The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: VA
Qualifying Service: Soldier / Patriotic Service
Find-a-Grave memorial offers no evidence to support the Patriot's burial at this cemetery. No stone found.
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Peter Edwin Broadbent Jr
Christopher Harris was born on 5 February 1725 in Hanover County, Virginia, to Major Robert Harris and his wife, Mourning Glenn. Major Robert Harris, a major of militia for Hanover County, represented that County in the House of Burgesses for several years. When he was appointed Surveyor of Louisa County, he moved west to that county, where he served as a justice. Later in life, he moved west again to Albemarle County.
Christopher Harris married Mary Dabney, the daughter of Cornelius Dabney and Sarah Jennings, in 1745 in Louisa County, and they had eight known children:
Dabney was born in 1745 and married Mary (surname unknown)
Sarah was born in 1747 and married James Martin
Robert was born in 1749 and married Nancy Grubbs
Tyree was born in 1751
Elizabeth was born in 1752
Mourning was born in 1754 and married Foster Jones
Christopher was born in 1755 and married Elizabeth Grubbs
Mary was born in 1757 and married George Jones
Following Mary’s death, he married again to Agnes McCord, daughter of John and Isabella McCord, in Albemarle County in 1762. Christopher and Agnes had ten known children as follows:
Jane was born on 18 September 1763 and married Richard Gentry (#P-165228);
John was born in 1765 and married Margaret Maupin
Benjamin was born in 1766 and married Miss Jones and Nancy Burgin
William was born in 1768 and married Anna Oldham and Jessie Oldham
James was born in 1770 and married Susannah Gass
Margaret was born in 1772 and died unmarried
Isabel was born in 1775 and married John Bennett
Samuel was born in 1777 and married Nancy Wilkerson
Barnabas was born in 1779 and married Elizabeth Oldham;
Overton was born in 1782 and married Nancy Oldham.
By 1780, Christopher started to acquire land in Kentucky, but it is unclear exactly when he moved there during the next decade since he continued to own land in Albemarle County.
An individual named Christopher Harris served in the Kentucky militia in 1780, and the name Christopher Harris appears on the Fort Boonesborough Monument as one of the first settlers in Kentucky. Still, these may refer to his son of the same name.
What is clear is that in 1781 he provided supplies to the military in Albemarle County, so he is recognized for this patriotic service.
Christopher Harris died in late February 1794 in Madison County, Kentucky, leaving a substantial estate in both Kentucky and Albemarle County, Virginia.
One of Christopher Harris' sisters, Mourning Harris, married John Jouett of Albemarle County, a captain of the Albemarle County militia during the Revolution. One of their children (Christopher Harris' nephew) was Captain Jack Jouett, whose famous overnight ride from Cuckoo in Louisa County to Charlottesville on 3 June 1781 saved Governor Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislature from capture by British Colonel Tarleton.
Sources:
Gentry, Richard, Gentry Family in America, New York City: Grafton Press, 1909, pages 60-63
Miller, W. H., History and Genealogies of the Families of Miller, Woods, Harris, etc., Kentucky. Richmond: [np], 1907, pages 274-280
Abercrombie, Janice L. and Slatten, Richard, Virginia Revolutionary Publick Claims, Vol. 1, Georgia. Athens: Iberian Publishing Company, 1992, page 11
Harris family bible transcripts, Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, October 1913, (Vol. XLIII, No.4) page 596
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