to the Island and to carry on the war against the Pequots at Stonington and Mystic. After some ineffectual opposition to their landing by the natives, they disembarked and proceeded to attack the Islanders. At that period, unlike the present, the Island was quite well wooded, and the Indians fled into the tug bogs, where they could not be reached. Accordingly, the English burned their wigwams, stove their canoes, and sailed away for Pequot. As a result of this fleeting visit the Government of Boston CLAIMED the Island "by right of conquest" and annexed it to Massachusetts. The General Court granted it to Governor John Endicott, Governor Richard Bellingham, Major General LDaniel Dennison, and Major William Hathorne, ancestor of the famous Nathaniel. The grantees, however, too no stepos for settling the Island."

1653 "In 1653 a Dutch trader named Kempo Sybada, who traded along the Sound, had a truck house on the Island, near the Old Harbour. When the war between England and Holland broke out in that year, Rhode Island, which was not a member of the United Colonies, which had proclaimed their neutrality, commissioned Capt. Edward HULL of Braintree and Bostonk to go privateering against the Dutch in his vessel called the SWALLOW. Hull was the son of Robert Hull of Boston, and a brother of the famous John Hull, the Massachusetts mint master. Hull sailed to Block Island, plundered Sybada's truck house and carried off his goods. Sybada, who claimed that he was a neutral, finally caught up with Hull at Salem and sued him in the Essex County Court there. The papers in that case give a very full account of the affair (ESSEX CO. CT. FILESl, 2:95-102). Sybada returned to London, where he died in the spring of 1659. He left a wife Mary and a young daughter Anne. By his will he disposed of property in England, Holland, and otehr parts of the Low Countries as well as his lands, houses and plantations in "Africa" (i.e. New England and Jamaica). He mentions his friends Capt. John WENTWORTH of Bermuda, then residing in London, and John Penny of London, mariner (kTHE REGISTER, vol. 49, p. 135)."

1660 ~~ THE FIRST PURCHASERS of NEW SHOREHAM {The lists here used are taken from Livermore's History and the printed Colonial Records of Rhode Island. These liss contain ERRORS, and I have corrected such as I have detected. There are doubtles others, but living at a great distance, I regaret that I have been unable to check the lists with the original records. - G. Anthony Moriarty]

"Nothing was done towards settling the Island UNTIL 1660, when Dr. Joohn ALCOCK of Roxbury purchased the Island from the Grantees and set about disposing of the lands there to PROSPECTIVE settlers. As Dr. Alcock, although he never came to the Island to reside, was the prime mover in its settlement, remained a large land owner. He was very active as aspeculator in wilderness lands and in promoting new settlements. Besides Block Island he owned a large tract of land where the town of Sto, Mass., is situated. Soon after he acquired Block IUsland, he set about agitating its settlement and on 17 AUG. 1660 A NUMER OF PERSONS met in his house in Roxbury to consider the settlement of the Island. They came, principaly, from BRAINTREE, DORCHESTER, BOSTON, and the neighboring towns, the MAJORITY being from Braintree. They puirchased from Dr. Alcock various tracts of land at the Island and made preparation for its settlement.

According to the Livermore book he only lists ELEVEN of the supposed SIXTEEN settlers. He listed Thomas FAXON, Peter GEORGE, Thomas TERRY, Richard ELLIS, Samuel DEERING, Simon RAY, Philip WHARTON, Hugh WILLIAMS, John GLOVER, Edward VOSE, and John RATHBONE (cf. Livermore, p. 15).

I will close this NO.One e-mail and will return Tuesday 13 Oct starting off with the names of the 16 Settlers who are enumerated as Freeman in 1664. Have a good everning.

