About the time he retired in the early 90's, my uncle took up an interest in genealogy. He spent at least a decade searching records, corresponding with distant relatives, and visiting them when he could. So when I began my interest a few years ago, he was the first one I contacted. Almost all of the information I have on my mom's family came directly from my uncle.
Even after three years, I can count the number of additions I have made to his information on one hand (and still have fingers left over). In short - he was extremely thorough.
One thing that has always bugged me is the first brick wall in the tree - my mom's great-grandfather, George Washington Harris. I've developed a special interest in dear old Great-Great-Grandpa George as he is the only one of my ancestors with whom I can definitely see a resemblance (even more so than with my own parents). We're not exactly twinsies or anything but there's a resemblance. I think it's in the eyes. Also, see that mole above the right corner of his lip? I have one in almost the exact same spot. Spooky!
George is from one of those families that appears to have been dropped by aliens one day. Apparently most of his siblings went back to the mother ship after their one appearance in the records. More on George after a word from our sponsor.
Genealogy & Family History Community
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So let's start with the record that provides the tantalizing clue - but leaves us hanging. That would be the 1860 census in Frederick County, Maryland.
So what we have looks like a household consisting of a mom (widow?) and 7 children between the ages of 10 and 28. Sounds reasonable - though she would have been only 17 when her first daughter was born.
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Catharine Harris |
45 |
F |
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Jane (??) |
28 |
F |
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Geo Harris |
23 (??) |
M |
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James |
19 |
M |
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William |
18 |
M |
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Elizabeth |
16 |
F |
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Lucretia |
13 |
F |
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Margaret |
10 |
F |
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So, this should be good news. The census started listing individuals in the household in 1850. So this exact family should be in the 1850 census with the likely addition of a father and maybe Margaret not born yet (depending on the timing). Unfortunately, it appears they escaped the census taker in 1850 because they are nowhere to be found. I've tried searching so many variations, but no luck. Every once in awhile I get a brainstorm (maybe the same one over and over) but always come up empty after another enthusiastic search.
I've looked in all the church records I can find - including the indexes to Maryland births and christenings. I can't find a birth record for any of these children. Apparently the Harris' were not a church-going family. (Hey, something else we have in common!)
Okay, let's back up and start where we
should be starting - at the end. My mom's grandfather was Harry Staley Harris. Here he is with my grandmother. Harry Harris was born in November, 1880 in Frederick, Maryland. So he won't be on the 1880 census and of course the 1890 census was destroyed and he had moved out of his mother's house by 1900. However, through family records and corresponding with cousins, my uncle knows that he had several brothers and a sister.
Harry died even younger than his father in 1925 from pneumonia when my grandmother was 18 years old. So none of his grandchildren ever knew him (Grandma was an only surviving child - her brother died of Whooping Cough as a toddler).
Harry's middle name - Staley - was after his mother's maiden name: Mary Ellen Staley. Although, looking at it now - I see his death certificate has a middle name of "Stanley". But the informant was a relative of Harry's wife and lists "unknown" for most of Harry's information (place of birth, parent names, etc). So I would venture to guess that he got the middle name wrong there.
Anyhoo. We have the 1880 census showing the pre-Harry family.
Thanks to me posting that picture of George on his FindAGrave.com record, I was contacted by someone who came into possession of George and Mary Ellen's wedding certificate which he kindly sent me a digital image of.
He also had a picture of all but one of the Harris children (George W.'s children) as adults.
A-ha! that's where I get my receding hairline from!
Okay, I got distracted. Back to solid information on George. George died in 1883 in a tragic accident, leaving his wife with all the kids; the youngest of which was 8 month old Fenton. My uncle found an article detailing the accident in the local newspaper at the time.
This is the article from the September 14, 1883 issue of the Middleton Valley Register:
Fatal Accident - On Friday afternoon between 3 and 4 o'clock, Geo. W. Harris, aged about 50 years, residing at Brookhill, north-west of this city, was almost instantly killed by a stone from a blast, passing into his left side, near the heart.
From particulars in the case, it appears that Harris had been engaged by Mr. Elijah F. Stull, living near Utica, this county, in digging a well on his premises, and after reaching a certain distance in the ground he came across a bed of rock, which it was found necessary to blast. The blast was prepared and lighted off and Harris at the time of the accident was resting with his left hand upon the windlass looking down into the well to see whether the fuse was burning. At the same time he was warned by Mr. Stull to come away, but would not listen. Almost in the twinkling of an eye the blast exploded, and Harris fell backward, and as Mr. Stull supposed, to escape the stone hurled into the air. Mr. Stull was not aware of an accident until he approached to where Harris was lying when he discovered what had occurred.
