Richard "The Emigrant" Harrison - Incorrect Connections

Debbie Gambrell - which Harrison descendant are you tracking? If their Ancestry is wrong this profile is moot (that is, less important.)

I'm attempting to make sure I have the ancestry of this direct ancestor correct in my Ancestry tree and that's when I ran into the conflicting and unsourced info issues;

Rev. Dr. Thomas Harrison, D.D.

I don't believe Margaret Pilkington is his mother.

Tag the profiles please, and go very slowly and carefully, including using contact manager on the immigrant generation.

Harrison’s are a difficult tree with strong opinions, and English origins are the work of professionals.

Which particular emigrant do you mean? And if it’s a New England emigrant, I want to see what Anderson’s Great migration project has, or NEHGS [AmericanAncestors, a subscriber site].

Which of the children of Rev. Dr. Thomas Harrison, D.D. please?

Sorry, I misunderstood. I'm from Isaiah. He's my 8th ggf. In any case, as I've continued to research today, I don't believe Rev. Thomas is connected to his correct parents in general, based on the info on this site:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/genealogy/hhdocs/81DecE...

I haven't talked about any emigrant. I see it in a profile name but I'm working on connections and haven't been concerned about labels like that. And I thought I had actually been tagging the profiles. ???

I'm 'discussing', haven't made any attempt to make any changes. I've just been seeking clarification on connections and validation for them is all.

Anyway, if the parents for

Rev. Dr. Thomas Harrison, D.D.

are incorrect, as I believe they are, that affects my direct lines as they would be incorrect from him on back and be giving false pathways. I've provided links and info as to why I'm thinking as I am about his connections. That's not to say I may have it figured out incorrectly in my own mind, which is why I'm discussing it here to hopefully get some clarification on the connections that don't seem to be 100% validated, in my opinion.

I need to work bottom up. Who are the parents of Isaiah Harrison based on what authority? I was taken to the woodshed before on his line and I’m not touching it again without attached sources and consensus from profile managers.

In other words I don’t doubt the dates could be hinky etc, but randomly correcting unrelated Harrison’s is doing work again I already did. On the other hand, getting Isaiah correct is very important.

Here's what I have at this point on Isaiah:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150128513/isaiah-harrison

and from this link https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/genealogy/hhdocs/81DecE...

Rev. Thomas Harrison and his 2nd wife, Katherine Bradshaw had among others, according to an entry record in St. Peter's Church,Chester, the following:

"1661. Thomas the son of Mr. Thomas Harrison Doctor in Divinitye born April 23, Baptized May 22. "

"1663. Katherine daughter of Mr. Thomas Harrison, Doctor of Divinitye, born the 15th day of August Baptized 26th August. " (The last entry at St. Peters as to Katherine and Thomas Harrison. )

Isaiah Harrison - b. 1666, at or near Chester; d. 1738, in America. Although Isaiah possessed the tokens of gentle birth, the fortunes of the family had been depleted long before his arrival in America.

Source: HARRISON HERITAGE (ISSN 0740-9001) was a family genealogical quarterly.
Published in March, June, September and December 1981-1986.
RUTH HARRISON JONES, Editor and Publisher

The book shown in photos on Isaiah's Find-a-Grave page must be: Houston Harrison, "Settlers Along the Gray Tail" since that is where the bio info on his page is sourced to.

Sorry...I forgot to add Isaiah's profile linK: Isaiah Harrison, I

Also, Erica, I saw notes in one of the profiles stating that some claimed Pres. Harrison was a descendant of Isaiah but no proof has been found. The reason there's no proof of that is that Pres. Harrison descended from Rev. Thomas Harrison's brother Benjamin Harrison I as mentioned at that link I keep sharing from the Harrison Heritage.

This is Rev. Thomas' brother Benjamin, according to what I've read today:

Benjamin Harrison, I

However, they aren't connected as siblings on Geni. At least Benjamin is connected to incorrect parents like Rev. Thomas is. It's my belief their father should be the Richard as noted on the Heritage site and no known mother. What I traced back from Pres. William Henry Harrison fit exactly with what I was putting together based on the info from the Heritage site.

