Margaret Lee Harry - My Grandfather's Sister

Margaret Lee Harry was my Grandfather Harry’s sister.  She might have been five feet tall. Her mother had taught her to use her Sunday manners every day and she did. She never married; so she doted on others. Margaret was the only girl.  She was sent off to a school to do her high school work.

Aunt Margaret’s brothers attended the University of North Carolina. She went off to study nursing at the best hospital in Boston, Massachusetts General. She became the first Red Cross nurse sent to the mountains of North Carolina. In retrospect that must have required great strength of character and independence. Young women of this time period were just moving into careers of service. She started her nursing career riding a horse traveling in the rural parts of North Carolina in the early 1910’s. Once a bear frightened her horse and threw her off. The horse ran away. She spent the night in a tree.




It must have taken a great deal of spunk to attempt to educate the superstitious and distrustful rural folk in the mountains of North Carolina. Her job was to tell proud people that they needed to change practices that had existed for years. She had to persuade families to immunize their children. These people were uneducated and feared shots would harm their children. She had to educate folks about the importance of sanitary conditions for plumbing & outhouses. Asking men to relocate the outhouse because “a woman” thought it would be better must have been a tedious process. But she slowly gained their trust and admiration and made a difference.

Margaret Lee was very generous to these people. She arranged for a number of children to have cleft lips surgically repaired. She helped others attend school and college. A practice she extended to family when she paid for my mothers clothes while she was in college.

I have a magazine article that speaks of Lucinda, a poor mountain girl left to raise her baby sister after her mother died. Local people had a “silver tea” to start a fund to buy Lucinda a cow. Aunt Margaret taught her how to recognize and treat various infant illnesses. Margaret made frequent visits to the home to check on them. After three years of that responsibility, at the age of thirteen, Aunt Margaret took Lucinda to the Children of the Hills school at Tamassee, a school supported by DAR chapters. The baby was turned over to her grandmother’s care.

Aunt Margaret was in New Orleans when my mother was born. Her signature is on the birth announcement in mother’s baby book. She also gave her a hand embroidered dress and cap as a baby present. She gave her a Korean embroidered dress which was one of her “first short clothes”. She must have been equally generous through the years to Margaret & Henry and all. I have a little thank you note from my Mom thanking Aunt Margaret for a silver baby cup she gave me when I was born. (I gave the cup to Julie.) I will try to scan the note here.

In mother's book she  recounted that " after many years serving in rural North Carolina Aunt Margaret came to Georgia and lived with us.

Daddy "enlarged the upstairs in the Bulloch home at Warm Springs. He added a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath to the upstairs (which already had 4 bedrooms) We moved the dining room into the living room and she had a nice bedroom.

Aunt Margaret bought "all our Santa Claus gifts. When I went off to college she provided most of my clothing. A lady in Woodbury made me many pretty outfits which Margaret paid for."

Years later after building the house at Parkman Pond. During the missile crisis (Cuba/Russia - 1961), my Grandfather built a “fall out shelter”. When I look back on it now, the room was really just a feeble excuse for a basement room. It wouldn’t have provided any real protection during a nuclear attack. But there was a national hysteria after missiles were discovered in Cuba. The fear of nuclear attack seemed real because Fort Benning was about an hour away. If Benning had been targeted, the nuclear blast would not have impacted us. Radiation dust would have settled according to wind patterns, etc and I doubt that we would have had a very different outcome based on a stay in the shelter. At least he didn’t sit back and bite his fingernails. He took action.

Eventually Granddaddy extended the side porch and added a room above the fall out shelter for Aunt Margaret to live in after she retired. It is interesting that she choose to live with Granddaddy Harry. She had been away from North Carolina for many years. I don’t know if she considered returning there after she retired. Her parents were gone. Her brothers had a successful textile mill and might have helped her with finances. But Aunt Margaret had a lot of pride. I know they were a close family. Aunt Margaret and Granddaddy were both buried with their parents in Grover.

