Adria Osborne

Robert HARRIS was the FIRST child of Thomas HARRIS and hi s first wife,
Adria OSBORNE.

One might question ho a motherless infant survived in the e xtremely hostile
environment of the Virginia of 1625. We would venture to s uggest an
obliging neighbor woman, who was nursing her own infant, sh ared time at her
breast with the little orphan. Or, perhaps, he had a "Blac k Mammy", a
practice widely used in the Old South. Slavery had been in troduced in
Virginia in 1619. Thomas HARRIS remarried around 1627, giv ing little
Robert a stepmother at tender age. He had a reputation i n later life of
being opinionated and head-strong and these traits must hav e developed
early. Anyway, he never got along well with his step-mothe r, nor with his
father, for that matter. He ran away from home at the earl iest opportunity
and became a seaman. This caused his father to disinherit
him (see Malcolm H. HARRIS, M.D., History of Louisa County . Richmond, VA.
the Dietz Press, 1936, p. 331-A.) About 1650 Robert HARRI S left his
seafaring life and settled in Virginia and establish his ow n plantation
which he called "The Forks". It was at the junction wher e the North Anna
and the South Anna Rivers meet to form the Pamunkey River i n that part of
New Kent County th