That’s because the southern Harrison line has unproven English origins. What does it say in the Geni profiles? They were researched before. :)

You want To see what is being learned from Harrison Y DNA studies. There should be a FamilyTreeDNA spreadsheet.

I went to this link since I can't join the Y-DNA project and it's not helpful at all, as I can't see the names, only locations and most show that as unknown:

https://www.familytreedna.com/public/harrison?iframe=yresults

It’s those spreadsheets I find very helpful in general, as they distinguish the patriarchs.

Who are Isaiahs parents?

I can only view the non-member spreadsheet at the link I sent. It doesn't show any names. Isaiah's parents are correctly connected on Geni - Rev. Thomas Harrison and his wife Katherine Bradshaw. That's why I picked up at Rev. Thomas since it's from his parentage back that is questionable on Geni. I've provided all the info on all that already.

So the possible parents of Isaiah Harrison are here https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Harrison-66 - it looks unproven and difficult to prove further, as there was no surviving brother to Isaiah; and if his sisters had traceable children, it’s too far back for AtDNA to do anything but suggest kinship.

The brothers of Rev Thomas are skimpy.

I haven’t read much yet, because all that matters is Isaiah. If his parents are not accepted it’s all moot. Send out a Contact manager from profile inviting them to this discussion of his origins & English Ancestry.

This is the Harrison record repository.

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/Harrison/d0082/g0000090.htm...

Richard HARRISON

ABT 1595 - 25 Oct 1665

Repository ID Number: I500

There is much controversy regarding the following: Another son Benjamin Harrison d. 1648; m. Mary ------; settled in the James River, Virginia Colony. He was the ancestor of the Presidents Harrisons and Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 1st Clerk of the Council of Virginia in 1633 and Member of the House of Burgesses in 1642. A land grant on record in the Virginia Land Registry Office was made to him for 200 acres in "Warrosquinoake County", July 20, 1635. The house was known as "Wakefield", now Surrey County, on the James River and is the oldes of the many Harrisons homes in Virginia. It was burned by Benedict Arnold during the Revolution, but has since been rebuilt and still remains as one of the famous beautiful old houses along the James.

See record # 495 for details of the differences in authors documentation of this line.

SLGT indicates that Dinah was dau and heire of Richard. [S223] [S224] [S67]

I've offered this evidence repeatedly:

1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150128513/isaiah-harrison

Uses info from the book by Houston Harrison, "Settlers Along the Gray Tail"

that states: According to "Settlers by the Long Gray Trail" he (Isaiah) was the son of Rev. Dr. Thomas Harrison, chaplain to Henry Cromwell.

and

2) the info from the Harrison Heritage site:

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~harrisonrep/genealogy/hhdocs/81DecE...

that states:

Rev. Thomas Harrison and his 2nd wife, Katherine Bradshaw had among others, according to an entry record in St. Peter's Church,Chester, the following:
...
Isaiah Harrison - b. 1666, at or near Chester; d. 1738, in America. Although Isaiah possessed the tokens of gentle birth, the fortunes of the family had been depleted long before his arrival in America. (See further record. )

And it seems these sources keep being disregarded. I wasn't depending on Wiki as a primary source since on his profile there it seems to offer evidence and sources and yet say 'unproven', which contrary to what is shown there. The Wiki 'commentary' seems to throw everything in and leave it to the reader to sort it out. So I preferred to rely on the two sources offered above.

Notice that the info from the Harrison Heritage says the children listed, or in this case, Isaiah, are taken from an entry record in St. Peter's Church,Chester, That's pretty darned specific, in my opinion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_family_of_Virginia

The Virginia Harrison family consists primarily of two branches with origins in northern England. One branch, led by Benjamin Harrison I, journeyed by way of Bermuda to Virginia before 1633 and settled on the James River; they are often referred to as the James River Harrisons. ...