I loved the corny stories she told me, my sisters, and my cousins. One story that always got giggles was “Wishy, Washy, Wishy, Washy…”. The punch line involved underwear which always got a giggle. Unfortunately today’s children might think the joke was lame. Too bad. It was a good time and children were children.

As a new driver I looked for places to drive; so I would drive to the lake for a visit. I would love to hear her voice. People talk differently today. She had a gentle “little old lady quality” that reflected a different time. It is something I remember, but can’t put into words.

There were times I visited my Grandfather and I didn’t take the time to walk back to speak with her.

Aunt Margaret gave me a small portrait, I left it at home when I went to college. I never found where Mother stored it. The picture was used in a magazine article about her Red Cross work during a flood in Ohio. There are other items (her diploma, the Red Cross article) she wanted me to keep. She wanted to be remembered. The items were lost or thrown away when the family relocated to Spartanburg.

Aunt Margaret worked so hard to be helpful when she moved to Granddaddy’s. At times she may have been too helpful for Till. Granddaddy Harry had remarried well before she moved in. There seemed to be a competition for his affection between Till & Aunt Margaret. It wasn’t easy on either of them. Granddaddy was caught in the middle. But there wasn’t really any other place for her to live. She became a bit of a recluse. Trying to be pleasant, but not quite feeling she belonged. Perhaps not feeling needed anymore.

I don’t remember when Aunt Margaret stopped driving. Probably her car just got too old to operate and she was too old to drive. Perhaps she didn't have the funds to replace the car. She never replaced it.

Aunt Margaret probably started the “regifting” trend. She must not have had any substantial retirement. Sometimes it was a handkerchief, a slip, a bottle of perfume or sweet powder someone had given her.   I dearly loved her.


One of my favorite gifts was a Hummel figurine of a little boy playing doctor. He had operated on a doll head. Aunt Margaret went into great detail about the friend who purchased it for her while traveling to Germany. She was truly touched they remembered her in such a special way & I was touched she gave it to me.


Because I loved it so much I purchased another Hummel with babysitting money. Gaye threw a pillow at me & I skillfully ducked. The pillow missed me, but broke the head on the little doctor & the handle off the basket of the other Hummel. Both were super-glued back. Now I love the figurines even more since they remind me of my sister as well as Aunt Margaret. Amazing how “devastating” events with lots of tears can become sweet in retrospect. But sisters (and brothers) can grow to appreciate one another, not just because everything goes right, but because of the mistakes we make. There were lots of times we chased each other, laughing and giggling, as we ran through the house. Sometimes we might overdo it and end up unhappy. But other times we ran until exhausted and we were still happy. I might not remember those times without this incident or another like it. I still have the Hummel’s, but I also have the memories.



When Aunt Margaret Lee was quite old she had to be in a nursing home. My Aunt Margaret, mother’s sister, rode with her in an ambulance from Columbus Georgia and delivered her to Spartanburg on Barbara’s wedding day. There was already stress with the wedding. Aunt Margaret had been stressed with Margaret Lee’s care for a while & didn’t appreciate that Mother would be doing her part for the next two years. It might have been nice if she had waited one more day, but we humans don’t always do all the right things each and every time. What was important was that she had cared for Margaret Lee. The wedding went on and the world didn’t stop.

Mother visited Margaret Lee every day (literally) to be sure she was well cared for, to pick up her laundry and to feed her evening meal. I believe she was there for two years before her death.

 

 One of my prized possessions is a framed cover of sheet music that belonged to my grandmother.  The actual music was lost long ago.  I have never heard it. The art work is not remarkable.  It is the name of the piece that speaks to me.

“God Remembers When the World Forgets”.

I should back up and explain a little about my Grandmother, Mabel Bullock Harry.

As you might expect my mother adored her mother, Mabel. She loved her because of all the bonds formed in childhood, the tender moments that occur in simple acts.

Mother admired Mabel’s ease playing complex piano pieces. My mom, Julia, took years of piano lessons. She was comfortable playing familiar hymns for her Sunday school or children’s classes.  She measured herself against her mother's ability to play a song by using sheet music, but also after just hearing it.

