HARRIS FAMILY.
The Harris family is a numerous and influential one both
in Cumberland and Salem counties. Two
brothers, by the name of Samuel and Thomas, emigrated from -Wales about the beginning of the eighteenth century, landing at Long Island, where their stay was of short
duration. Hearing there was a large
emigration from the states of New York and Connecticut, they concluded they would emigrate
to South Jersey, and came to Cohansey precinct, where they purchased land and settled. Many of
their descendants are residents
of Cumberland County at the present time.
Abraham Harris, a son of Samuel, purchased one hundred
and fifty acres of land in Alloway's Creek Township, being part of John Chandler's
allotment. The said land was bounded on the
west by Annie Salter's ten-thousand acre tract of
land. The point where Abraham' Harris built and lived was on the place known at the present time as the
Johnson-Harris farm. The land extended up to
the road that leads from Milton's Bridge to Wood's
Upper Mill. Abraham Harris, after he had
purchased the aforesaid land, built himself a log house and married Esther Langly.
They had six sons and one daughter, whose
names were: Abraham, born 1746; Isaac, 1748; Jacob, 1751; John, 1753; Permanus,
1755; Nicholas, 1757; and Sophia Harris. about 1760. Abraham Harris, the father of the above children,
died in 1777, aged about
fifty-three: his widow survived him a few years. After the death of Abraham Harris, Sr., the land was divided among his
children.
Abraham, the eldest son of Abraham and Esther Harris, married Kerenhappuch Blackwood in 1776. (The Blackwoods came from Scotland.) He built himself a dwelling-house near the Mill road on his share of his
father's land and at that place he ended his days, after reaching the
great age of ninety-three years and ten
months. He was long a member of the Baptist church of Salem and a consistent Christian, having been baptized before
he was twenty years of age, and was
one of the deacons of said church for 'many years. He frequently walked
to Salem meeting, a distance of seven miles, after
he was over ninety years of age. He was an ardent Whig at the time of the Revolution and volunteered as a militiaman
under Colonels Hand and Holme. Abraham and his
wife Kerenhappuch Harris had four children,— Dalymore, Elizabeth,
Samuel and Margaret Harris. Dalymore, the eldest son, married Letitia
Acton, a daughter of Joseph Acton. The latter was a grandson of Benjamin Acton, the eminent surveyor of
Salem. Dalymore and his wife Letitia
Harris had seven children who lived to grow tip, married and had families. Their names were Josiah,
Ephraim, Mary Ann, Samuel, Dalymore, Elizabeth and Parmenus
Harris. Josiah, the eldest, resided the most of his life after he arrived at Manhood in
Upper Penn's Neck. He married
Sarah Johnson. of Penn's Grove, and had six children,
whose names are Mary,
James. William, Edward, Kate and Annie. Josiah, their
father, has been deceased for a
number of years. Ephraim, the second son of Dalymore and Letitia Harris was a
blacksmith by trade. He married Cath( rine Ballenger. Her father resided near Quinton's Bridge.
Some time after marriage
he abandoned his trade and purchased a farm near the village and went to farming and continued in that calling until his
death. They bad one son, Josiah
Harris, who resides where his parents lived. He married the daughter of William Robinson.
Mary Ann, the daughter of Dalymore
and Letitia Harris, married William Morris-on and had six children,—Letitia,
George R., Anna, Susan, Charles and Mary Ann.
Mary Ann, the mother, died when her children were minors: consequently the care and responsibility of their
education and moral training devolved
principally upon her daughter Letitia. Anna, the
second daughter, died a few years
after her mother. George R. Morrison Married Sarah Jane, a daughter of William and Rebecca Plummer, and they have
five children,— Thomas, Harry, .-Anna, Mary and George Morrison, Jr.
George R. Morrison, now deceased,
was the surrogate of Salem County for many years. Mary Ann died of consumption. Letitia
and Susan are also deceased. William Morrison, the
father of the above-mentioned children, abandoned the mercantile business at Hancock's Bridge and purchased
property in Elsinboro near Salem. He has been deceased for many years. Samuel, a son.
of Daly- more and Letitia Harris, was a house carpenter by trade. After he
became of age he resided at Cape May Court
House and married Mary Foster. They had three
children,--all daughters. Samuel is deceased. Elizabeth, a daugh•
ter of Dalymore and Letitia Harris, married George Clark, and they have two children,—William and Mary Clark. William married Emma
Cobb and had one son, Charles. Mary married
Charles Fennimore and has one son, William, who
married Amanda .Ayres and has two children,—daughter and son.
