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: NC
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service
Rough-hewn sheet of slate, engraved with name & dates
West was initially buried in the Old Harris burial grounds near Palmerville, Stanly County, North Carolina. A large aluminum plant was being constructed, a dam was needed to cover 10,000 acres. The bodies of the Harris, Bruner and Stewart families were exhumed in 1916. The bodies were re-buried in the Old English Cemetery
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Bob Ervin
West Harris Sr. was born on 13 Aug 1715 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia to Edward Harris and his wife, Mary Turner. He came to North Carolina sometime before 1752, making his way to Montgomery County, NC where he settled with his family.
Wes married Mary Turner sometime about 1751. They had five sons: Isham, Turner, Rowland, West Jr., and Arthur. They had six daughters: Elizabeth, Ethelred, Priscilla, Mary, Patience and Martha Patti who married Bucker Kimball, a Revolutionary War patriot.
Military Service
West took the Oath of Allegiance to make a land entry in Montgomery County, NC during the Revolutionary War in 1780. He served as a Major in the Montgomery County Regiment, NC Militia.[1]
Was a Captain. 3Q 1781, a Major under Col. William Lofton. Fall of 1781, in the Wilmington Expedition. Served until the end of the war.
West resided in Montgomery County, North Carolina until his death on 14 May 1795. His grave was moved from Montgomery County to the Old English Cemetery in Salisbury, Rowans County, NC when the land was to be flooded by dam construction.
History
Granville County was formed in 1746 from Edgecombe County, in honor of the Earl of Granville, "the owner of the soil". As Edgecombe came out of Craven about 1733, Granville is therefore a grandson of Craven. When it was first established in 1746 Granville embraced for a period of five years, until 1751, all of present Warren, Franklin and Vance, most of Orange, including the present Person, Caswell, Orange, and Wake, Chatham, Durham, Alamance, a part of Guilford and perhaps all of Rockingham, a vast territory, of which one William Person was the first Sheriff. After 1751 Orange County and Granville dominated this wide Virginia line area until Wake and Chatham were formed around 1770, for the evident purpose of forestalling the restless and embryonic "regulator" element, who were becoming enraged over the aggravating fees and burden levied by the prosperous "office holders" of the two large domains. In 1764, Bute County was established out of the territory now embraced by Warren and Franklin Counties, and thus Granville's size was again appreciably reduced. From 1764 until 1851, a period of eighty-seven (87) years, Granville County included its present boundaries plus most of present Vance Co. The first officers of the County were Wm. Person, 1st Sheriff; Robert Foster, Clerk; Robert Jones, Jr., King's Attorney; Wm. Eaton, William Person, James Payne, Edw'd Jones, Edw'd Martin, John Wade, Lemuel Lanier, Gideon Macon, John Brantly, West Harris, Lemuel Henderson, and Jonathan White, Justices of the Peace. According to the earliest records of North Carolina, the area that became Granville was first settled around 1715, at which time most of the Native American Indians migrated to other locations leaving it ripe for new settlements. Among the first settlements in Granville were those along the northern border on Nutbush and Grassy Creek, and on Tar River.
Source:
SAR RC 180508
DAR Patriot A051995, Paula Sue Van Wert Loustaunau #887348
Pruitt, Abstracts of Land Entries, Montgomery County, NC 1778-1795, p24 #352
Buried Old English Cemetery, Salisbury, Rowan County, NC (Lat 35.6699 Lon -80.4694)
Author: Victor George McMurry
West Harris descends from one of the original settlers of the Isle of Wight County, Virginia. West was a son of Edward Harris and Mary. West first married Anne. She died very young. His second wife was Anne's sister Mary. West and Mary went on to have eleven children; Isham, Elizabeth, Turner, Martha, Ethelred, Rowland, West Jr., Arthur, Mary, Patience, and Priscilla. West's son, Isham, served in the Revolution as a Captain of the North Carolina Militia at Granville County, North Carolina. About 1746, West moved his family from Virginia to North Carolina – about a one hundred mile trek. The first meeting of the North Carolina assembly was held December 2, 1746. On this date, West was appointed the Assembly's first commissioner. About the year 1766, West and some of his children moved to the Yadkin River area of Montgomery County, North Carolina. West was a farmer, as were most gentlemen at this time. His wife Mary died about the time of the family’s move to Beaver Dam Creek near the Yadkin River. It is uncertain where Mary was laid to rest. Her name was not included on the list of bodies moved from the Harris Burial ground to Old English Cemetery. West lived for over 79 years. There are several news articles written about him and his family, including:
Carolina Watchman, March 13, 1879 "The Forgotten Dead"
Salisbury Evening Post, November 23, 1916 "Bodies Exhumed after 100 Years"
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