William Harris

William Lee Harris (c.1712-1788) was a prominent inhabitant of early Albemarle County.

Biography

Map depicting the area of Green Creek, upon which much of Harris' land within the former boundaries of Albemarle County lay. Reproduced from TopoZone.

Harris was born around 1712 on Prestons, his parents' plantation in York County, Virginia. Upon the death of his father in 1727, he inherited Prestons and later sold it to his mother's second husband. Harris then moved northwest into Goochland County in the 1730's, where he married Mary Netherland in 1736.

Harris made his first patent within the territory of modern Albemarle County in 1739, acquiring land along Beaverdam of the Hardware River. He also made entries along the Totier and Green Creeks, eventually coming to possess more than 2,000 acres of land throughout the next 40 years. He established on Green Creek one of the first mills constructed in that portion of the county, creating an important center for the surrounding region in the process. In 1746, after the official organization of Albemarle County during the prior year, he was appointed as one of its first magistrates.

According to a map included within The Diary of Robert Rose: A View of Virginia by a Scottish Colonial Parson, 1746-1751, Harris' first home was located south of Carters Bridge Store not far from Joshua Fry's Viewmont estate (which William's son John later purchased for himself). By 1745, however, Harris had moved into the home he had established on Green Creek. Today, the site of the mill and the accompanying Harris graveyard are located in modern Nelson County on the north side of Route 6 about 11 miles west of Scottsville.

On October 26, 1788, Harris wrote a will which was proved on December 11 of that year. In this document, he individually named his ten children, his grandson William Harris Moseby, and his wife Mary Harris, leaving his plantation and land on Green Creek for his youngest son Benjamin (exemplifying a principle known as ultimogeniture, common in Virginia during this era as the older children would often migrate to seek new opportunities) as well as slaves and small, dispersed parcels of land for the other family members. Harris' sons John, William, and Benjamin were named his executors.

Harris died in 1788. He was buried alongside his wife at the Rockford Cemetery in Faber, Nelson County.

Gravestone of William Harris and his wife Mary Netherland. Reproduced from Geni.

Family and descendants

Harris likely had a brother named Matthew, who in 1741 patented 400 acres of land along Totier Creek before selling it to Harris' son John and moving to modern Nelson County.

Harris and Netherland had four sons named Matthew, John, William, and Benjamin. They also had six daughters named Sarah, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mary, Ann, and Judith. Sarah married a member of the Mosby family, Elizabeth married John Digges, Catherine married a member of the Steger family, Mary married a member of the Woodfolk family, Ann married Hawes Coleman, and Judith married George Coleman.