Dalymore, a son of Dalymore and Letitia Harris,
married Heneretta Bowen. They have one (laughter, Mary Elilabeth
Harris, a school teacher. Parmenus, a son of Dalymore Harris, Sr., married Rebecca Jaquette,
and they had two children. Dalymore Harris was a weaver by trade and followed that business
for more than forty years, in the village of Hancock's Bridge. Be was
likewise surveyor, having preceded Thomas Roberts. Being endowed with uncommon
memory, he was an extensive reader, both of ancient and modern history,
particularly English history and that of his own country. He survived
his wife a number of years and died in 1863, in his eighty-seventh year. and was buried in the Baptist cemetery at Salem. He was for
many years of his life a member of the Baptist society. He resided in the
same house at Hancock's Bridge for sixty years and was postmaster forty
years.
Elizabeth, a daughter of Abraham and Kerenhappuch
Harris, married Ellis Simpkins
and died in early life, leaving several children. Samuel, a son of Abraham, never married, and (lied aged eighty-two
years. Margaret, a daughter of
Abraham, never married, lived to old age, and after her mother's death took charge of her father's house.
Isaac, the second son of Abraham and Esther Harris, was
born in 1748, and lived at the old mansion. He has been represented as an
uncommonly industrious man. When young he
became a member of the Baptist society. He married Mary Young, by whom he had nine sons, four of
whom survived him. The names of those were
James, Joseph, Mason and Johnson Harris. Isaac took an active part in the Revolution, belonging
to the militia; was at the battle of
Quinton's Bridge, when the Americans were pursued by the English soldiers, and to save his life he swam Alloway's creek. Although he was shot at several times he escaped free of wounds! He
died the fifth of April, 1814,
of typhus fever, which was then raging in this County to a fearful extent. His age was about sixty-five years. James, the
son of Isaac, was twice married,
and Isaac was by his first wife, and Rachel and Charlotte were by his second wife. Rachel married Malachiah Jarmin and had one daughter, Catherine Jarmin,
who subsequently married Jonathan Richmond. Charlotte married Archer, a son of Caleb Stackhouse, and they had
three children,— William, James and Mary. Caleb
Stackhouse was a descendant of Thomas Stackhouse, the emigrant and provincial counselor of
Penn.
Isaac, a son of James Harris, had
three wives. His first wife was Sarah, a
daughter of Elijah Fogg. She died young, leaving one
(laughter, who married James
Robinson. Isaac's second wife was Martha Abbott, the widow of William Abbott. Her maiden name was Reeves,
and she was of Cumberland County.
By that marriage there were three children,—Sarah, William and Martha Harris. Sarah, a daughter of Isaac and
Martha Harris, married Job Stretch,
Jr. She is deceased, leaving five children,—Rosanna, Harry, Anna, Elizabeth and Sarah Stretch. Her loss to her
family was great, as she was an
industrious and frugal wife, a kind and affectionate mother, and was generally respected by those who knew her.
William, a son of Isaac and
Martha Harris, resides on the homestead of his father. He married Annie, the daughter of Enos
P. English. They have several children. Bertha married John Powell and has two
children,—Elizabeth and Jeremiah. Martha,
a daughter of Isaac, married Hiles, a son of Siles Baker, and they have children. Isaac's third wife is Sarah, a
(laughter of John Finley: no issue.
James, the father of Isaac, (lied in the eighty-third year of his age. Joseph, the son of Isaac and Mary Y. Harris, was
twice married. His first wife
was Hannah Sheppard, by whom he had one daughter, Hannah Harris. She married Mark Stretch and had several children,—Ananias, John, George and William Stretch: there was one daughter. Al
ark and his wife are deceased.
Joseph Harris's second wife was the widow of Elijah Fogg:
they had one daughter, Kerenhappuch Harris. She
subsequently married Richard
Moore, and they had one son, named David Moore. Joseph Harris died May 14, 1854, aged seventy-nine years. Mason, a
son of Isaac and Mary Y. Harris,
married Sarah King. They removed to the state of Ohio many years ago, and it has been said he died wealthy, leaving
a large family of children. Johnson,
the youngest son of Isaac and Mary Y. Harris, married and resided on the homestead of his father.
Jacob, the third son of Abraham Harris, was born in 1751,
and was a weaver by trade and a Baptist by
religious profession. He was twice married. He was at the battle of Quinton's Bridge, was severely
wounded and was left on the
field by the enemy for dead. After great suffering he recovered and lived to old age. He and his family went to the state
of Ohio in 1807. His children's
names were Elisha, Isaac, Sarah, Hannah, Sophia, Achsah and Rebecca Harris.
John, the fourth
son of Abraham and Esther Langly Harris, was born
October To, 1753. His life was an eventful one. He was about twenty-two years old when the war of the Revolution commenced. He
went first in 1776, in the militia of Flying
Camp, as it was then called, for six months; was in the army under Washington, which assembled at New
York for the defense of that city, and was
also in the battle of Long Island, the 27th of August of that year. That fall or winter he was sick at
Somerset, in this state, and came
home when his six months were out. The next spring he enlisted in the regular army for seven years or during
the war, as a bombardier in the
Pennsylvania Artillery, Continental line: also drum major, and joined the main army under Washington and was in the battle of
the Brandywine. at Germantown and at Valley Forge while the British army
had comfortable quarters at
Philadelphia. In the summer of 1778 he went with General Sullivan on an expedition against the Indians up the
Susquehanna. After that be was sent
with a part of the army to Pittsburg, then called Fort Pitt, where he continued
during the remainder of the war. Hugh Blackwood accompanied him
through the flying camp and regular army, and they returned home together.