I descend from the Harris Family as follows:

William Harris II & Elizabeth Innes

William Harris III & Elizabeth Brockway

Tabitha Brockway & Jabez Rowley, I

Jabez Rowley II & Mary Hamilton

Rhoda Rowley & Moses Gillet/Gillett

Daniel Gillet/Gillett & Elizabeth Bacchus/Bachus/Bocchus/Bochus/Beches [Palatine org]

Hannah Gillet/Gillett & Laban Atwater Smith

George Thompson Smith & Teresa "Tressa" Chalker

Earl Chalker Smith & Lydia Mary Miller

Harold "Hal" Smith; Gerald 'Gerry' Smith & Mary Alice Smith Gates

Harold 'Hal' Smith

6054 Gibson Avenue

Meridian Township

East Lansing, Ingham County, Michigan 48823-1532

Dear Harris Cousins:

I know that many of you have seen the 1664 listing of the New Shoreham Freeman, however I wish to list them and one could conclude that these were the men that came from Braintree to Taunton and then to New Shoreham. The list is as follows and these were on pages 174 and 175 the July 1951 New England Genealogical & Register Society:

"THE FIRST FREEMAN. At the May meeting of the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1664 the following persons, inhabitants of Block Island, were admitted Freemen of the Rhode Island Colony, at the request of Mr. James Sands and Joseph Kent:

Thomas TERRY, Peter GEORGE, Simon RAY,**** William HARRIS***** Samuel DEARING, John RATHBONE, John DAVIES or DAVIS, Samuel STAPLE, Hugh WILLIAMS (provisionally), kRobert GUTHRIE, William TOSH, Tormot ROSE, William CAHOONE, Tristram DODGE, John CLARKE, Joseph KENT, and William BAKER or BARKER (Rhode Isloand Colony Records, ed. Bartlett, vol.II, p. 580)."

Just below the above from page 174 is the following on WILLIAM HARRIS the original William Harris settler at New Shoreham.

"WILLIAM HARRIS lived for many years on the Island and occurs frequently in the first book of the town records, but apparently left NO DESCENDANTS of the name THERE. He probably came from BRAINTREE and may be a KINSMAN of Mr. Richard HARRIS of that town. He later removed to Lyme, Conn., where he died in 1693. He had two sons, and two daughters. His widow married Richard Smith of Lancaster, Mass., and Lyme."

1678 ~~ From the New England Historical and Genealogical Register of January 1859 on page 37 an article "EARLY SETTLERS OF BLOCK ISLAND, R.I., by J.D. Champlin, Jr., of Stonington, Connecticut as follows:

"The first settlements were made about 1662. I give below a list of freemen in 1684, copied from the records VERBATIM et literatim. At A Town Metting held the ninth of July In the year on thousand six hundred seventy 8 It was Concluded that the freemen of the Town ther name Should be Recorded In the Town Record."

Mr. Champlin listed 59 freeman and among them were "mr. hares and william haress. Then he noted as follows: "In the above list "Daug" means DODGE, and "hares," HARRIS.

What my e-mails are all about is this. In the 1678 list of freeman we have a Mr. HARRIS and a WILLIAM HARRIS. You will note that in the 1664 census there was the William Harris presumed to have came from Braintree and the settlers had families. To be a freeman you must be 21 years old and in 1662 when the settlers arrived in New Shoreham, one can presume that the William Harris a freeman in 1664 IS NOT the William Harris supposedly born about 1647 at Block Island. Furthermore where the William Harris born about 1647 is unknown but since a William Harris was an original settler, he must have been old enough to have been the father of the William Harris born about 1647. One who is called "Mr" was deemed to have been past sixty from what I have heard. So this is the way I list them:

1. The freeman in 1664 was listed as William Harris.

2. The two freeman in 1678 were listed as mr.hares & William haress.

3. I say the mr. hares was the William Harris in 1664 freeman.

4. William Harris the freeman in 1678 I believe to have married Elizabeth Innes, however in my NO.THREE e-mail I will show that an honorable Roderick Bissell Jones, does not believe that William Harris who married in 1672 could not have married Elizabeth Innes on that date as her gravestone supposedly says that she was 65 years old when she died in 1729 and he says therefore she was about eight years old in 1672.