The second branch of the Virginia Harrisons emigrated from Britain to New England in 1687 and settled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia 50 years later; they were led by Isaiah Harrison. This branch most likely descended from an interim chaplain of the Jamestown Colony, Rev. Thomas Harrison, who was kindred to the James River Harrisons, but by 1650 he returned to England. President Abraham Lincoln descended from the Shenandoah Valley family, as did entertainer Elvis Presley. ...

—-

Looks to me like the Rev Thomas line is “not” closely related to (what became) the “James River Harrison” line.

Is that what others see?

I've seen the claim to the Lincoln connection disputed.

My understanding of Benjamin Harrison I is that based on the Harrison Heritage link I've shared, he was Rev. Thomas' brother, so they'd be sibling branches. The tree on the Wikpedia page you linked, Erica, actually shows Thomas and Benjamin as brothers and continues to document my line from Thomas to Isaiah on into my Herring line. Awesome!

If the Isaiah mentioned is the son of Rev. Thomas Harrison, he wasn't born in England but in Ireland just shipped out for America from England, based on the info from his Find-a-Grave bio taken from the book by Houston Harrison, "Settlers Along the Gray Tail" that states:

Isaiah Harrison (1666-1738) came to America from England about January 2, 1687. This is the date of the first mention of his name in the Oyster Bay, Queen's Co., Long Island records. He was a blacksmith. According to "Settlers by the Long Gray Trail" he was the son of Rev. Dr. Thomas Harrison, chaplain to Henry Cromwell. About 1689 or near after, Isaiah's first wife died and then about 1700 he married second, Abigail Smith. On April 20, 1702, he sold all of his Oyster Bay lands, his wife Abigail joining him in signing the deeds. The same day he bought 500 acres of land on the western bank of the Nissequogue River, at Smithtown, Long Island, to which he removed with his family. There he bought 200 acres more, September 23, 1708; this land being on the eastern side of the river opposite his home tract. His second wife is thought to have been of the Smithtown family. The children of Isaiah and his wife Abigail, were all born at Smithtown, Long Island.

Isaiah sold his home place at Smithtown, June 12, 1721, and very shortly therafter removed with his family to Sussex County, Delaware, where he bought 900 acres of land known as Maiden Plantation---about eight miles west of Lewes---June 22, 1721. After his removal to Delaware he sold his remaining 200 acres at Smithtown, April 28, 1722, his wife Abigail also signing the deed. She is thought to have died about 1732. This year, on October 10th, for a nominal sum, he deeded to each of his sons, Daniel,Thomas, and Jeremiah, 250 acres of Maiden Plantation, her name being missing from these deeds. Later, on May 7th, 1736, he disposed of his remaining 150 acres of Maiden Plantation, also without her signature.

About 1737, Isaiah Harrison and his family of five sons and two of his daughters set out for Virginia. (son, Gideon died; son, Isaiah Jr. and Elizabeth may have remained behind). The family probably camped for about two years on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River before "taking up" land. During this time, Isaiah died and was buried near the "White House".

Houston Harrison, "Settlers Along the Gray Tail"

Isaiah Harrison, I On Geni shows the parents and has for a long time:

Son of Reverend Thomas Harrison and Catherine (Bradshaw) Harrison
Husband of Elizabeth (Wright) Harrison and Abigail (Smith) Harrison

This is not the issue.

The issue is it looks like you Want to connect the ancestors of the James River Harrison’s?

Other people need to examine. Give them a chance. Send out contact managers. This is “not” error correction, it’s a Big Deal.

Re: “My understanding of Benjamin Harrison I is that based on the Harrison Heritage link I've shared, he was Rev. Thomas' brother, so they'd be sibling branches. “

I’m not at all prepared to agree or disagree.

You said we needed to prove Isaiah's parents, so I addressed that.