Following is in substance his account of his experience
in army life:
"At the battle of Germantown we planted our cannon
at the gate before Chew's
house,—by the stone gate-posts, which are there now. Just inside the gate lay six British
grenadiers dead. We were ordered to fire grape-shot. After we fired awhile it
seemed as if we were not making as much impression as we ought; and as the fog
was so thick we could not see very much, one of our officers rode up to the house where the British
were, and when he came back he said,
'Boys, use cannon ball: it is a stone house;' but the fog lifted pretty soon,
and as there were but a few of us we had to retreat. If we had known it was a stone house when we first commenced we
would have knocked it to pieces,
likely. The old shot shows to this day. The shutters are patched, and one shot went through it to the kitchen.
"I was in a great many skirmishes around
Philadelphia while the British had it in
possession. As they would send out foraging parties around it the Americans would send out parties to capture them. It %vas
late in the fall and we often had
the Schuylkill river to wade. The officers would order us to hold up our ammunition to keep it dry. As I belonged to
the artillery I generally rode
over on my gun. One of those nights I thought my time was about to come. The English heard of our being
after them and threw up entrenchments
across a road in the wood; and as they had cannon it was
expected, of course, that they would plant some to sweep the road; and as my
gun came in the road as we marched up in order of battle expecting them to fire, I could see their camp fires
blazing high. But the Americans kept
marching up, marching up; but they did not open their batteries. At last an officer rode up and looked over the
breast-works. When he came back he
said, 'Damn them! They have given up the bag: have left everything there to deceive us,—even their supper cooking!'
But the officer would not let us eat
it, hungry as we were, for fear of poison.
"On the 11th of September, 1777, the battle of
Brandywine was fought. I was in that,
and wintered at Valley Forge, 1777-8, with Washington: was starved and frozen. A soldier's life was worse than a dog's.
The saying is. `A dog's life
is hunger and ease;' a soldier's was hunger and hardships.-
It is thought
that Mr. Harris was also in the battle of Monmouth, the 28th day of June, 1778.
Soldiers in both armies died from heat and want of water. They fared badly also for clothing, their
shirts would be all gone except
wristbands and collars. Horse beef, and it was often spoiled, they had for meals.
Resuming the narrative of Mr. Harris, within quotation points, we
proceed:
"In the fall of 1779 I was with General Sullivan up
the Susquehanna to destroy the
Indians' corn. As they were partly civilized and farmed a good bit, it was thought that they had an extra amount planted
to feed Burgoyne's army that was
expected to come from Canada down that way; and also to retaliate for the massacre of Wyoming. But General Gates
defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga, New York. It
was splendid corn, about forward enough for roasting or boiling, when we cut it up and set fire to
their wigwams. It ruined them and
they never recovered from the blow.
"A part of the army, I among them, was sent across
the mountains to Fort Pitt, now
Pittsburg. What route we went I cannot tell. There was not even a wagon road further than Gettysburg. We got our
supplies from there by pack-mules, as we would start a
train when the path was reported clear of
Indians. They could run almost equal to a (leer or lie flat as a rabbit and hide where there was almost nothing. I did not admire
the Indians' character. They would lie and
steal anything they could lay their hands on. We had a great many skirmishes
with them, but not much we could call a battle. Their warfare was to get behind trees and shoot
from cover. In one of our
skirmishes I was not feeling very good and an Irishman said to me, 'Braize up, Harris: this day a
golden chain or a wooden leg.' I told him I thought the prospect for a golden chain was not very
bright, fighting Indians, when they could
carry all they had on their backs and run with it.
"I went with General Sullivan in the fall of 1779
west of the Alleghany Mountains. I
never got back or heard from home (luring the war, but was in the neighborhood of Pittsburg most of the time. We made
an expedition down the Ohio river. That was the
hardest campaign of all. It was not very much work to go down with the current, as we were in a
flat-boat of some kind, with oars
to row it. It was reported that a settlement of white people was along the river on the Ohio side at one place,
perhaps Marietta; but we did not know
certainly. 'We were in two divisions and I was in the first; and our officers
ordered every one to be ready with his finger on the trigger, and so we drifted by. never seeing
any one. The other party, carelessly thinking the advance had stopped, rowed up to the shore and the
Indians sprang out and killed and
took every man! We heard the reason the Indians did not attack us: they thought we were only a small advance
party and they felt able for the
main body and expected our general was in the rear; and as he had a red head they wanted his scalp particularly; but
they were deceived in that; and if
they had attacked us they would have met with a warm reception.