However, I for one wonder who read the gravestone and when was it read, and also errors do exist in gravestones. Furthermore most postings indicate that Elizabeth Innes was born from 1654 to 1658. More on Roderick Bissell Jones, as he has written so much on THE HARRIS FAMILY of BLLOCK ISLAND and DUTCHESS COUNTY, N.Y. and also HARRISES IN BOSTON BEFORE 1700.

In closing I will put this question before you. Is the 1678 Freeman List, of "mr. hares the William Harris in the 1664 Freeman List? Is the 1678 William haress the son of the 1664 Freeman List William Harris?

I have to sign off for tonight and will return with NO. THREE Tuesday 13 Oct 2009

Cuz. Harold 'Hal' Smith

Dear Dav & Harris Cousins:

Last evening I left off with the following questions.

1. Is the 1678 Freeman List of "mr. hares," the William Harris in the 1664 Freeman

List of New Shoreham???

2. Is the William Harris of the Freeman List of 1678, the son of the William Harris

of the 1664 Freeman List of New Shoreham?

I respectfully request that all wait until I present everything that I consider NEW as I have not seen any of this quoted at Rootsweb. I will now present what is posted at Ancestry.com on 28 February 2008 f:47PM GMT classification: Census Surnames enos/innes, dodge, harris. This shows an article that the author gave information about some of the lesser know names. Then quotes New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 105, pages 162-182 and from page 175 lists the 1684 freeman which in reality is the list of the 1678 freeman list. This shows the following of the two Harris names: "mr. harris (probably william harris)" who is listed between josiah helling and james sands. Then 31 names after mr. harris is this "william harris' and he is listed between tormut rose and tristramd dodge sr.,.

Nine names after william harris is "alexander enos (innes).

My copy of this page 175 does not show "probably william harris". It also does not show thus from the "Early Settlers of Block Island, R.I., by J. D. Champlin, Jr., of Stoinington, Connecticut. However, I personally believe that this is the case. And everyone should consider such. One must realize that one must be 21 before attaining Freeman status, and then of course you are obliged to the church, and those that refuse the status of the church DO NOT become a freeman. 99% of those that have posted information on William Harris that died in 1693 at Lyme, New London County, Connecticut indicate that he is the one in the 1664 freeman status. However since 99% also indicate that the aforementioned William Harris was born about 1647 of Block Island, Rhode Island. If this William Harris indeed was truly born in 1647, he was not born in Block Island nor in Rhode Island. And furthermore it could not be him in the 1664 Freeman List as at the time of this list it was probably taken in 1662 or 1663 but even then in 1664 this William would have been 16 or 17 years old AND NOT ELIGIBLE to be a Freeman. He could have been 14 to 17 when the Freeman List was taken.

What does the above mean? In my honest opinion and I would believe that any genealogist or researcher would want some to revaluate their previous findings and think a new.

Personally I feel that we all are indebted to the honorable Roderick Bissell Jones, Ph.D., LL.B., Commander, United States Navy Reserve who had addresses of Winsted, Connecticut when his writing were listed in New England Historic & Genealogical Register in 1951 and in 1953 when additional writings were listed in The New York Genealogical & Biographical Record July 1953, his address was 200 66 Street, New York 21, N.Y.

The following is from the NEHGR July 1951 pages 190-197 and I am only quoting partials but if there is anyone that is unable to read these from their library then I would scan them to you upon request.

"HARRISES IN BOSTON BEFORE 1700 ~~ An attempt in this article has been made to bring some order into the mass of heterogeneous before 1700 boston HARRIS data. Various family groupings, based on circumstantial evidence, are put forward tentatively as a basis for further study and are so labelled herein."

"Between 1658 and 1697 in Boston there were among the HARRISES three JOHNS, two WILLIAMS (NOT including WILLIAM of BLOCK ISLAND who was PROBABLY a BROTHER of RICHARD of Braintree and Boston), two THOMASES, as well as Barnard and Joshua, all having children and most of them simultaneously. This group requires a minimum of THREE fathers. JOHN HARRIS who cameon the Christian 1635 and WILLIAM HARRIS of the Amitie could have been fathers of some of them. Possibly RICHARD, gentleman, who died in Cambridge in 1644, was a FATHER. There is no record of any dealing of relationship between any TWO of the above-named Boston Harrises."

