Capt. Thomas Harris

CAPTAIN THOMAS HARRIS; 1576-1658; came from Wales; was a me mber of
the VBA Company, 1609; came to the Colony in 1611; was a me mber of the
House of Burgesses, 1623, 1639 and 1646; (Brown, in this "G enesis",
states that he may have been a son of Sir William Harris o f Crixith,
and Woodham-Moretmar, Essex, England); m. Adria Osborne; m . (2) Joane
-----.

Thomas Harris, aged 38, May, 1611, came to Virginia in th e "Prosperous". His
wife, Adria Osborne, came to Virginia Nov, 1621, in the "Ma rmaduke."
Capt, Thomas was a member of the Virginis Company. He cam e to
Virginiain the Prosperous in May 1611, during the time of S ir Thomas
Dale.
He was the patantee of lands in Henrico, "Neck of Land", a s Curles was
once called, or "Long Field". He was in the Indian War o f 1622 (The
massacre at Martin's Hundred is told quite well in the "Nat ional
Geographic", some time in the 1970's. There is alot of arc healogical
sites there today. I'll come back later withe exact issu e of the
article.), Burgess for Henrico, 1623, '39, '47. He took hi s first
patent 1635, later 1655-58. He married his second wife, Joa ne (Gurgarny)
supposedly from the fact that Edward Gurgany owned land nex t to Joane in
1635, and his wife bequeathed land to Capt. Thomas Harris.

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Capt. Thomas Harris I was born in 1587 in Crixe, Essex, ENG LAND.13
He was subscribed and paid 25 pounds to the Second Virgini a Company in 1609.14
He was witnessed the will of Folk Lee, mariner, and was giv en a small
legacy in the will on 26 Feb 1611 in Stepney, London, Engla nd. He
emigrated in May 1611 from Henrico County, Virginia15 He i mmigrated during the
second Virginia Charter. He came on the ship "Prosperous, " during the government
of Sir Thomas Dale, and settled at the "Neck of Land," in H enrico County.
Sir Thomas Dale, with his charter as Governor of VA, sail d from Land's End
in England 27 March 1611, with three ships, The Star, Prosp erous, and
Elizabeth, carrying 300 people. His fleet anchored at For t Algerian, now
Old Point Comfort, 22 May 1611, making the crossing in les s than 60 days.
On 13 November 1611, the Prosperous arrived in England on i ts return trip
from Virginia He appeared on the census in 1624/25 in Virg inia16 He made a muster
roll of his own family and gave his age as 38, and the nam e of the vessel
he cam on as the Prosperous. He died in 1658 in Henrico Co unty, Virginia Records
show that in 1765 Elijah Harris was living in Pitt County a nd sold land in
Perquimans County, North Carolina that had descended to hi m from his father, John Harris,
in 1695. He was married to Diana Manners in Perquimans Cou nty, North Carolina.

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Captain Thomas Harris b 1585 England Subscribed to the 2n d Virginia County, issued 23 May 1609 He came to the Virgin ia colony on the ship "Prosperous " in May 1611. On the fir st Virginia muster dated 16 February 1623 as Thomas Harri s 38 wife Adria Harris age 23 - PASSENGER LIST Thomas Harr ris and wife #3283 pp 170 also #1272 pp38. PASSENGER LIS T to Virginia #1524 Thomas Harris 38 Adria 23 list 3283 p p203 MUSTER OF 1624 Neck of Land ,Charles City County, Vir ginia Thomas Harris, wife Adria, kinswoman Anne Woodlase ag e 7 , (my note this Anne Woodlase was undoubtedly misrea d I believe she was Anne Woodliffe daughter of John Woodlif fe an early settler and also supposedly related to Thomas H arris above) 11 Nov 1635 of record land originally in Digg s Hundred which became Bermuda Hundred 750 acres lying sou thward upon Edward Gurganey extending Northward upon Joan e his second wife , 100 acres due him as ancient planter o n order of the late Treasurer and County, 18 Nov 1615 an d 650 acres due him for the transportation of 13 persons Ca pt Thomas Harris came into possession of the Gurganey lan d by 2 May 1636 and repatented the 700 acres . included i n this tract in Henrico 12 July 1637 , called "Longfield" w ith swamp and marshes SE toward Bremos dividend,400 acre s granted Edward Gurganey by order of the court 1 October 1 617 and bequethed by him to Anne Gurganey his widow , and g ranted to Thomas Harris by her last will dated 11 Novembe r 1619