"We went as far as Louisville,
then called the Great Falls, but were not there but a short time before we were ordered back to
Pittsburg, just at the setting in of
winter, and the river low and full of ripples. We would have to jump out and push our boats over and then get in and
row, sitting with wet clothing on
and almost freezing. As we went down one of our number died, and we had no
shovels to bury him. We placed him in a hollow in the ground made by the blowing down of a tree, and put what dirt we
could On him; brit as we came back we saw that the wolves had dug him out
and picked his bones!
"We would stay out in the middle of the river all
day pulling up till, toward night, we
would work in shore and land a party to scour the woods for Indians and post our sentinels around, and camp for the
night. The.wolves would come up around the sentinels and howl and appear
as if not farther off than the length
of our guns; but we dared not shoot them: it would be giving- a false alarm. We also had another thing to contend
with, worse than any I have mentioned:
We came very near starving. There was a settlement at Wheeling, West Virginia, and a temporary
mill that would grind corn, which was run by man
power. So Made great calculations when we
reached there; but pretty soon after we got to work the soldiers got hold of some whisky and got so drunk that they
could not work, got nothing done and
we came nearer starving than before!
"Pittsburg was a hundred miles yet before us. We
were working up the Ohio. In one
canoe was a sick Irishman and the current catched and upset it. We lamented his fate, supposing he was drowned, of
course; but when we came to
turn up the canoe there he was in it, not any the worse,--only wet! Some one
asked him if he could take a little whisky. He said, 'By the Lord ! try me.'
"During the winter of 1777-8, at Valley Forge, we
were so badly off for clothing one could track the soldiers over the frozen
ground by the 13100d from their bare feet! and no
blankets! would lie down around our camp fire to sleep and our hair would freeze fast to the ground!
"\We
finally arrived at Pittsburg, a poor place then,—not even
a frame house in it. There was a line of
soldiers' barracks, or frame-work. There were several log houses, with a quarter of an acre of
ground attached, which formed the city
at that time. There was no road across the mountains, and from Gettysburg to Pittsburg everything was carried by
pack-mules. Not much there but whisky
and it would take a month's wages to buy a gill with the money we were paid with! About eighty dollars
good money would buy a quarter
of an acre of ground with a log house on it then, but I would not have had one
even for a gift if I had to stay there: it was such a poor place, and I thought
always would be."
Mr. Harris was discharged at that place, on the 30th of
September, 1783. 'William
Irving, brigadier general, in command. His discharge is still in the family. His pay for the last two or three years was the
continental money that was
issued by congress. He was in seven general battles, including that at Flatbush, Long Island, August 27, 1776, besides
many skirmishes, but was never wounded: was once, however, knocked down by a
spent ball. He came home poor and for a year
or two was in very poor health, his constitution much iMpaired by
exposure ‘vh;le in the army,
being afflicted with chills
and fever. In after life his company was much sought, and he, having a
retentive memory, would interest his friends by relating incidents and occurrences he had experienced while in the army.
In 1785 he married Lydia, a daughter of Captain William
Smith, of the militia in the battle of
Quinton's Bridge, who had some of his hair shot away from the back part of his head! a
bullet grazed his loins, and his horse received two bullets in him; yet he carried his rider
safely over the bridge and then fell dead under him! Mr. Harris's wife Lydia
was more than ten years younger than
himself. He bought Round island, in 1796, of Joshua
Eaton. The island contained thirty acres of upland, likewise a considerable
quantity of salt marsh, and was about two miles south of Alloway's
Creek Neck. He lived there
nine years. In 1804 he purchased Ragged island. of Elijah Fogg. it being a short distance from Round island. He moved to
the former and remained there till his death, which event took place March 29,
1814, with the typhus fever.
The following is a list of his children: Stretch Harris. horn February 26, 1785, died
October 2, 1786. Matilda Harris, born January 22. 1787 and died February 11, 1787. Stretch Harris, born January 25, 1788,
died August to. 1848. Sarah Barris, born December 31, 1790, died February 2, 1791. Benjamin Harris, born August 27,1793,
died April 14, 1872. Peter Harris, horn June 4, I796,'died January 20, 1815. Lydia
Harris, born October 24, 1798. died December 18,
1842. Elizabeth Harris, born November 20, 1800, (lied July 5, 1884. Margaret Harris, born June t, 1803, died
about 1825 or '6. Clarissa
Harris, born September 16, 1805, died September 18, 1886. Beulah Harris, born June 21, 1809, died May
21, 1813.
Peter Harris, in the spring of 1814,
had a severe attack of typhus fever and did not entirely recover from it, and in the fall went to
camp three months in the militia at Billingsport, below Red Bank, where, sleeping in tents on the ground, and being exposed to a heavy
rain on the march from there down to
Salem, he contracted a heavy cold, which again brought on the typhus fever, of which he
soon died. Lydia Harris never married. Elizabeth Harris married Nathaniel
Stretch, his second wife, some time after she was forty years old and had no
children. Margaret Harris married Thomas B. Sayre and died young, leaving
a daughter which soon followed her.