Beyond piano Mabel had a lovely voice and included voice in college studies.

Frequently she was invited to sing at area churches. Recently I found a newspaper article that spoke about her performance at Georgia Normal School  before an audience of 300.

My mother framed this picture.  As I have reflected on Mabel’s life, this picture has taken on added significance. More of a touch point that recognizes that simple acts of service, the effort to develop talent or skill, may become faded memories. Heavenly Father remembers our striving. He does not forget. He remembers us because of His great capacity to love each man and woman.

Grandmother Harry became gravely ill when I was a toddler. She developed a high fever and her body was cooled with ice packs.  For weeks she was hospitalized in an Atlanta university hospital. Mabel was never the same.  For the remainder of her life she slept in a hospital bed or could only get around in a wheel chair.

During my fathers deployments to Okinawa and Korea, my mom returned to Warm Springs to assist Grandmama as much as possible. I have very faint memories of this time. Just little staccato moments without detail or context.  She rarely had visitors.  I recall her friend "Auntie Huntington", a college friend, who made a special trip to visit her. 

Her childhood friends and extended family probably visited her often early in her illness. It is easier when there is hope of recovery or improvement. When Mother was able to help, friends didn't feel the need to visit. It was difficult to communicate with Grandmama. She could not engage in lively conversation. Lives are busy with competing responsibilities. 

During one conversation with mother years later,  I realized she was remembering her disappointment & feelings her mother had been abandoned by friends.  It must have been hard for both my grandparents and family.  We all wrestle with dual emotions for the same set of facts.  We understand, but it is not simple.

Last Sunday as the Sacrament was passed, there were only a few people at the ends of the row where I was seated beside a friend. Rather than walking down the row to share the cups, they were returned to the brother passing them. The brother passing on my aisle didn’t realize we had not been served.

It only took a quick moment to remedy it.  A feeling of gratitude filled my soul. Gratitude knowing I am remembered by my Heavenly Father - always remembered.  Not for great deeds, but because He cares about me... He knows who I am separate from each of the billions of others. His sacrifice extends to me. There are moments in life when we feel inadequate, misunderstood, left out or a multitude of emotions.  What a great gift to know  I am remembered.

I am grateful my grandmother and my mother also knew our Heavenly Father loved them through all the hard times and all the good times. He remembers us always.

Honeymoon for Mabel & WG Harry

My grandparents, Mabel & WG Harry, were married January 5, 1921.  Today is their 99th Wedding Anniversary.  I have a little information about their honeymoon to share.

They stayed at the Hotel Georgian Terrace in Atlanta.  This was an elegant hotel with beautiful crystal  & Italian bronze chandeliers, white marble columns, ornate pilasters, paneled walls, elliptical staircases, and Italian tiled floors.  If you are interested, look up the Hotel in Wikipedia. Many very famous people have stayed there.  It was the site of the gala for the Gone With the Wind premier.  All the stars for the movie, except Vivian Leigh stayed there. Interesting history.

Notice the rates for a night stay are $6.00 or $7.00.  The renovated/expanded hotel is just as elegant & must be much, much more expensive.

They traveled by train from Bullochville (Warm Springs) to Atlanta. From Atlanta they traveled first to Grover, NC to visit the Harry family.  Grady's brother, C F Harry & his wife, held a lovely reception for them.  I need to scan & add an article about it.  Then they proceeded on to New Orleans, where Grady was pastor of the Carrollton  Presbyterian Church. 

David Harry and His Time

  General Washington's death was announced by the "Hagerstown Herald" in the following, extract for the Rights of Man, published at Frederick:
                                                                                                   Fredericktown, Tuesday evening
                                                                                                                  9 o'clock, Dec 16 1799

  "Disagreeable as the talk is to me, I think it is my duty to  announce to the public the Dissolution of  his excellency George Washington, who died at Mount Vernon (of a few hours illness) on Sunday morning last, about five o'clock. This intelligence was received by two honest countrymen, who left Georgetown yesterday at 12 o'clock.and stopped at Major Miller's tavern about four o'clock this evening. A third person arrived from Alexandria about the same hour, who corroborates the melancholy circumstance, and leaves us to lament it but too true. 

