Thomas Harris (bef. 1584 - bef. 1633)

Born before 2 Feb 1584 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Stilson — married before 1611 in England

Descendants

Died before 22 Mar 1633 at about age 49 in Winnisimmet, Massachusetts Bay Colony [uncertain]

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Thomas Harris migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See Great Migration Begins, by R. C. Anderson, Vol. 2, p. 864) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Thomas Harris is related to US President Franklin Pierce. Here is the trail.

Thomas Harris was baptized 2 February 1583/4 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, the son of William^[1] and Agnes (Mason) Harris.[Bethia Harris Anc 5]

He married by about 1610 Elizabeth _________, probably in Gloucestershire. Together they had at least eight children before migrating to New England and settling in Winnissimmett (now Chelsea) by 1630.^[2] [Note: only six children appear in New England records]

In New England, Thomas Harris sometimes used the name "Thomas Williams," or Thomas Williams alias Harris^[3] The first known record of him in New England is as Thomas Williams, serving on a Coroner's jury 18 September 1630. ^[4]

Why Thomas Harris used the double surname Williams 'alias' Harris has not been ascertained. Davis said "it is possible that, after the death of his father, his mother married a Williams and her sons were commonly called by the name of their step-father. It may also be that he was apprenticed as a small boy to a Williams, and went by his master's name, that relationship often being much stronger than a purely business one.....There is also the possibility that for some personal reason affecting his proposed emigration, it was advisable to assume a new name."^[2]

He requested freeman status in October 1630 (as "Thomas Will[ia]ms alias Harris") and was granted it 18 May 1631 (as "Thomas Williams") ^[5] That same day Thomas' intention to set up a ferry appears in the Colony records: “Tho: Willms hath undertaken to sett upp a fferry betwixte Winnettsemt & Charlton, for which hee is to have after 3d a person, & from Winnettsemt to Boston 4d a person.”^{[6] [7]}

Thomas' name does not appear on the list of residents at Charlestown, or in the Boston records, so it is likely that he supported himself solely by his ferrying operations. He died before land records were maintained, and left no will.^[8]

Thomas died sometime before 22 March 1632/3, when Elizabeth, his widow, was admitted to the Charlestown Church with her second husband William Stilson.^[9] Elizabeth's second husband also took over the ferry business. On 15 June 1680, William Stilson deposed that "Thomas Harris lived at Winnisimet, about fforty nine years since & was wont to transport persons over the Rivers, to Charlestowne & Boston till he died, and after that I married his Widdow and kept the ffery as my presdeccessor did."^[10] In his will he made bequests to his stepchildren: “I give and bequeath unto John Harris, Thomas Harris, William Harris, Daniel Harris, and Ana Maverick, relict widow of Elias Maverick, deceased, the children of my first wife, to each of them five shillings, to be paid them Six months after my decease.”^[11]

Nephew Richard Iles (abt.1605-1639) also resided at Winnissimmet.

Children

1. John, b abt 1610; m1 by 1645 Bridget _____; m2 in Rowley 24 Oct 1677 Elizabeth (Rowlandson) Wells; m3 Alice ____, who survived him. [Bethia Harris Anc 10-11]
2. Silvester, bp. 22 Nov. 1612 Newnham, Gloucestershire, England^[12] ; no further record found.
3. Anna, , bp. 28 Feb. 1613/4 Newnham, Gloucestershire^[12] (d. Reading 7 Sept 1697, age 84); m by 1635 Elias Maverick, son of Rev. John Maverick
4. Thomas, bp. 2 April 1615 Newnham, Gloucestershire^[12]; m in Ipswich 15 Nov 1647 Martha Lake
5. William, bp 12 Dec. 1616 at Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire^[13]; m1 by 1642 Edith _____; m2 Lydia (Wright) Smith, dau of Thomas Wright and widow of Joseph Smith
6. Anthony, bp. 14 June 1618 Newnham, Gloucestershire^[12]; m Elizabeth _______ [probably Elizabeth Hill daughter of Joseph and Rose (Clarke) Hills]
7. Elizabeth bp. 17 April 1620 Newnham, Gloucestershire^[12]; no further record
8. Captain Daniel Harris bp. 20 Sept. 1621 Newnham, Gloucestershire,^[12] m by 1651 Mary Weld, daughter of Joseph Weld d 30 November 1701Middletown, Middlesex, Connecticut

Research Notes

Residence: Roberts gives his residence as Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts,^[3] which conflicts with Anderson's observation that he was not on the list of Charleston residents.