Clarissa Harris was born September 16, 1805. She was next
to the youngest of John and Lydia (Smith)
Harris's children. In her twenty-second year she married David S. Ellett,
March r, 1827. He lacked nearly two months of
being twenty-one years old. He was born April 28, 1806, of an Irish father, James E. Elliott (or Ellott),
from Tipperary, Ireland, and of a German mother,
Catherine Sickler (Zigler).
For seven years they lived near Salem, New
Jersey, and to them were born four children. They moved to Ohio in 1834, setting out in a two-horse wagon on March
31, and making the journey in two
weeks. William Kelty and John Mink, and their
families, in wagons, also traveled with
them. David Ellett bought his farm at Bunker Hill, Goshen Township, May 5,
1834. The place is now in Mahoning County. It was then included in Columbiana County. On the old
farm which he called the Capitol, David and Clarissa Ellett
remained until their death. Both died within the same year. 1886, David on the 3d of February
and Clarissa on the 13th of
September. They lie buried in the Bunker, Hill cemetery, on the southeast corner of the farm.
David and
Clarissa Ellett raised twelve children, four of whom
were born in New Jersey. James, born
November 28, 1827, married and lives at Rippey, Boone County, Iowa. Margaret H., born April 21, 1829,
married Silas Card. Their children-Lizzie and Rinda-both married and have issue. Emily Jenkins, born September 15, 1830, married Charles
Jenkins. Their children were Walter and Harriet. Walter married and had issue,
and Harriet is now dead. Emily died May 2, 1891.
and was buried at Quaker Hill, Beloit, Ohio. John H., born July 7, 1833, married Elmira Card
and their children- Emil, Rosa,
Elmer and Zoe-are all married and have issue. John
and his wife live near Beloit, Ohio. Catherine, born February 16, 1825, and married William Blackburn Santee on the 26th of April. 1855. Their children are: Louella B., horn November 17, 1857, and married Albert Phillips,
October 19, 1882: their children are Homer,
Wilmer, Edna, Jessie and Wendell Phillips. Clarissa Harris Santee Nvas
born November 24, 1859, and was married to Albert F. Ellett October
19, 1882, and their children are Lucius, Glen and Olive Ellett. Mary E.
Santee was born August 5, 1862, married Wilmer Stanley October 24, 1884, and their children are Elsie,
Guy and Hazel. Harris Ellett Santee was
born October 15, 1864, three months after his uncle's death. Harris Ellett,
for whom he was named. He graduated
at the University of Pennsylvania
and is now a resident physician of Chicago. Illinois. a
rising voting man. He was
married the 28th of August, 1895, to Grace Brown. the daughter of Judge Richard Brown, who came from England
to Canfield, Ohio, and married Thalia Newton. Harris and Grace Santee have one
(laughter, Martha Boyle.
She was born August 16, 1897. Loyd Ernest was born February 15, 1872, is a fine musician.
Catherine Santee died January
9, 1877, and was buried at North Benton, Ohio. Sarah Ellett
was born March 18, 1837, and married William King, and
their children are Judson,
Wendel, Catherine, Rosa, Howard and Lizzie. Sarah (Ellett) King died in June, 188o, and was buried beside her parents, at
Bunker Hill. David, Jr.. was born April 13, 1839, married and had issue, and
lives at Rippey, Iowa.
Stretch
(Harris) Ellett was born October 30, 1840, and
followed his brothers James and David into the army. He was a
lieutenant in Company C, Sixth Ohio Cavalry, was wounded at
St. Mary's Church, Virginia, June 24, 1864, and died on
the 15th of the following month, at Alexandria, Virginia,
from a wound received in the army. Josiah was born April 10, 1842. married and has issue and
lives in Boone County, Iowa. Calvin was horn March 14, 1844,
married and has issue, and lives at Rippey, Iowa.
Charles Elmer, born December 12, 1845,
married Celestia Cook, and their children are
Clarissa Harris and Homer: the latter is Married and
lives in Alliance. Ohio. Lydia Letitia,
the youngest child of David S. and Clarissa H. Ellett,
born May 16, 1840, and married John Trotter. Their
children are Clarissa H., Lydia and James Earle Trotter, and
they live in Salem, Ohio.
Stretch Harris,
a son of John and Lydia Harris, was born the 25th day of January, 1788,
married Rebecca Pagett, March 2, 1812, and
resided on Round island, which he inherited from his father. They had four
children. all born on the island. About the year
1826 he purchased a farm on Alloway's Creek Neck, which was formerly known as the James Chambless farm. He (James Chambless)
was the grandfather of James Smith, of Salem. Stretch Harris moved there in
1827 and commenced to improve the land by applying wood ashes, which made it
produce admirably; and in a few years he applied lime, to a great advantage.
