Mary Dashiell (Handy) Harris (1733 - 1801)

Born 8 Nov 1733 in Somerset County, Maryland

Ancestors

Wife of John Harris — married 1759 (to 1790) in Somerset County, Maryland

Descendants

Died 6 Jul 1801 at age 67 in Pendleton District, South Carolina, United States

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Biography

Mary was born in 1733. She was the daughter of Isaac Handy and Ann Dashiell. She passed away in 1801. ^[1]

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"In statue Mrs Harris was low and stout, and her eyes and hair were black."[2]

Mary was raised in luxury since her father was a successful Planter, founder of a shipping business, lawyer, Justice of the Peace, member of the Provincial Assembly, colonel in the local militia, and the founder of Salisbury, Maryland.[2]

The year that her parents were wed, 1726, he purchased Pemberton Plantation, an estate of 2,200 acres on the Wicomico River in Somerset Co., Maryland. Fifteen years later, he built "Pemberton Hall" there. (Today, it is a 207-acre Park, run by Pemberton Hall Foundation, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)

Upon her marriage, in 1759, to Rev. John Harris, who had earned an AB degree from the College of New Jersey in Newark, Essex Co., New Jersey (now Princeton U.), her father provided them with a plantation at Snow Hill. It was where Rev. Harris accepted a call to the united churches of Snow Hill and Pitt's Creek, a connection which very happily continued for about 10 years. During this time they had 6 children.[2]

Then, in 1772, her husband took on the Presbyterian Church's task of establishing churches in the Wilds of South Carolina. Yet, Mary was willing to leave luxury and her large family and friends behind, to return no more to Maryland, and to follow her husband anywhere or in any way that duty called.[2]

The overland route from Maryland to the Calhoun settlement, way up on the Savannah River in the western part of South Carolina, was exceedingly treacherous back then for a caravan of children, servants, and baggage.[2]

Rev. Harris established settlements and churches in South Carolina at the Calhoun Settlement, Fort Boone, Bull Town, Upper & Lower Long Canes, Rocky River, Saluda Church in Greenville, and founded a settlement in the Flat Woods on McKinly's Creek & Little River, near the Savannah River at Abbeville.[2]

Rev. Harris played the violin and was very popular and Mary was a real help-meet in his ministry and also shared with her husband in the dreadful trials of the Revolutionary War. Her youngest child, Nathaniel, died at a very young age during the War. While he was lying ill, the Tories entered their house, plundered it of everything valuable, and actually stripped the dying boy of his clothing. Rev./Dr. Harris enlisted at Little River, Abbeville Co., SC and served as a physician and surgeon in the militia. He is thought to have died early in 1790. Mary died 6 July 1801. All their children survived them except Nathaniel.[2]

Sources

1. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by C Handy, Friday, September 26, 2014. Replace this citation if there is another source.

2. "Annals & Memorials of the HANDYs & Their Kindred," Handy, Isaac W. K., D.D., edited by Mildred Handy Richie & Sarah Rozelle Handy Mallon, William L. Clements Library, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1992, Pp. 49-50.

Judith (Drew) Brittingham, 6th great-granddaughter

See also:

• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/80912502/mary-dashiell-harris: accessed 17 October 2023), memorial page for Mary Dashiell Handy Harris (8 Nov 1733–6 Jul 1801), Find a Grave Memorial ID 80912502, citing Rev John Harris Family Cemetery, Abbeville, Abbeville County, South Carolina, USA; Maintained by Meredith Drew Trawick (contributor 46908319).