                                                                                                      "Printer of the Rights of Man"

" As soon as the news reached Hagerstown a meeting was held , at which it was resolved to have a funeral procession to in Washington's honor on Friday of the following week. Elie Williams occupied the chair, and Nathaniel Rochester   acted as secretary. The following resolutions were adopted:

 "Resolved, That Messers. Elie Williams, Adam Ott, N.Rochester, Jacob Schnably, George Waltz,  William Fitzhugh, Samuel Ringgold, David Harry, Josiah Price, Thomas Sprigg, and Daniel   Heister be appointed a committee to make the necessary arrangements for, and to superintend, the   said Procession, and that they or a majority of them meet at the Court-hose, on Saturday net, to   make the arrangements."


There are many mentions of the Harry family in Scharf's History of Western Maryland. There is specific information about Martin Harry and the Market House, David Harry and the fire company, George I Harry, and others.  They owned businesses, served in public positions, helped establish churches. The family was active in many aspects of community life.

 If you are interested in learning more about them, it is a great resource.  Because it is a "Google book"; it's available to read for free online.  Most of the information is in small articles about historical events similar to the one above. Take a few minutes to read a few articles about events that happened around the same time. It helps to understand the times these men lived in. It's a wonderful indexed history of early Maryland.

The article that follows mentions two duels in 1800. A  captain and a lieutenant fought. The captain was injured in the side, but not seriously. In the second dual a man was wounded in the leg.  There is a list 10 prisoners who broke out of jail in early 1801.  In December 1801 five Indian chiefs of the Pottawotamie tribe who passed through Hagerstown on their return from Washington City. Among them were the powerful chiefs "Little Turtle" and "The Toad." They were accompanied by an interpreter, Captain Wells.  The following year the "kings of the Delaware and Shawnee tribes", nine chiefs and two attendants, passed through Hagerstown.

Perhaps I should be more impressed that my ancestor was asked to help honor George Washington. There were probably similar celebrations in towns throughout the country, but Hagerstown was his community.  I am captivated with the duels, the escaping prisoners, and  the Indian Chiefs passing through his town.  It's like my own personal movie going on in my mind.

Observation:
David and his family and friends lived life face to face.  Communication was slow. They wanted confirmation of events. They took action. 

Roger Sherman

This is about my 8th grandfather’s nephew.  My 9th grandfather's grandson. (Starting on my Bennett side.) When you go back that far, I doubt we share any measurable DNA, but a great heritage. 

I am incredibly proud of all my children and grandchildren.  They come from incredible people - Incredible because of their character, not fame or fortune.  

This article was downloaded from Family Search.   I can't claim credit for a single word.

              Roger Sherman.  

Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American lawyer and statesman, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He is the only person to have signed all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association , the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Sherman established a legal career in Litchfield County, Connecticut despite a lack of formal education. After a period in the Connecticut House of Representatives, he served as a Justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut from 1766 to 1789. He represented Connecticut at the Continental Congress and signed the Continental Association, which provided for a boycott against Britain following the imposition of the Intolerable Acts. He was also a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and he later signed the Articles of Confederation, the first constitution of the United States. In 1784, he was elected as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut.

Sherman served as a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, which produced the United States Constitution. After Benjamin Franklin, he was the second oldest delegate present at the convention. He favored granting the federal government power to raise revenue and regulate commerce, but initially opposed efforts to supplant the Articles of Confederation with a new constitution. He ultimately came to support the establishment of a new constitution, and proposed the Connecticut Compromise, which won the approval of both the larger states and the smaller states.

After the ratification of the Constitution, Sherman represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 to 1791. He served in the United States Senate from 1791 to his death in 1793.