Some years later he purchased the Daniel Stretch farm, which was also
much reduced. It was one of the first settled farms in Alloway's
Creek Township, being part of the Christopher White allotment of one thousand
acres. Soon after Stretch purchased the farm he removed the old mansion, built
by Christopher White in 1690. Stretch Harris was a frugal and industrious man.
Notwithstanding his love of gain he had a sympathetic nature and was often found by
the bedside of his afflicted neighbors to assist and aid them as much
as possible. At the time of his death he had property valued at fifteen
thousand dollars. The landed estate was directed by will to be equally divided
between his two sons, Hiram and Amos Harris: his two grandchildren,
Hannah and John Fogg, tg, have one thousand each. Stretch Harris commenced life in a small 1N-ay on Round island. He made most of his clear money by
keeping a fishery in the spring of the year on the river shore near where
he resided, afterward buying old and worn-out lands at a low price and
improving them.
His children
were: Ann, born June 17, 1813; John, born August 1815, died July 2, 1832; Hiram,
born April 5, 1818, died March 13, 1891. and Amos was born
March 29, 1821. Ann Harris married Luke S. Fogg, a son of Joseph
and Hannah Hover Fogg. Luke died September 25, 1886.
He was
engaged in the grain business at Hancock's Bridge for several years. In earlier
life lie was an active politician and at one time was an acknowledged leader of the
Republican party in that Township. Luke Fogg had two children,—Hannah H. Fogg
and John H. Fogg. Hannah married Ephraim C. Smith, a son of
Peter and Elizabeth Ellett Smith, and have four children living. Luke F. Smith, born September
19, 1856, is engaged in the canning business at Elmer and Alloway. Annie Rebecca, born February 17, 1859, married Joseph
S. Buzby, a farmer in Mannington. and
they have two children,—Luke and Hannah. J. Warren Smith, born April 5,
1862, married Margaret Austin, a daughter of William and Mary Ann
Austin: they have two children,—Frank and Ephraim. Frank P. Smith was born
March 19, 1868; Phoebe F. Smith, June 14, 1871, and John F. Smith, December 4,
1873. Frank and Phoebe died young.
John H. Fogg enlisted as a
private under Captain Howard Bassett, in Company A, Twenty-fourth Regiment of New Jersey
Volunteers, the 3oth of August,
1862, to serve nine months, and was discharged from service at Beverly, New Jersey, the 29th of June, 1863, by reason of
expiration of service. He died February 2, 1884.
Hiram Harris
married Hannah Smith, a daughter of Andrew and Hannah Stretch Smith, and had two children,—David Harris
and Catherine C. Harris. David
married Susan Patrick, a daughter of Ephraim and Margaret Patrick, and had the following children: Andrew S.,
Hiram, Elsie, Frank, Sallie, George,
Linda, Hannah, E. Chester and Viola Harris. Catherine C. Harris married D. W. C. Taylor and had one (laughter,
Hannah, and one son that died in
infancy. Hannah married Henry, a son of Robert and Julia Johnson. Amos Harris married Catherine Smith, a daughter of
Andrew and Hannah Stretch
Smith, May 4, 1842, by whom he had four children: Rebecca, born April 17, 1846; Hannah J., born March 20, 1848, and
died September 25, 1863;
Stretch, born August 10, 1852, and one that died in infancy. Rebecca married Charles E. Baker and had three children: A.
Harris, who died in March,
1887, in his twenty-second year; Charles E., Jr., and Walter Baker.
Stretch Harris married Elizabeth Baker, a daughter of
Powell and Ann Baker, and has
three children,--Margaret, Catherine and Amos. Amos Harris and Sarah Bradway, a
daughter of William and Mary Bradway, were married March 19, 1856. They have had five children:
Catherine S., born June 4, 1857; Sarah
Marion, June 22, 1859; Margaret C., born August 23, 1863. died September 6, 1865; A. Howard Harris, born January 5,
1867, and Mary L. Harris, born
August 22, 1868. Sarah Marion married William Johnson, of Penn's Neck, son of James S. and Sarah Lindsey
Johnson, March 25, 1879, and have
three children living: James R. Johnson, born May 21, 188o: Josephine, June 28, 188f ; Marguerite H., February 8,
1890, and died July 16 following,
and Howard H. Johnson, born April 26, 1892. A. Howard Harris married Bertha Vaughan, a daughter of John and
Eliza Vaughan, of Philadelphia,
November 8, 1893, and have two children: Ellen B., born Aug:ust 14, 1894, and John V., January 4, 1896. Mary L. Harris
and Robert N. Vanneman, a son of Edwin and Josephine
Newell Vanneman, were married at Philadelphia, by Mayor Filter, January 18, 1888,
and have three children: Marion
J., born December II, 1891; Margaret H., March 27, 1893. and William B., May 2, 1896. Robert N. Vanneman
was elected sheriff of Salem County
November 7, 1899.
Stretch
Harris died August To, 1848. His wife survived him eight years.