"This welter is reduced by noting that it is possible to assign to one group a number of these HARRISES whose names and tendency to TWINS indicate that they are related to each other and to the HARRISES of LSalem, Mass. They appeared in Boston about 1670. They were not land owners, were not given the title of "Mr." or "Mrs.", were not made freeman, and appear principally in the town vital records."

"There are left to be accounted for a group of HARRISES of considerable means, who apparently had not too much to do with the church and its hierarchy and indeed appear to be linked at least with such subversives as the Rev. John Wheelwright. However they came trailing clouds of respectability, for they used and were accorded the title of "Mr." and "Mrs." These include Mr. John Harris who sailded for New England, in 1635, and in the next generation RICHARD HARRIS, the overseas trader and merchant of BRAINTREE and Boston, WILLIAM of Bloick Island and Lyme, Conn., originally probably FROM Braintree, JOHN whose widow moved to Lyme, and THOMAS of Hartford and Lyme. The fact that the records show no direct connection between these last is explained by the following: JOHN, who married HANNAH BRIGGS in 1657, apparently in his teens, died by 1663. WILLIAM went to Block Island where he was made freeman with the first settlers FROM Braintree in 1664. THOMAS was in Hartford, Conn., by 1674. (Richard's widow, to whom he may have been married by at least 1679, was the daughter of a Hartford man.). In this second generation are TWO others with slight indications of relationship to each other, Capt. JOHN, who died at sea by 1682, and WILLIAM, the Boston merchant, who died 1684, aged about forty."

"There appears to have been an almost LETHALWEAKNESS in the genes of these Harrises. At a time when larger families were the rule, the Harris families had difficulty in surviving. JOHNB, who married Hannah Briggs in 1657,m had an only son, JOHN, JR., and succumbed. The JoHON assumed to be this JOHN, JR., had only one known son. Capt. JOHN left an only son who died when still a boy. RICHARD, the merchant, had several sons none of whom is mentioned in his will or estate dpapers. WILLIAM, JR., of Block Island left NO SON; his brother RICHARD is not known to have had any children. WILLIAM, the merchant, died in 1684, leaving an only son, WILLIAM, who had no children. THOMAS, the butcher, left an only son, BENJAMIN, who may have had an only son CARY. RICHARD of Cambridge died in 1644 leaving no known child. All this increases the difficulty of establishing family relationships."

Commander Jones states "It is here suggested that JOHN HARRIS, son of RICHARD and Sarah, and brother of Richard, LSarah, kElizabeth, and Mary was MR. JOHN HARRIS of BOSTON 1640 and was father of 1. Richard; 2. WILLIAM; 3 John; 4. Thomas; 5. James [possibly]; 6. Elizabeth. 7. Sarah."

On number 2 above WILLIAM he outlines him from the the October 1951 issue of NEHGR pages 242-243. It is my belief however, that Commander Jones WAS NOT aware of the 1678 Freeman List which indicates TWO Harrises.

The following on page 242 ~~ HARRISES IN BOSTON BEFORE 1700 --

"3. "MR." WILLIAM HARRIS, of Block Island, freeman in 1664, moved in 1691 to Lyme, Conn., where Hannah (Briggs) (Harris) Brockway, widow of John Harris of Boston, was living as wife of Wolston Brockway, born in Stepney. His eldest son, William, Jr., born in 1675, married Hannah's daughter Elizabeth Brockway. There were many other connections between these families. WILLIAM died in Lyme in 1693, leaving a widow Elizabeth. Details of his life and his descendants will be given in an article in The New York Genealogical & Biographical Record, 1951. {NOTE; The year in reality was 1952 of which I will give to you in another e-mail]."