Captain Thomas Harris was a Burgess from Henrico. 1623-4,1 639,1546,1652-3
and 1656-57 CAPTAIN THOMAS HARRIS DIED IN 1657 leavin g a will which has
since been destroyed or lost. However the will is referre d to in his
daughter
Mary Harris Ligons will

Captain Thomas was COMMANDER OF HENRICO in 1640. His firs t wife ADRIA was born c 1601 and came to the Virginia colon y on the ship "Marmaduke" in November of 1621 Their daughte r Mary Harris was born in 1625 in Virginia She Marylan d c 1648 becoming the second wife of Col Thomas Ligon wh o had migrated to Virginia in 1641/2. He had become the sur veyor for Henrico by the time of their marriage. The childr en of this marriage were: 1. William Ligon b c 1650 Maryl and 1679 Henrico County, Virginia Mary Tanner d of Joseph T anner of Henrico and his wife Mary Browne Tanner (note con nection to early Browne family of Virginia ) William Ligo n was a Major in the Virginia Militia Major Wm and His wif e had A Wm Ligon Jr 1682-by 176r md Elizabeth Batte d of h enry Batte. Captain Wm Ligon Jr died by 1764 and his wido w Maryland Alexander Marshall. B.Thomas Ligon b c 1680 Mary land 15 March 1697 Elizabeth Worsham d of John Worsham CMar y Phoebe Ligon b c 1685 not traced D.Joseph Ligon c1687 -1 7 Nov 1751 Chesterfield County, Virginia Maryland Judith--- ------
and E Lucretia Ligon known as Lucy who was born after he r fathers w.p. l August
1689b I'm struggling with this family. John A. BRAYTON, i n The Five Thomas
Harrises of Isle of Wight County, Virginia (Winston-Salem : 1995) has
attempted to debunk earlier published accounts. I was misl ed by From Essex
England to the Sunny Southern USA: A HARRIS FAMILY JOURNE Y (Atlanta: 1994),
by Robert E. HARRIS, who had relied on John Bennett BODDIE' s Virginia
Historical Genealogies & Historical Southern Families, v. 4 . The error was
first published in William D. LIGON's The Ligon Family an d Connections, I
(n.p., 1947), pp. 839-44.


One of the sources BRAYTON cites is from the Virginia Genea logist, v.38,
#2,
pp. 129-30, "The Will of Thomas Harris of Creeksea, Count y Essex",
contributed by Brice McAdoo CLAGETT, of Friendship, Marylan d.
"Unfortunately, a search at the Essex County Records Offic e in Chelmsford
quickly unearthed the will of Thomas Harris, made and prove d in 1617, which
shows that Sir William Harris' third son died unmarried an d was not the man
who came to Virginia. Thomas' legatees included six of th e seven other
children of Sir William and Alice (Smith) Harris, as well a s his sister
Mary's husband Giles Browne, so there is no doubt whateve r of the
identification. The original will is on file at Chelmsford , with the
signature of the testator and witnesses, and is classifie d as Essex
Archdeaconry Wills D/ABW20/299." An exact transcript follo ws CLAGETT's
intro.

Another citation from the Virginia Genealogist appears in v . 37, #1, which
my
library doesn't have- "Sergeant John Harris of Charles Cit y County, VA: A
Reappraisal", by Dr. Claiborn T. SMITH.

Matt HARRIS
Zoobug64@aol.com

___________________________________________________________ __

Many Harris researchers have held the oft-printed view tha t Thomas Harris,
who arrived in 1611 on the Prosperous, was the third son o f Sir William and
Alice (Smith) Harris of Creeksea, Essex.

Brice McAdoo Clagett, "The Will of Thomas Harris, of Creeks ea, County
Essex", in a recent issue of the Virginia Genealogist [whos e precise
citation I have stupidly misplaced at the moment], prints t he will of
Thomas Harris, third son of Sir William and Alice (Smith) H arris of
Creeksea, who died unmarried and without issue in 1617. Ac cordingly,
Thomas Harris of Virginia cannot be the son of Sir Willia m and Alice
(Smith) Harris. Best wishes,Scott Swanson 9/19/97