Death: Various

before 1634 (above)

after 1634^[3]

"Three documents are critical for defining this family: the 1639 will of Richard Iles of Winnisimmet; the 1680 deposition of William Stitson; and the will of William Stitson. Iles was nephew of Thoma Harris and may have come with him in 1630; in is will he names his cousins Thomas Harris, William Haris, Anthony Harris, John Harris, Anne Maverick and Daniel Harris... and also a coverlet to 'my aunt for her pains and her love' [NEHGR 2:102-03]. (A discussion of this will by T.W. Harris is helpful, but must be used with care [NEHGR 3:218-21]

"On 15 June 1680, Deacon William Stitson testified that Thomas Harris kept the ferry from Boston to Winnissimmet and Charlestown forty-nine years ago, and that he married Harris's widow [Middlesex County Court records, 1671-1680, p 297].

"In his will of 2 April 1688 William Stitson bequeathed to "John Haris, Thomas Harris, William Harris, Daniel Harris, and Anna Maverick, relict widow of Elias Maverick, deceased, the children of my first wife" [MPR Case #21376]

"In some early records, Thomas uses the double name 'Williams alias Harris' or simply the surname 'Williams.' The reason for this is not known, and his descendants used only Harris, the ancestral surname.

"No records of Thomas Harris in England have been found other than the mention in his father's 1599 will. Since the Winthrop Fleet was assembled mostly from Est Anglia and London, one would expect to find evidence of the marriage of Thomas and the baptisms of his children in these areas rather than in Gloucestershire. Davis suggests, however, that Harris came on the Lyon, which sailed from Bristol and not from London. (The only reliable account of this family is in Walter Goodwin Davis, The Ancestry of Bethia Harris... (Portland, Maine, 1934), pp 3-34.)

Sources

1. ↑ West, Randy. NEHGR 176:364, citing: St. Mary, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, parish register, 1558–1631 Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1813, online at Ancestry.com, image 36 (Thomas)]. "2 February 1583/4 John Thomas sonne of Willm Harris"
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Davis, Walter Goodwin The ancestry of Bethia Harris, 1748-1833, published 1934. Reference pages 6-7. HathiTrust.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2} Roberts, Gary Boyd. Ancestors of American Presidents (New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2nd Ed., 2009), page 449.
4. ↑ Shurtleff, Nathaniel. Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England (William White, Boston, 1853-) Vol. 1, Page 78.
5. ↑ Shurtleff, Massachusetts Bay Colony Records Vol 1 pages, 80, 366.
6. ↑ Shurtleff, Massachusetts Bay Colony Records Vol. I, p. 87.
7. ↑ The Ancestry of Bethia Harris- Walter Davis, Southworth Press, Portland, 1934- pp. 6-9
8. ↑ Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins- Immigrants to New England: 1620-1633- Vol. III, (1995) pp. 864-6. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscriptions)
9. ↑ Records of the First Church in Charlestown, 1632-1789 (David Clapp & Son, Boston, 1880) Page 8. (on 22 March 1632/3 “William Stilson and Elizabeth his wife were Admitted”
10. ↑ Middlesex County Court- 1671-1680, p. 297- quoted in The Ancestry of Bethia Harris
11. ↑ Middlesex County Registry of Probate- Docket No. 21376 quoted in The Ancestry of Bethia Harris
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5} West, Randy. NEHGR 176:364, citing: Newnham, Gloucestershire, parish register, 1547–1678 [Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1813, online at Ancestry.com, images 34-40].
13. ↑ West, Randy. NEHGR 176:364, citing Westbury on Severn, Gloucestershire, parish register, 1538–1664 [Gloucestershire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1813, online at Ancestry.com, image 53]

• Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1995), II:864. AmericanAncestors.org (by subscription)
• Anderson Robert Charles et al. The Winthrop Fleet : Massachusetts Bay Company Immigrants to New England 1629-1630. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012. page 364-66.
• Davis, Walter. The Ancestry of Bethia Harris, 1748-1833 (Southworth Press, Portland, Maine, 1934) Pages 6-13. HathiTrust.
• West, Randy A. "The English Origin of Thomas¹ Harris of Winnisimmet (Chelsea), Massachusetts," New England Historical and Genealogical Register v176 (Fall 2022) p 364-368. [Downloadable for NEHGS members]
• WeRelate: Thomas Harris and Elizabeth Unknown (2)
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51148945/thomas-harris: accessed 31 January 2023), memorial page for Thomas “Thomas Williams” Harris (1590–11 Apr 1634), Find A Grave: Memorial #51148945, citing Phipps Street Burying Ground, Charlestown, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, USA; [Note: as of 1.31.23 most of the comments on the memorial apply to this Thomas Harris, but the photo and inscription are for a Thomas Harris who died 5 October 1747].