SERGEANT JOHN HARRIS OF VIRGINIA, CONDENSED

I have been asked to condense some information in the form of a genealogcal table, including such as Nathan Harris, and assuming that John Harris, bapt. 17 Feb 1587, in Mells, Somerset, was Sergeant John Harris of the 1624 Virginia Muster. The result is as follows, but I repeat my comments about the extremely interbred nature of people mentioned: Endogamous population members are related many times over in unknown ways, thus, predicted third or fourth cousins are actually sixth or seventh cousins, or even more distant. Pro rata, predicted first cousins of the 17th century may have been fourth or fifth cousins, or even more distant. Endogamous groups show matches ‘closer than actual’. Multiple marriages between first, second and third cousins means that everyone is effectively related to everyone else multiple times over within a very short time period.

1. Thomas Harrys of Mells, carpenter, b. 1494.
1.1. John Harrys, witnessed a Will in 1554 concerning Mells, Somerset.
1.1.1. John Harris, d. 1616.
1.1.1.1. Sergeant John Harris, bapt. 17 Feb 1587, in Mells (St Andrew).
1.1.1.1.1. Thomas Harris, m. Alice West, October 1635, in Nunney (juxta Mells), d. in Charles City in 1677. At a court held Sept. 13, 1677, administration of the estate of Thomas Harris, deceased, was granted to John Echols and John Hardaway, probable brs.-in-law of the said Thomas Harris. Alice West was probably she who was bapt. 16 Sept., in Bath (St Michael), 12 miles from Nunney, and probable dau. of William West, who m. Katharin Pearce, 23 May 1608, in Bath (St Michael), which may be placed in this context: D.B. 9, p. 70: Robert Coggan and his wife Mary Coggan sold 100 acres to John Stephens. Bounds: Mr. Beverly. Signed Robert Coggan and Mary Coggan. Witnesses: Edmund Westray, Jacob Stephens, and Nathan Pearce. Recorded 1 Feb. 1753. John Westray was the eldest son of William Westwray. He acquired 200 acres from Henry West on 20 May 1722 (adjacent to William Westwray’s land), and land from Robert West, as noted in John’s Will. Thomas Harris, 240 acs., 27 Apr. 1686, p. 511. Adj. Mathew Tomlin; Mrs. Hardy; William Westray; & John Turner. (Nugent).
1.1.1.1.1.1. Thomas Harris, bapt. 14 August 1636, in Nunney, d. 1688, m., in London, Dorothie Bassano (kin of the Lanier family, of St Olave, Southwark, London), in 1662, aged 26.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Edward Harris, Will pr. 25 March 1734; leaving to son Edward land adjoining John Johnson and John Turner; ‘being land which was granted to my father, Thomas Harris’; son Jacob, land on the Flatt Swamp of the Meherrin River; sons Nathan and West Harris, the land granted me on the north side of Warwick Branch; son Daniel, daughter Martha Williamson: son James; wife Mary. Executor, son Nathan Harris. (B. 3, p. 391).
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Nathan Harris, m. Catherine Walton, dau. of George Walton, as follows.
1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1. Walton Harris, m. Rebecca Lanier.
1.1.1.1.1.1.2. Robert Harris, m. Anne Fulgham, da. of Michael Fulgham, whose Will, of 17 Feb. 1690, named dau. Ann Harris, and was witnessed by James Benn, of St Olave, Southwark, London, a business partner of Michael Fulgham. Susannah Fulgham, Anne’s sister, m. Hardy Council, son of Hodges Council and Lucy Hardy, in 1705, as follow. The Fulghams came from Pitminster, Somerset, 45 miles from Nunney. Pitminster was also the abode of the Symes family (intermarried with the Perrys), one of whom, George Sims, of Brunswick Co.; d. Sept. 1763, bought land from his brother John Sims, on 5 November 1747, witnessed by Micajah Perry, a cousin. George Sims’ son, Adam Sims, m. Elizabeth Walton, dau. of George Walton of Brunswick Co., and who was, thus, the br.-in-law of Nathan Harris, grandson of Thomas Harris, d. 1688, and br. of West Harris).
1.1.1.1.1.1.3. William Harris, m. Mary Short, second-cousin of William Short, whose son and dau., John and Mary, m., respectively, Elizabeth Echols and Isaac Echols.