Sherman was born into a farm family located in Newton, Massachusetts, near Boston. His father was William and mother   Sherman. Mehetabel's father was Benjamin Wellington and her mother was Elizabeth Sweetman, whose christening date was March 4, 1687 (or 1688), and she died on April 12, 1776. William and Mehetabel had seven children, William Jr., Mehetabel, Roger (1721), Elizabeth (married James Buck), Nathaniel (became a Reverend), Josiah (also became a Reverend), and Rebecca (married Joseph Hartwell Jr.). After Elizabeth was born (1723), the Shermans left Newton and settled in the south precinct of Dorchester, that three years later became the township of Stoughton and located 17 miles (27 km) south of Boston, when Roger was two. William married Rebecca Cutler on July 15, 1714. Josiah was Chaplain of the 7th Connecticut from January 1 to December 6, 1777.
The part of Stoughton where Sherman grew up became part of Canton in 1797. Sherman's education did not extend beyond his father's library and grammar school, and his early career was spent as a shoe-maker. However, he had an aptitude for learning, and access to a good library owned by his father, as well as a Harvard-educated parish minister, the Rev. Samuel Dunbar, who took him under his wing.

n 1743, due to his father's death, Sherman moved (on foot) with his mother and siblings to New Milford, Connecticut, where in partnership with his brother William (wife Ruth), he opened the town's first store. He very quickly introduced himself in civil and religious affairs, rapidly becoming one of the town's leading citizens and eventually town clerk of New Milford. Due to his mathematical skill he became county surveyor of New Haven County in 1745, and began providing astronomical calculations for almanacs in 1759.

Sherman was married two times and had a total of fifteen children with thirteen reaching adulthood.
Sherman married Elizabeth on November 17, 1749. She was born August 31, 1726, in Stoughton, her father was Deacon Joseph Hartwell (born August 11, 1698, died February 6, 1786) and her mother was Mary Hartwell (née Tolman), who was born on October 4, 1697, and died on November 10, 1782. They were married by Samuel Dunbar and had seven children. Elizabeth died on October 19, 1760.
Sherman married Rebecca (also spelled Rebekah) Prescott on May 12, 1763. She was born on May 20, 1742, in Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts. They had eight children, Rebecca; married and then Elizabeth; married same Simeon Baldwin, Roger, Mehitabel (1st), Mehitabel (2nd); married Jeremiah Evarts, Oliver, Martha; married Jeremiah Day, and Sarah; married Samuel Hoar. The first Mehitabel and Oliver both died in infancy. Rebecca died in August 1814.

A son, Roger Sherman Jr. (1768–1856), a 1787 graduate of Yale College served in the Connecticut General Assembly in 1810–1811.
A daughter, Rebeca Sherman, was married to Simeon Baldwin, whose career included service in the United States Congress (1803–1806), as an Associate Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court, 1806–1817, and who became Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, in 1826. Following the death of Rebecca Sherman, Baldwin married another of Roger Sherman's daughters, Elizabeth Sherman Burr. His daughter, Mehitabel Sherman Barnes married Jeremiah Evarts, who served as treasurer and secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. His daughter Martha Sherman married Jeremiah Day, who was President of Yale University from 1817 to 1846. Another daughter, Sarah Sherman, married Samuel Hoar, who was a member of the Massachusetts state legislature and the U.S. Congress.

Grandfathers before Henry Sherman (the older) were Thomas (10th generation), John (9th generation), and Thomas Sherman (8th generation).

Henry Sherman (the older or 1st) born about 1512, married Agnes around 1539 (whose father may have been Thomas Butter) died October 14, 1580, in Dedham, England.
Henry Sherman (the younger or 2nd): great-great-great grandfather
John Sherman: great-great grandfather,
John Sherman Jr.: great-grandfather, whose christening date was September 3, 1612, married Martha Palmer (before 1638), and died January 25, 1690 (or 1691). Referred to as Captain John Sherman (also Shearman)
Joseph Sherman: grandfather, born on May 14, 1650, married Elizabeth Winship on April 12, 1776.

