Husband John Harris 1 2
Born: Abt 1726 - Harris' Ferry, Dauphin Co, PA
Christened:
Died: 30 Jul 1791 3
Buried:
Father: John Harris (Abt 1673-1748) 2 4 5
Mother: Esther R. Say ( -1757) 2 4 5
Marriage: 3 May 1749 6 7
Other Spouse: Mary Read (1730-1787) 8 - Nov 1764 6
• Note: This may be the same person as : John Harris.
• Residence: built in 1766: Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA.
Wife Elizabeth McClure 1 6
Born: 1729 - Paxtang Twp, Lancaster (later Dauphin) Co, PA 6
Christened:
Died: 20 Jan 1764 - Harris' Ferry, Dauphin Co, PA 6
Buried: - Paxtang Church Cemetery, Paxtang, Dauphin Co, PA
Father: Richard McClure ( - ) 9
Mother:
Children
1 F Mary McClure Harris 6 10 11 12
Born: 13 Apr 1750 - Harris' Ferry, Dauphin Co, PA 6
Christened:
Died: 20 Apr 1809 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA 13
Buried: - Paxtang Church
Spouse: Hon. William Maclay (1737-1804) 10 11 13 14 15 16
Marr: 16 Apr 1769 13
2 M John Harris 6
Born: 20 Aug 1751 6
Christened:
Died: 31 Dec 1775 6
Buried:
3 M David Harris 6 17
Born: 24 Feb 1754 - Harris' Ferry, Dauphin Co, PA 6 17
Christened:
Died: 16 Nov 1809 - Baltimore, MD 6 17
Buried:
Spouse: Sarah Crocket ( - ) 6
Marr: Baltimore, MD
4 M William Harris 6
Born: 23 Jan 1756 6
Christened:
Died: 3 Jul 1764 6
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
5 F Elizabeth Harris 6
Born: 22 Nov 1759 6
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
General Notes: Husband - John Harris
He was but twenty-three years old when his father died. At that period Harris' Ferry was an important place on the frontiers of Pennsylvania; and that with the management of his father's estate and the guardianship of his younger brothers required care and good judgment. Soon thereafter the French and Indian war broke out. The ferry was the entrepot for the Provincial forces stationed on the frontiers. He was an officer in the Provincial service, and during all that struggle for white supremacy against the Delawares and Shawanese he was active and energetic. The Records of Pennsylvania contain a great deal of correspondence between John Harris and the Provincial authorities, principally relating to the condition of the frontiers and accounts of Indian forays. During the Paxtang Boys' affair of 1763 and 1764 he was among those censured by the government, but had that government taken his advice and removed that band of Indians on the Conestoga, there would never have resulted the occassion for the Paxtang Boys taking summary justice in their own hands.
When the revolutionary struggle came John Harris was not behind his friends and neighbors in taking sides with the Colonies. Not only his influence, but his money was given to the authorities to assist in the contest with the mother country. One of his sons, his eldest born, fell in front of Quebec in December, 1775; another, David, became an officer in the war, and served with distinction.
Prior to the Revolution, with a farseeing eye, John Harris proposed the laying out of a town at the ferry-but the war put an end for the time to all projects. No sooner had peace been declared than the proposals for the new town were set forth. In the newspapers of 1784 an advertisement to that effect was published. The new county project, however, changed the original plans, and provided Harris' Ferry was chosen as the county seat the proprietor offered lands for the public use-town, county and State-and agreed to appoint commissioners who should value the lots of the town of Harrisburg, and which were to be sold at the sum fixed therefor. On the 4th of March, 1785, the General Assembly of the State passed the act for the erection of the county of Dauphin, designating Harris' Ferry as the county seat. Agreeable to John Harris' plans the lots of the town were approved and valued, and report thereof made on the 14th day of April, 1785. The town grew rapidly, and the founder lived to see it prosperous.
He died and his remains were interred in the graveyard of old Paxtang church. A marble slab bearing the following inscription marks the spot:
In memory of
John Harris
Who died on the 30th Day of July
1791
In the 65th year of his age
and gave name
To the Town of Harrisburgh.
The remains of
Elizabeth his first
and Mary his second wife
Lie interred with him
Under this Stone.
John Harris was in reality one of the "men of mark" in the early history of Pennsylvania. During the French and Indian war his services were invaluable, and so down to the close of his active life he was the same unflinching patriot-a generous hearted and enterprising citizen. He had strong faith in the advantageous position of the town which he had laid out, and some years before his death, in his efforts to dissuade Matthias Hollenbach, of Hanover township, who was then removing to Wilkes-Barre, and who became quite prominent in the history of that locality, said this place [Harrisburg] would eventually become the center of business in interior Pennsylvania and in time be selected as the seat of government of the State. He was far-seeing. At his death he owned about 900 acres of land, including most of what is now embraced in the city of Harrisburg. Also 200 acres on the Cumberland side of the river, including the Ferry, as also a large tract of land at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches, in Newberry township, York county, with 600 acres at the mouth of Conedoguinet creek, where an old Shawanese town once had been.
General Notes: Wife - Elizabeth McClure
The following incidents, credited to the wife of John Harris, refer to this noted woman: "The log house of Mr. Harris, situated on the river bank, was surrounded by a stockade for security against the Indians. An English officer was one night at the house, when by accident the gate of the stockade was left unfastened. The officer, clothed in his regimentals, was seated with Mr. Harris and his wife at the table. An Indian entered the gate of the stockade and thrust his rifle through one of the port-holes of the house, and it is supposed pointed it at the officer. The night being damp, the gun simply flashed. Instantly Mrs. Harris blew out the candle to prevent the Indian aiming a second time, and he retreated." On another occasion a servant girl was sent upstairs for some purpose, and she took with her a piece of lighted candle, without a candlestick. The girl soon came down without the candle, and on Mrs. H. asking what she had done with it, she said she had stuck it into a barrel of flaxseed. This, however, happened to be a barrel of powder. Mrs. Harris instantly rose, and without saying a word, for fear of alarming the girl, went upstairs, and advancing to the barrel, cautiously placed her hands under the candle and lifted it out, and then coolly reproved the girl for her carelessness. These occurrences prove her to have been well fitted for the life of a pioneer wife.