BACKGROUND DATA

Contributed  by Beverley Harris Vincent Pierpoint

Joseph John Harriss, Jr.

(early documents use double s)

Born October 1825 in Warren County, NC

Died about 1909 in Halifax County, NC

Buried in the old section of Cedarwood Cemetery in Roanoke Rapids, NC

near his son Samuel Petter Harris

Married in 1852 to Linny C. Riggan, daughter of Robert Riggan and Sarah Cullom

Three children: Matilda (abt 1854) John (abt. 1856) and Robert (abt 1858)

Linny C. Riggan was deceased by 1864

(May have been a marriage in between these two)

Joseph John Harriss, Jr.

Married in 1864 to Mary Ann Hardy,

daughter of Thomas Hardy and Mary Thompson or William Hardy and Cinthia Thompson. (Some court documents say father was Thomas but she is on 1850 census living with William and Cynthia*)

Six children: Henry (1863), Joana (1868), Samuel Petter (1872), James Tilden (1876), Mary (Mollie) (1879) and William Andrew (1883)

Joseph John Harriss is living in Warren County until 1880 where he is then found in Halifax County living near Pierce’s Crossroads, where William Andrew was born.

Mary Ann Hardy is buried in Pierce’s Cemetery on the Liles property on highway 903. She is marked by a rock (which I plan to replace with a marker this year). The family has known this was her burial place as William Andrew Harris would place flowers on her grave all his life. Mary Ann Hardy Harris died (of influenza) in 1884 when William Andrew Harris was 8 months old and he was raised by his step sister Matilda and other brothers and sisters.

I believe Joseph John Harriss is the son of Arthur B. Harris and Mildred Thompson, and the grandson of Robert Egerton Harris. The birth date fits and the name is the same as the brother of Arthur B. Harris, Joseph John Harris. BUT I AM NOT COMPLETELY CONVINCED.

What stumps me is that on the marriage documents he is listed as JJ, Jr. and there is a JJ, Sr. who also signs but no other Joseph John Harriss in Warren County would be old enough to be his father**. The brother of Arthur B. Harris was my first thought but all records say he was born in 1812, which would make him not old enough. Others are born after my great grandfather. So I am thinking maybe the Joseph John Harriss, Sr. was the uncle of Joseph John Harriss who is my great grandfather.

NOTE: I would appreciate any help one might have to assist me in determining who the father of my great grandfather was and who the related family are.

My grandfather, William Andrew Harris, said his family was from the Vaughan-Macon area of Warren County. During the period from 1915 to about 1925, several Sundays a month my grandfather would take my mother and her sisters for a train ride to Vaughan and Macon where they would spend the afternoon at relatives’ homes. One story was they would get off the train and go to a Victorian house right beside the tracks to visit.  I do not know who those relatives were.

William Andrew Harris died in 1959 in Roanoke Rapids, NC and is buried in Cedarwood Cemetery.

Beverley Harris Vincent (maiden name) Smith Pierpoint.

Other pages for this Harris Family:

Photo of Joseph J. Harris Jr.

Photos of William Andrew Harris

Deed: Joseph J. Harris to Benjamin R. Harris~1869

Notes by D. Williams. 

*Mary Ann Hardy was the daughter of Thomas Hardy & Mary Thompson.  In 1850, she was living with her uncle William Hardy & his wife, Cynthia Thompson, who was also likely her aunt, her deceased mother's sister. Thomas Hardy had remarried in 1845, so it's possible that Mary had lived with her uncle & aunt since right after her mother's death, which would have been shortly after 1840.  All of the children of Thomas Hardy (1798-1854) were listed in both his estate as well as the will & estate of his father, Curtis Hardy (1775-1857).

**Be aware that the designations of "Jr." and "Sr." in that time period, didn't mean that persons were father and son. Those terms were only reflecting that there were 2 men of the same names living in the same location, the men didn't even have to be related at all. The youngest one with the name was given the added designation of "Jr." in documents in order to not to confuse the two.