In the decease of Stretch Harris the section of the County
in which he resided has lost
an exemplary citizen. Truly an honest, true-hearted man has gone down to the tomb full of years and/full
of honors. May the green sod rest lightly
upon his breast and the recollection of his sterling worth survive the mausoleums
of kings."--Charles P. Smith, editor of the Salem
Standard.
Benjamin
Harris was born August 27, 1793, about two miles south of Quinton, near
Cooper's branch. When three years of age his parents moved to Round
island, where they continued to reside until 1827; then moved to Philadelphia
for two and one-half years, and returning bought a farm in Alloway's Creek Neck, where he lived
until 1848. He then bought a farm at Harmersville and lived on
it until 1855, when he retired from active business to a house in the village,
where he lived until his death, April 13, 1872. He married Martha
English, who was born in November, 1793, and died in 1868. in
her seventy-fifth year. Their two children, Peter and Letitia,
were born on Ragged island; and the third son, Quinton
Parker, was born on Alloway's Creek Neck,
December 28, 1830. His farm contained one hundred and fifty acres of land,
one hundred cultivated and the balance woodland and meadow. In politics he
was a Whig, later a Republican, and always kept abreast of the times on all
important topics. He also held many town offices and was universally liked
and respected.
Peter was born January 24, 1823, and married Mary
Car11. Their children were Lydia, who
married James Butcher, ex-senator of Salem County; Hannah Ann, who married
Winfield Patrick, a farmer of Lower Alloway's Creek Township, by whom she had two children,—William S. and Mary;
and Ann Elizabeth. who
married James W. Car11, a farmer of the same Township: their children were Frank, Ralph and Harris. who died in infancy. Benjamin E. Harris married Rose Carl!, and
their children were Louella, Carl! and
Christine. He is a prominent merchant of Canton. Letitia
was born January 15, 1825, and was
married to Thomas A. Maskell, a miller in her native Township,
by whom she had three children:
Adelaide, now Mrs. Reeve Stretch, who has three children,—Florence, Thomas and Joseph; Annabel Maskell, who died at the age of four years; and Mary, who also died in
childhood.
Quinton P. Harris was born in Lower Alloway's
Creek, attended the district
school and later went to boarding school in Wilmington, Delaware, where he remained until he was twenty years of age. The
following three years he worked
for his father. At the expiration of that time he engaged in farming for himself on his father's farm,
and at his death hired the property where he resided for more than forty
years. The improvements on the place were
modern and convenient, and here he lived until 1896, when he moved to Salem and purchased his present residence,
which has been remodeled and
improved, making it one of the most desirable properties in the city. He was married to Elizabeth T. Powell, a
(laughter of John and Rebecca Powell,
Ivho was born in November, 1834, and diM December 18, 1858, leaving one (laughter,
Elizabeth, born October 23, 1858, and was a teacher; she married Richard
M. Acton, a farmer now residing in Salem. On January 25. 1862, he married Mary, a (laughter of William
and Mary Shourds
Bradway, a farmer in the same Township. They had five
children: Lucy, born in December. 1862, graduated at Millersville Normal School and taught for some time prior to marrying
1. Clinton Arnold, an attorney of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Martha, born August 4, 1864, died in childhood; Ellen, born January 26, 1866, married
Dr. W. Scott Smith, a physician of
Salem: she is a graduate of the Woman's College of Philadelphia and a practicing physician of Salem, rendering
her husband valuable aid in his work;
she is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution; and Quinton P.. jr., was born July 1, 1873, received his
education in the same school, and is at present at the Stanford University. near San
Francisco, California. Margaret, horn
December 16, 187o, also graduated at Millersville.
Mr. Harris is
a strong supporter of education and has given his children a liberal start in that direction. While serving as
school director he always worked for the
improvement of the schools, and his efforts in this direction resulted in
good. He enjoys the full confidence and respect of the people. and has been elected to various town offices, serving as County
treasurer from 1885 to 1888. He has been prominently identified with the
Republicans of this County and gives excellent reasons for his views. He has been
a' director of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Salem County for a period of twenty years; and
when the City National Bank was organized in
1888 he was elected a director of that institution also.
Permenas, the youngest of the six boys, married Margaret Bryant,
and they had six children. He died in 1798, of yellow fever, about the time it
was so bad in Philadelphia. His children's
names were Josiah, Lydia, Smith, Mary, Ann and Permenas. Josiah, the oldest, died about the age of
eighteen; Lydia married James Sayre and
died soon, leaving one son, Abbot Sayre. who married and had one son, Nebraska Sayre; Smith is
still living, but never married; Mary
married John Finlaw, a man much older than herself,
and he lived but a few years: she was then a
widow for twenty-five years; Ann married David S. English in early life and had
a son, Enos P. English, and died soon after: his second wife was Sarah Ann Nelson,
the only child of Anthony Nelson: their
children were Mary, Anthony, Joseph, Southard, Timothy. Jael. Jael married a man from
Delaware by the name of Van Gezel. Mary married George Stretch, and her second husband was Samuel
W. Miller, ex- sheriff.
Anthony married Mary Smith, a daughter of William and Rebecca Finlaw Smith. Another daughter married James Robinson, from
Lower Creek. David S. English was
once elected sheriff of Salem County. Parmenas died about eighteen, near the time of his sister
Lydia's death.
