Thomas W Harris Sr (1768 - 1851)

Born 12 May 1768 in Maryland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 12 Aug 1851 at age 83 in Cherokee, Colbert, Alabama, United States

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Biography

Thomas was born in 1768 on the eastern shore of the Chesapeke Bay in Somerset County. Some Harris Hunters researchers say he was the third child, others say he was the fifth. Either way, he was born into a prominent family of revolutionary war Patriots including his father, Reverend John and grandfather, Nathaniel Harris, and his two older brothers, Handy and John Harris. Mary Dashiel Handy Harris, his mother, also came from a line of notable patriots of the revolutionary war.

Harris Hunters Researchers say he was married multiple times. The first marriage was supposedly to Siddie Travis who lived 1768–1792; they had two children. The older daughter was Annie, about whom very little is known. The younger daughter was Nancy. Siddie possibly died either in childbirth or of complications thereof as she died the same year Nancy was born. Sources include unpublished Harris Hunters research in the Latter Day Saints Library, 1810 census of Abbeville, South Carolina, and orphans court records, 1823–1830, Jefferson County, Alabama. ( 3). DNA links Nancy to both Moses and to two other half siblings (Handy and Thomas Jr.), so although Thomas's first wife's name or info cannot be proved at this time, DNA proves that Nancy was a half sibling.

According to the Handy Annals, Eight more children were born to Thomas. Moses Davis Harris was born to his second wife, Mary Davis Harris, daughter of Moses Davis, and Jane Noble Davis, who also possibly died in childbirth. John Moffitt, Handy, Anna Watson, Thomas, Samuel Watson, and Martha were born to his third wife, Martha Moffit Harris, daughter of Colonel John Moffitt.

Census records, histories of the Presbyterian Church and Harris Hunters research show that during his lifetime, Thomas' frontier travels extended from the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland to Abbeyville, South Carolina to Decatur and DeKalb Georgia, and eventually to Cherokee county, Alabama.

Thomas outlived three wives, and many of his children.

Thomas died on 12 August 1851 while living with his son, Samuel in Cherokee County Alabama and was buried in Barry Springs located east of Fort Payne close to the Georgia border. ^[1]The cemetery is now known as Alexander cemetery on find-a-grave. ^[2] It is unknown why Thomas was not buried in the cemetery in the Decatur Cemetery in DeKalb, Georgia, where his third wife and two of his adult children are buried.

Sources

1. ↑ Annals and memorials of the Handys and their kindred, Handy, Isaac W. K, Publisher: W.L. Clements Library, 1992 Page 1.13.4.4
2. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46895843/thomas-w-harris: accessed 17 October 2023), memorial page for Thomas W. Harris Sr. (11 May 1768–12 Aug 1851), Find a Grave Memorial ID 46895843, citing Alexander Cemetery, Berry Springs, Cherokee County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Whitfield (contributor 47786265).

• http://www.trackingyourroots.com/images/JeffersonCoOrphansCtBk1823_30/100_0168.JPG Moses Harris is the brother of Nancy Harris Barry.