1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1. William Harris, probably m. a dau. of Nicholas Thompson, who witnessed a deed of Carter Crafford, of Lawnes Creek Parish, with Samuel Lancaster (see as follows), recorded 2 Nov. 1708; B. 5, p. 401.
1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.1. In 1756, Thompson Harris, of Bedford Co., ‘sells to William Heath’, who was a grandson of this William Heath: ‘Indenture between Wm. Lea & his wife Alice, and Wm. Heath, planter, of Southwarke Par., Surry Co., for a parcel of land, 150 acres, formerly Thos. Felton’s deceased, and lyeing and being in Southwarke Parish in the County of Surry in Virginia commonly called Upper Chippoakes in the woodes joyneing upon the lands which was John Harryes (Surry B. I, 1652-1672, p. 161).*Son of Robert Feltham, vintner, of St. Olave, Southwark, London, who m. 2. Elizabeth Olbury, widow of Christopher Woodward, bur. St. Olave, on September 16, 1563. Christopher Woodward’s dau., Susan, m. John King of Bromley, a ‘draper and free of the companye of Cloth Workers’. Their son, John, m. Sarah Walton; their son, John, was associated with William Simmons: Maj. William Rookings, son of William and Jane Rookings who had patented Flying Point, on the Upper Chippokes, in 1638, was sentenced to death in 1677. His Will mentions his cousin, Mary Short’s children. Overseers and guardians were his brother-in-law, Capt. Nicholas Wyatt, of Charles City, and neighbours William Simmons and John King, afors., of Upper Chippokes, all Bacon’s supporters. Mary Short was the wife of William Short, of Charles city Co., and grandmother of Mary Short, wife of William Harris, aforesaid. William Simmons was very likely of the family of ‘Samuel Simons, of St Saviour, Southwark, London, whitebaker’; his Will pr. Nov. 10, 1635, naming Margaret Beale his mother, John Hart his br.-in-law; William Powell of St Saviour, whitebaker, his cousin. (TNA, Prob.11/169, ff.152r-153r). That is, William Powell II., whose plantation was Chippoakes, to which many associated families of Southwark, London, migrated.
1.1.1.1.1.1.2.1.2. Thomas Harris, and wife, Sarah (Lane) Harris, Mary Lane and Faith Lane, sell ‘110 acres within the main Swamp and bounded by Col. John Allen’ (1741); daus. of Thomas Lane, d. in 1721 in Surry Co., father-in-law of William Harris.
1.1.1.1.1.1.2.4. Thomas Harris. On 3 March 1690, he petitioned that John Echols be summoned to the next court, perhaps to claim against the surviving executor of his grandfather’s estate.
1.1.2. Thomas Harris, bur. 3 Feb. 1595, in Mells.
1.1.2.1. John Harris, m. Mary Tomlin, 9 November 1620, in Mells. Matthew Tomlin of the Lower Parish of Isle of Wight County to John Johnson of the same parish, ‘for a valuable consideration’, a 225-acre tract ‘commonly called Pigneck’, bounded by Thomas Harris’s corner tree, pp. 570-571.
1.1.2.2. Elizabeth Harris, m. George Hill, 27 January 1619, in Mells.
1.1.2.2.1. Nicholas Hill, who, on 30 Sept 1664, patented 750 acres in the Upper Parish, part of the estate of Edward Bennett.
1.2. William Harris, m. Dorothy West, Aug. 31, 1562, at Wivelscombe, Somerset.
1.2.1. Richard Harris, m. Elianor Bennett, sister of the said Edward Bennett, of St Olave.
1.2.1.1. Thomas Harris, cousin of Governor Bennett of Virginia, m. Judith Blake, November 20, 1623, at Wivelscombe, and second-cousin of (1) Anne Bennett, b. 1641, who m., 1st, Theodorick Bland of Westover; their son, Theodorick Bland (born 1663) m. Margaret Mann; their son, John Bland (born 8 Dec. 1698), m. Ann West; (2) Elizabeth Bennett, sister-in-law of Matilda Scarborough, who m. Lt. Col. John West. Margaret Mann was probably a da. of Thomas Mann, who, with his wife, Elizabeth, sold 150 acres on Blackwater River to Theophilus Joyner, adjoining property owned by William Mayo and (his br.-in-law) Bridgeman Joyner. (Will of Thomas Harris, d. 1688: ‘my sonne William Harris to live with Bridgeman Joyner seven years).