Dr. Neighbors of Brookhill, and Harris' wife were immediately summoned, but the unfortunate man died before they reached the place where the accident occurred. Harris living but a half hour thereafter. An examination was made by Dr. Neighbors, and a hole was discovered in Harris' left breast the size of his hand, where the stone had imbedded itself near the heart.
Harris was well known in this city and the community in which he resided. His sudden death will be regretted by all who knew him. He was a soldier during the late war - a member of the First Maryland Regiment, and for several years resided in Baltimore, and was at one time an engineer on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. His remains were taken to his late residence and interred on Sunday. Harris leaves a wife and eight small children, in destitute circumstances, to mourn their loss. - Examiner.
Ooof! I told my kids (6 and 9 years old) the story. Now whenever I mention something about any of their ancestors, they ask "Is that the one who was blown up?".
I would also add (if you'll allow me to digress) that - probably in part because of the perceived resemblance - I've always felt a connection with George. Given the way he died, I've been having ominous feelings that my time on earth will probably come to an end from some stupid accident. Something I think about every year when I'm up on my roof putting up or taking down Christmas lights.
Now, that article contains some useful information. The main one being he was a member of the First Maryland Regiment in the Civil War. Since there are an unbelievable number of George Harris' in Maryland at the time - this was essential in narrowing down which Civil War records belonged to my George Harris. So now, I find this record which says that he was born in Carroll County, MD. Aha! Before, we only knew that he lived in Frederick County. Maybe we can find birth records or an 1850 census record in Carroll County. Ummm... no luck.
Well, the article also mentions that he lived in Baltimore for "several years". I don't know when that might have been. The 1860, 1870, and 1880 census all have him living in Frederick County. And again, there are a TON of people named George Harris in Baltimore at this time. Even if I did find him there, would it be accompanied by anything useful?
So where to go from here? Out of George's siblings (from the 1860 census), the only one that can be found is his brother William Henry Harris who also served in the Civil War. All the others disappeared including the apparent mother, Catharine.
My last resort is finding a direct male descendant of George and get them to do a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA. There aren't that many to choose from. Out of George's seven sons, only two had sons of their own. And only one of them had sons (two of them). Those two would probably be in their 60's now and I think I found their phone numbers and addresses. It's just a matter of me overcoming my introverted nature and getting in contact. I did finally work up the nerve to try calling them several months ago but was relieved when no one answered.
I'd also like to find a male descendant of William Henry Harris (George's brother) to do the Y-DNA test just to try and confirm that George and William were indeed brothers (or at least have the same paternal lineage). I can't help but suspect that that 1860 census record might not have been of a "typical" household (mother and her biological children all of the same father). Too bad they didn't ask relation to head-of-household in 1860. Of course, there is always the other possibility that the 1860 census I have isn't the right family. Perhaps this was just another Harris family with a George in it who happened to be about the same age. I'll have to ask my uncle what makes him sure this 1860 family is the correct one.
Mary Ellen (Staley) Harris
To complicate matters there's also this little mystery... If you search at Family Search for marriages in Maryland in the 1860's where George Harris is the groom, you get two copies of the marriage with Mary Ellen Staley (left) on April 1, 1866. But, at ancestry.com that record is not found. What they
do have is a marriage record in Frederick County, MD on 17 Nov 1862 between George Harris and Arabella Wiles.
I haven't been able to find any records suggesting a family led by George and Arabella Harris, nor have I found a death record for her. Is this the same George? If so, he would have gotten married in the middle of his Civil War duties and his wife died within a few years. But other than this marriage record, there is no trace of the couple.
So that's my first brick wall when looking at my mom's branch of my family tree. It's much better than my dad's branch - that things full of 'em early on!
But don't dwell on my brick wall. What has everyone else been up to? It's Open Thread time, we want to hear all about your mysteries and discoveries and travels. Who will be dragging their families through cemeteries over the holidays?
I've finally gotten back to my wife's Bauer line in Germany and making strides in deciphering the church records I have from that little village. Very exciting! Thank goodness the Family History Center held onto the microfilm after my extension expired last year.