Albemarl Co Va 1785 Census -White Souls- 5; Dwellings-1; Other Buildings-1.
Judge in Granville Co NC..
Agnes was widow of George Keeling.
John and Anne were second cousins, both were descended from the
immigrants of John Daniel I and John Williams I who settled on Queen's
Creek in York Co, VA in 1645.
John wills to his five children and wife Anne.
He names his children: Sarah Harrison, Martha Barbey, Elisabeth Dudley,
James, and John Williams.
James Daniel and John Williams Daniel executors.
Witness to his will were Joseph Linsey, John Walker, John Deschaser.Note Courtesy of Beck Bonner's Harrison Repository.
There seems to be some confusion as to the whereabouts and origin of this
John Harrison.
Gen. Francis Burton Harrison who worked with his late brother, Hon.
Fairfax Harrison, a
descendent of John and Sarah states that John Harrison was from the
Queen's Creek (York Co.
Va.) Harrison. The other Harrison's are referred to as the (James River)
Harrison. He goes on
to say- It is not improbable that there may have been a remote connection
between the James
River Harrison's and those who settled on Queen's Creek in York Co.Va.Meynard: "It was long believed that John Harrison of Halifax, who married
Sarah Daniel, was
the son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Battaile) Harrison, Jr. of Orange Co.
VA, formerly of
Caroline Co. VA. The basis for this premise was a deed of 28 Nov 1751 in
which Andrew
Harrison of Orange deeded 100 acres in St. Thomas Parish, Orange Co. to
son John Harrison
planter, of same parish and county. Subsequent deeds prove this is not
John Harrison of
Halifax. On 28 Aug 1760, John Harrison of Caroline and Mary his wife sold
land in Orange
County given him by his father Andrew. Mary's name is repeated three
times in the deed, so
it is not a copyist's error. John Harrison of Caroline bought land in
Spotsylvania Co. VA in
1763, two years after the death of John Harrison of Halifax, and in 1777
John Harrison and
Mary his wife sold the same land in Spotsylvania whereon said Harrison
lives." (Orange and
Spotsylvania Co. deeds).Meynard states that James Harrison, Sr. probably was his father. James
was a planter who
lived on Reedy River in St. Margaret's Parish about 18 miles west of
Daniel's Mill. A chart in
the Va State Library shows James to be the son of William Harrison of
Caroline Co and the
grandson of Andrew Harrison Sr. of St. Mary's Parish who came to VA
before 1684 and is
thought to be a brother of Judge James Harrison of Old Rappahannock Co.John and Sarah must have moved to Goochland shortly after they were
married where they
lived at the confluence of the James and Rivanna rivers. Upon the
division of Goochland in
1748, they found they now lived in Cumberland Co though they hadn't
moved. Sarah's aunt
and uncle, Samuel and Elizabeth (Williams) Henderson, also lived in
Cumberland then and
among their other neighbors were Francis Luck, John Chisum, Jr of
Caroline and Andrew
Harrison, possibly John's uncle.John Chisum and John Harrison were close friends. In 1754 the Hendersons
moved to the Nut
Bush community in Granville Co., NC and sometime before 1760 both John
Chisum, Jr and
Francis Luck moved from Cumberland to Halifax Co, VA (present
Pittsylvania). John Harrison
and his family also moved to Halifax but the date is uncertain. Harrison
is named among 30
of he earliest and most prominent citizens of Halifax who owned land and
slaves. Neighbors in
Halifax were Pigg, Dillard, Hurt, Collins, and Ecchols families all of
whom originated in the
Reedy-Polecat Creek area of St. Margaret's parish in Caroline Co.Upon the death of John, Sarah rented the Halifax plantation to tenants
and took her children
to live with her parents at Daniel's Mill in Caroline Co. Sometime before
June 1761, the
Daniel family and Sarah moved to the Nut Bush community in NC to join
their Williams,
Daniel and Henderson relatives. Sarah's brothers James and John Williams
Daniel had gone
there from VA in 1760.The Will of John Harrison names his children James, Mary, Anne, Martha,
Elizabeth, John,
Andrew, Richard and Isom. Executors were John William Daniel, John Chism
and Sarah
Daniel Harrison. Witnesses to the Will were Thomas Greenwood, Joseph
Collins and Francis
Luck.See Record #7365 for an alternative ancestry of John.