1.2.1.1.1. John Harris, d. 1687, m. Unity …
1.2.1.1.1.1. Elizabeth Harris, m. Samuel, son of Robert Lancaster Sr. and Sarah, widow of 2nd husband Richard Bennett Sr., d. 1710. B. 5, p. 224: Henry Baker deceased, estate dated 27 April 1701. Witnesses: Robert Lancaster Sr., Nicholas Sessoms, whose da. was Mary Blake, wife of William Blake; the Lancasters being intermarried with the Council family, of Wedmore, Somerset.
(A br. of the afors. Elianor and Edward Bennett, Thomas Bennett, was bur. on 26 Sept. 1616, at Wivelscombe Church:
1. Thomas Bennett, d. 1616, Wivelscombe.
1.1. Thomas Bennett, claimed in 1635 as a headright by his uncle, Governor Richard Bennett.
1.1.1. Alice Bennett, m. John Hardy. Nugent, C&P vol. 1, p. 569: Mr. John Hardie 1150 acres IOW Co., 5 June 1666. Beginning at upper corner tree of Mathew Tomlins old land, running SSE by Wm. Westwrayers land &c. SW on Mathew Tomlins new land. John Hardy m. 2. Alice Tucker, widow of Arthur Allen. Her daus. were Katherine Allen, who m. Robert Johnson, and Joan Allen, who m. Dr Robert Williamson, John Burnett, and Reuben Proctor.
1.1.1.1. Lucy Hardy, m. Hodges Council.
1.2. … Bennett, m. Richard Jackson, who patented 450 acres in IOW adjacent to Justinian Cooper.
1.2.1. Mary Jackson, m. Capt. George Hardy, who patented 500 acres on July 17, 1648 ‘lying on east side of Lawne’s Creek extending to main river and along the great river to the creek dividing the same from land of Alice Bennett’. On 19 June 1666, he made a deed to land which belonged to his wife Mary whom he refers to as the ‘daughter of Richard Jackson, dec.’. Her sister, Sarah Jackson, m. Col. Arthur Smith II.
George Hardy was an appraiser of the estate of Edward Harris, d. 1677.
1.3. Richard Bennett. He lived at Blackwater, in the vicinity of the plantation of Justinian Cooper. In 1669, Thomas Wood, son of Arthur Wood and Sarah Wooten, his mother, ‘relict of Arthur deceased’, deeded him land as ‘Richard Bennett of Blackwater’. In 1666, Colonel Arthur Smith made a deed to land at ‘Blackwater’ inherited by his wife, Sarah Jackson, from her ‘grandmother Alice Bennett’.
Richard Bennett’s first wife was Anne, who was Charles Barham’s sister (see Douglas Richardson, ‘Plantagenet Ancestry’). Mr. Charles Barham Ex., Thomas Harris (d. 1672) and Thomas Tuke overseers, were officers of the will of William Ridley, who was probably the br. of Elizabeth Ridley, Charles Barham’s wife.
Richard Bennett’s son, James Bennett, witnessed the Will of Joseph Bridger. Prob. Apr. 9, 1685: ‘Son: William land granted to me by escheat of 850 acres formerly belonging to Nathan Floyd, except what is disposed of by me to Francis Hobbs, Mrs. Dorothy Bond, and William Blount … To my wife the land on which I now dwell of 850 acres formerly belonging to Capt. Upton … Daus: Martha Godwin, Mary, Elizabeth, and Hester. Wit: James Bennett, Robert Pitt, Samuel Luck, Richard Glover. (B. 2, p. 242). Francis Hobbs was the br. of Margaret Hobbs, first wife of John Harris, son of Thomas Harris (d. 1672) and first wife, Eleanor George).
1.2.1.1.2. Thomas Harris, d. 1672.
1.2.1.1.2.1. Thomas Harris. Deborah Portis Widow of John Portis, appoints Richard Bennett, son of Richard Bennett, Sr. and Thomas Harris, her attorneys. Wits: Francis Floyd, Thos. Wilson, Benj. Drewit. Rec. Nov 21, 1704. IOW B. 2, pp. 16-17.
1.2.1.1.3. Edward Harris, d. 1677.

copyright m stanhope 2016

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