Sophia married a man named William Paulin,
by whom she had several children, whose
names were Joel, Nicholas, Amy, Mary and Rachel. Joel, it is
thought, lived in Philadelphia, a tailor by trade. Nicholas died about 1850. Mary never married. Amy married Mark
Ballenger in early life and
had one or two children. He went to sea and died in Havana. Rachel married Jacob Woodruff in early life and
became the mother of a large family.
They moved to Ohio about 1835. Their son James learned the blacksmith's trade and later became
interested in an iron foundry and acquired
a fortune. No account of Rachel's other children is at hand.
Nicholas
Harris, a son of Abraham and Esther Langley, born April 26, 1760, was a Baptist by religious profession. He married
Sarah Sheppard, a sister of
Captain Charlton Sheppard, first lieutenant in Captain Henry Sparks's company of the Second Battalion of Salem. Captain Dito,
wounded at Hancock's Bridge, New Jersey, March 21, 1778. They had eight
sons and one (laughter, Hannah, who married and
(lied young. Sheppard was named after his
mother's family. He was married young, to Mary Warner, by whom he had two sons, Silas and Sheppard, and died at the age
of twenty-five. Abraham, the
second son, married Mary Ann Steel, who soon died, leaving but one son. He afterwards married a girl named Callahan,
by whom he had two or three
children. Baby remained single. Parmenas married
Rebecca Ayers, by whom he had three sons, Josiah,
Thomas and David. the latter still living. Josiah married Mary Finlaw,
of Elsinboro, and their children are Rebecca, William, Louisa, Blanche and
Harry, Blanche and Harry still
living. Harry is in the Philippines, Thomas had two wives,—three children by his first wife,—Theodore,
William and David, of whom two are living:
David is dead. David married Sarah Sayre,
had eight children,—Anna, Joseph, Aaron, Carrie, Frederic, U. S. Grant, Mary and Harriet, Anna, Joseph and Mary
living. Parmenas's second wife was Harriet Nicholson, and his third wife
Annie S. Free, from Philadelphia,
by whom he had three children,—George, Harriet and Chauncy. George married Mary Peterson and had six children,—George,
Carrie, Aaron, Thomas, Clark Thompson
and Edward. Their son Clark T. is in the
Philippines, in the United States Army, Harriet married John Wallen, of Penn's Neck, and had three children,—$amtiel, Harriet P. and Elizabeth, who married and died leaving two children,—Edward
and Anna. Chauncy married Annie Black, of Pennsylvania, and had two sons
and three daughters,—Walter, Helen, Jerrion, Sylvia and Anther: the last named is deceased, who left a widow and one child, Anther Chauncy Harris.
Nicholas
married Louisa Tressor and they lived in Philadelphia
and had a large family of children,---nine in number. Sarah married Edward Moody. Horace died in infancy. Edward Francis Moody, Eva, his
wife, no issue. Nicholas Harris
Moody. Catherine married George Morris. Their children were Harrison Smith Morris, born October 4, 1856, a
rising young man of literary talents who has made his mark in the world, is the
managing director of the Pennsylvania
Academy of the Fine Arts and editor of Lippincott's monthly magazine. He married Anna Wharton, a (laughter
of Joseph and Anna Lovering
Wharton, and they have one daughter, Catherine Wharton Morris. Matilda Harris Morris is the treasurer of the
Browning Society of
Philadelphia. Jane \Vahers' Morris is a student at the
Academy of Fine Arts. Emma married Jonathan Stretch, and their children are:
Louisa Harris Stretch Langenberger
(her husband John Langenberger); John Langenberger, Jr., Marshall Hickman Stretch, Marion Manashan Stretch. Sheppard Harris (Caroline Hahn Harris, his wife), whose children
are Sheppard Harris and Marguerite
Harris. Ada!aide Harris
married John Smith Dovey. Their children are Adalaide Hayes Dovey, John Smith Dovey, Jr.,and Hannah Duff Dovey. Zachary Taylor Harris (Ella Beck Harris, his wife),
whose children are Nicholas II Harris and Mary Harris. Aaron lived in
Philadelphia and for a
number of years was in the shoe store of William Earley
& Company. He never married: was
exemplary in his deportment and generous to his relatives. job went away in
early life and married in New Orleans, worth several thousand. Charlton, the youngest of the family,
went to sea when young and died in Havana.
Biographical,
Genealogical and Descriptive History of the First Congressional District of New Jersey Volumes 1 & 2
The Lewis Publishing Company: New York and Chicago – 1900
Transcribed by: Martha A Crosley Graham - Pages 213-228
Site Created: 21 December 2007
Rights Reserved – 2007 & 2008