Sherman was instrumental in securing the addition of "or to the people" in the wording of the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and caused the cent to be used in the financial system. In a letter to Oliver Wolcott (May 21, 1777) he wrote, "I think it dangerous to admit citizens not connected to the army to be tried by a Court Martial".

Sherman died in his sleep on July 23, 1793, after a two-month illness diagnosed as typhoid fever. The Gazette of the United States (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 17, 1793, p. 508, reported an alternate diagnosis, "He was taken ill about the middle of May last, and from that time declined till his death. His physician supposed his disorder to be seated in his liver."

He was buried in New Haven Green. In 1821, when that cemetery was relocated, his remains were moved to the Grove Street Cemetery.

Video Games

Parents today are under pressure from their kids to play video games.  The graphics are amazing. The storylines must be magnetic because children and adults are strongly attracted to them.  They can compete with players who live just about anywhere there is a wifi connection.

 I remember how my boys came in contact with their first video game.  It was ..... Well read on.

Christmas was coming fast. I had searched the mall to find the last of our gifts.  Shopping with three boys along "to help" was always interesting.  They wanted to be sure I noticed the latest Star Wars toys.  They had been through the Sears catalog, watched all the tv commercials, and shared ideas with friends to develope long lists for Santa.  Santa had put those items in his bag & they would be coming by sleigh.

This final shopping trip was to Belk's department store.  They had been on their very best behavior.  This was hard because the store was filled with tired parents and tired children.  It helped that Santa was watching to see who was naughty or nice.  The slow moving checkout line seemed endless.

When what should we behold ..... Was it Sants & his reindeer.  No! It was Pac Man.



Yes Belk's had the wonderful idea of entertaining the children of Rock Hill by setting up a Pac Man game near the checkout line.  Near, but not close enough to interfere with its slow progress.  Every parent and every child could hear that unique sound of the game. It was a magnet for my boys.

My older boys pleaded, "Please can we go see. Please! We will stay right there and won't go anywhere else.   Please! We have been good. Please! "

And they had been good.  I knew they wouldn't go anywhere. I would be lucky if I could get them to come home.  What's a mom going to say?

"Ok, if you stay right here and hold Christopher's hand."   (This is something I would not do today.)

I watched them as the line advanced, slowly.  Finally I gathered my packages and made my way past other people's children to collect mine.

Let's go guys."

Matt and Andy wanted to tell me how cool the game was, but where was Chris.  As I looked at other little fellas dressed in similar jackets I could not find my four year old. He always stayed with his brothers.  Most likely another child trying to get close to the game moved between the boys.  If he had been as tall as his brothers, his view of the game might have been better. Plus  at his age, it didn't seem interesting.  Something nearby may have caught his attention or he may have wanted to find me so we could head home.

I began to search nearby. I called his name. No Chris.  I asked for help. We could not find him anywhere in the store.  People continued to look. We walked into the mall looking in nearby stores. It was not a big mall, but big enough.  I began to think of the stores where we had shopped and the ones Chris liked most.

Toys were off the route he might take, but around the corner to the first store on the right.   Yes,  we looked through the door. He was sitting on a seat at Baskin Robbins.  His little feet swinging back and forth.... Waiting for an ice cream.

Lesson: Video games can be dangerous if parents don't supervise properly.

John Bishop Harry - Part two

Will Harry established a home and reared a family in Lubbock, Texas. This conclusion is verified by a descendant of John Hutchinson Harry who remembers her father speaking of Cousin Will Harry of Lubbock. This fact, together with John Bishop Harry's published will that Will Harry was the surveyor who laid out the division of his real estate just before the Cival WR began.

Washington Marion Harry, (our ancestor), the youngest son of John B Harry, was the only son that established a home near his father in Cleveland County. (Buried in Grover Cemetery.)