"The Rev. Josse Glover, whose widow, Elizabeth (Harris) (Glover) Dunster, and her brother RICHARD died respectively in 1643 and 1644 in Cambridge, Mass., had a sister, SUSAN, who married Robert of the London-St. Albans Pemberton family, a cousin of the Rev. Roger Williams of Rhode Island, who came from London. The English Williams and Pemberton wills (RHE REGISTER, vol. 43, p. 290; vol. 47, p. 499) mention HARISSES. Sarah,1 daugher of John Stedman of Cambridge, Mass., "my servant" to Glover, married John (of Braintree and Boston)(, son of Peter Bracket, who was a witness for RICHARD HARRIS when he bought his house and lot in 1662 in Braintree whose second wife was the widow of Nathaniel Williams of Boston. Her son John2 Williams of Newport, where the brother of the Rev. Roger lived contemporaneously, settled the estate of Hugh Williamsl, late of B. I., whose brother, John, was of London 1665, and WILLIAM HARRIS of B. Is., witnessed one of the estate papers. This WILLIAM HARRIS of B. Is. received a gift of land from ROBERT GUTHREE (*and his first wife), formerly of Braintree, Mass., whose second wife was the widow of John2 Williams, born Ann Alcock granddaughter of Richard Palsgrave of Stepney and niece of Elizabeth (Palsgrave) Edwards of Green Bank, Stepney. Thus this WILLIAM HARRIS of Block Island seems inextricably BOUND UPO with Wapp[ing in the parish of St. Mary's, Whitechapel, where Jand (Harris) Bourne, sister of the 1607 minor JOHN HARRIS, lived, and with the other hamlets of Stepney."

"RICHARD HARRIS of Braintree and Boston married Elizabeth Blackleach of Hartford. THOMAS HARRIS "of Hartford", bought land in Lyme. It is POSSIBLE that WILLIAM HARRIS, of Block Island (by 1664) and Lyme, had previously OWNED land and lived in Hartford, because in the Hartford town [NOTE; I sincerely belive that he is wrong in his asumptions as this is ANOTHER William Harris] records, deeds, book of distribution, p. 501, under date of 18 April 1659, is the entry "One parcell on which the sayd William Haires now dwelling [sic] house with ye house or houses thereon which he bought of William Williams of Hartford" on the highway leading to Windsor. IF HE WAS living there in a dwelling house that he owned, it is POSSIBLE that he had a wife before the wife Elizabeth to whom he was married in1674 [I SAY THAT IT IS WILLIAM HARRIS II or Junior THAT WAS MARRIED IN 1672-1674] as recorded on Block Island. No children are known of such an earlier marriage. Also on page 501 is recorded land in Hartford upon the Connecticut River "belonging to William Haires and his heirs, viz, woodland he bought of Richard Ffellows"--10 acres; and four acres of swamp on the east side of the river which he bought of Andrew Sanford."

NOTE; There happens to be a William Harris at this time who was also in Middletown, Middlesex County which is close to the Connecticut River and it is entirely possible that this William Harris could be the one of Windsor also. However, if the William Harris of New Shoreham was indeed the William Harris of Hartford then this influences my opinion that William Harris had a son named William Harris and the result is proved by the 1678 freeman list.

I will close No. 3 and next will be No. 4 after I take a nap for this 82 year old must take at nap around 1 PM but am late now. Take care & God Bless. Harold 'Hal'

Dear Dave & Harris Cousins:

I will continue on with the compilations of the honorable Commander Roderick Bissell Jones of U.S. Navy Reserve as printed In The New York Genealogical & Biographical Record of July and October 1953. Pages 134 through 148 were in July and jpages 216 through 231 were in October 1953. I will only quote briefly from pages 134 through 137.

"THE HARRIS FAMILY OF BLOCK ISLAND AND DUTCHESS COUNTY, N.Y.