An unfortunate accident came to John B Harry. As he was returning from Raleigh on horseback, which was the only mode of travel in those days, the old man was caught in a heavy thunder shower. The dye from his hat mixed with rain and ran into his eyes. It so injured his eyesight that he was almost blind during the last years of his life.

A beautifully executed will in John Bishop Harry's own writing shows him to be well educated. He left his estate to his four daughters and son, Washington. The two older sons had undoubtedly received their portion of the estate when they left for Texas. They are not mentioned in his will. However Will Harry is mentioned as an assistant in the survey and division of his property. He was not mentioned as a receipient.

I remember a statement by my father that one of his fathers brothers left home when he was young. After the death of his wife Sara and all his children were married and had moved away, John Bishop disposed of his larger home. It was sold to one Major Borsers. He divided his slaves with his children He moved two miles south on the Shelby-York, SC county road.  He built a rectangular home with one big room and a fireplace in the south and two pot racks at the north end. He had a dozen slaves that lived nearby and assisted him.  He was 73 years of age  and blind when he came to his new home. There he lived out his last years in luxury and comfort. His slaves prepared his meals, kept the big log fires in his living quarters burning. In winter a bed of embers burned under the pots on the pot rack of the kitchen fireplace. They worked his farm in summer and split the big chestnut trees in the woodlands into rails to fence in the cattle, hogs, and sheep. The old rail fence enclosed one hundred acres of pasture land.

John Bishop Harry lived to be 87. He died in the third year of the Cival War (1863). His will was made and probated  in that year.

It is an interesting document listing slaves, property, and household effects. A map designed by John B Harry is intact. It shows an acreage of some thousand acres between Buffalo Creek and the South Carolina line. It lay along a stream called Jacob's Branch. His son, Washington Marion Harry, constructed a log dam on Jacob's Branch, and used the power therefrom to set up a community center:
A corn mill,  flour mill, a saw mill, a syrup mill, and a cotton gin which was probably the first cotton gin in Cleveland county. It had on it the printed letters of the Whitney patent and was geared to operate not only by water power, but also to cog gear that operated the gin by manpower.

My father, David Harry, the second son of Washington Harry, learned to operate the above mentioned machines, and later moved this equipment one mile up the creek on a higher shoal on Jacob's Branch. Here he built his home.  Here my two brothers, sister, and I were born and reared.

The water power of Jacob's Branch was geared to a turbine wheel operated under 22ft of pressure and a big overshot wheel 100 ft in diameter. These power units powered the operation of the following machines: a corn mill and a flour mill that pulverized the corn and wheat that made the bread for a twenty mile area; a feed mill that ground the  ................(this line is missing in my copy) .........,,,,,
farming community; a syrup mill that crushed the cane and cooked the syrup; a lathe that turned the columns and banisters that ornamented the homes of the area; a shingle mill. All of this service center was handed down from the genius of John B Harry, the old farmer, politician, and clockmaker.

Washington Harry had three sons - John Wesley MacMeeekin (Mack) Harry, Zebulon Bishop Harry, and David Filmore Clay Harry.  

Mack Harry, my fathers oldest brother, established his home 1/2 mile from his fathers home. The front room of his home was a community store. Ex-slaves farmed his land. He taught  a community school for the children of the area - reading, writing, arithmetic. He was married to Dicey Bell. They had three children - one son - William Harry ?, Lenorea, and Dicey were the daughters.

My father, David Harry, the second son of Washington Harry and Mary McArthur Harry, in partnership with his father, supervised and operated the service center.

David married twice. The first marriage was to Nancy Adams.  They had three children - one son and two daughters, Pluto, Sophie, and Ellis.

His second marriage was to Sara Frances Gold. There were born to them four children -Charles Franklin, Woodfin Grady Harry, Benjamin Audy Harry, and Margaret Lee Harry (named for Margaret Bishop and  Margaret Malinda Gold.)


[ I am visiting my daughter .... Waiting on her new baby to arrive .... I brought some but not all the pages of my Grandfathers family history.  I will enter what I have and add additional pages, when I return home.]