1. WILLIAM1 HARRIS, ancestor of the family to be discussed in this article is first recorded in the 1664 Freeman's list of Block Island (formerly New Shoreham), Rhode Island, and his name appears also on those of 1678, 1684 and 1685 (Recs. Col. of R. I. and Prov. Plant. v.1, p. 58). {MY NOTE; Here unfortunately Commander Jones DID NOT pick up on the 'mr. hares' as listed in the 1678 freeman list. It should also be noted that of the SIXTEEN original settlers, 11 including William Harris were called Mr HOWEVER, Hares and a 'mr. hancock' were the only ones without the given name. It is my belief that if Commander Jones was aware of the two Haress in the 1678 freeman list HE MAY have changed the number of 1 behind the William Harris which he is eluding to, making him No. 2 William Harris}"

"He removed to Lyme, Conn., between June 22, 1691, when a deed shows that, being then of Block Island, he bought a "smith shop (shop and small parcel of land" in Lyme from Christopher Swaine, and June 28, 1691, when he described himself on a note as "formerly of New Shoreham ales [alia' Block Island, now of Lime." Although he was a blacksmith, he is often referred to in deeds with the title of "Mr." The last record we have of him is of June 12, 1693, when he and his wife Elizabeth deeded a dwelling house on Block Island to John Rodman, late of that place; he was dead by September 1693, the date of the earliest record in regard to the settlement of his estate (Lyme Deeds, v.2, p. 90; Prob. recs. in Conn. State Lib.)."

""William harass black Smith maryd 24 July 1672.: This unusual entry in the Block Isloand records (v.1, p. 51), does not state specifically that William was married on the Island, nor does it mention the name of his wife. Her identity has not been established but she is called Elizabeth at the birth of his two oldes children."

"William married next Elizabeth whose surname is not definitely known, but who is though to have been Elizabeth INNES, a daughter of ALEXANDER and CATHERINE INNES of Taunton, Mass., and Block Island [Before coming to Block Island this couple had figured in a notorious episode, the result of which was that both were put in stocks in Plymouth, Mass., and Catherine was compelled to wear the scarlet letter B on her arm, as a penalty for blasphemy (Plymouth Col. recs. v. 3, pp. 110-11)]/ The reasons for this assumption are that 1. Alexander INNES died in William HARRIS'S home Oct. 29, 1679 (although thisprobably occured before William's last marriage); 2. WILLIAM named his youngest son by his SECOND wife, ALEXANDER: 3. A William and Catherine INNIS are associated with Thomas Harris, William's son, in baptismal records of Kingston, New York; and 4. various deeds show a connection between William Harris and Alexander Innis on Block Isloand (Block Is. recs. v. 1, pp. 229-31)."

"That Elizabeth (INNIS) hARRIS COULD NOT have been the wife Elizabeth of William's 1672 marriage is shown by her age as given at the time of her death. She died in 1729, aged 65 years, and was, therefore, only about eight years old in 1672. [MY NOTE; Herein I wonder about the given age would be like others, given in error or transcribed in error as it appears that Elizabeth Innes was born between 1654 & 1658 by those posting data on her, and if these postings would be correct than she would have been 16-18 years old in 1672]. Block Island records show that on Dec. 8, 1680, WILLIAM HARRIS received "in behalf of his wife Elizabeth for the love we dbear her...for the hayrs [heirs] of her body" a deed of land from Robert Guthry and his first wife Margaret (Ireland) Guthry--but to which wife of William Harris this refers is unknown. [MY NOTE; It is apparent that Commander Jones could be mixed up with the TWO William Harrises of Block Island, or that is the way that I now say the case be, and of course it is in the eye of the beholder.]

The children as listed by Commander Jones and he indicates that the first two were by a wife he calls Elizabeth.

Sources

1. ↑ American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI) Savage Publication: Reference: Savage's Dict: v.3:254 Gen. Column of the " Boston Transcript". 1906-1941.

• Harris, Gale Ion. Early Harrises of Southwestern Connecticut: Two Men and Two Women, All Apparently Unrelated, Connecticut Ancestry (Connecticut Ancestry Society, Inc., Stamford, Conn., Dec 2004) Vol. 47, No. 2, Page 137.
• https://www.geni.com/people/William-Harris/6000000006704983678?through=6000000005018036598
• http://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-1/myheritage-family-trees?s=216781001&itemId=264577031-1-79671&action=showRecord