I don't know anything about 'James River Harrisons'. All I said was that based on the information from the Harrison Heritage, shown here again, Rev. Thomas and Benjamin were brothers and that is upheld by the tree on the Wikipedia link you sent. Yes, it would be nice to have the entire family connected correctly, but I haven't been pushing to connect my branch with anyone's...just mentioned their relationship.

Richard Harrison, 1st, - b. ca. 1595; m. ---;
Issue:
REV. THOMAS HARRISON - b. 1619; d. 1682;
m. 1st - 1648/9, in Mass. Dorothy Symonds,
(b. 1619; d. 1653/59), dau. Samuel Symonds.
m. 2nd - 1659/60, in London, England,
Katherine Bradshaw, (b. 1637; d. after 1682),
dau. Edward Bradshaw. (See further record.)
EDWARD HARRISON - settled in Boston, Mass.
RICHARD HARRISON, 2nd - settled in New Haven,
Conn., in 1644.
BENJAMIN HARRISON - d. 1648; m. Mary-----;
settled in the James River, Virginia Colony.
(See further record. ) He was the ancestor of
the Presidents Harrisons and Signer of the
Declaration of Independence.

My issue started with the fact that I believe my ancestor Rev. Thomas Harrison is connected to incorrect parents and I've provided over and over the information to indicate that while he does seem to have had a father named Richard, there is no proof of who his mother was but that she wouldn't have been the Pilkington woman. Having the parents as connected to Rev. Thomas make my line from him back incorrect and gives me false pathways on Geni. That's really all I care about. The other connections such as Benjamin being his brother are just observations I made while researching Thomas' connections, which to me IS error correction.

I haven't made any changes nor tried to push you to. I started out just trying to confirm Thomas' parents and the more I looked at the info, the less clear it was until I found the Harrison Heritage site. I share all that with you so you'd know where I was coming from, as to why i was questioning his current connections and hoping you and/or the profile managers would help me resolve the longstanding muddle on the connections.

Bottom line, I'd just like my ancestral line to be correct, not have unproven parentage connected to Rev. Thomas, and whether anything else is done on the lines is someone else's concern. I just pointed out info I was coming across about Benjamin's relationship since it's right there on the Harrison Heritage site.

I'll leave you to it. I've given all the info I have and believe I have my Ancestry connections correct regardless of what ends up on Geni.

I'm tied and making typos. I meant to type at least Benjamin isn't, not is, connected to incorrect parents. But like I said, my concern isn't about Benjamin's line other than observing him to be Rev. Thomas' brother.

I don’t follow what’s wrong with Isaiah’s ancestry. I don’t think Rev Thomas is nailed.

I never said there was anything wrong with Isaiah's parentage. You had asked me which child of Rev. Thomas I was from and I said Isaiah. You then asked me who Isaiah's parents were and I gave you that information. I've made it clear from the beginning that the parentage of Rev. Thomas is all that I was questioning.

I shared the sources that showed info on Isaiah only because you had asked me about him AND because those sites had info on his father Thomas.

You first asked me this:

Erica Howton C
yesterday at 7:36 PM
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Which of the children of Reverend Thomas Harrison please?

Which is when Isaiah came into the discussion, only to identify which child of Rev. Thomas I'm from. I had no questions about his parentage.

Then you continued with these questions about Isaiah:

Erica Howton C
yesterday at 8:38 PM
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I need to work bottom up. Who are the parents of Isaiah Harrison based on what authority? I was taken to the woodshed before on his line and I’m not touching it again without attached sources and consensus from profile managers.

Erica Howton C
yesterday at 8:42 PM
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In other words I don’t doubt the dates could be hinky etc, but randomly correcting unrelated Harrison’s is doing work again I already did. On the other hand, getting Isaiah correct is very important.

So it was your questions that kept discussion about Isaiah's parentage going.

And then the Wikipedia page you shared that has the Harrison family tree showing both Benjamin's branch and Thomas' shows Isaiah on down to my Herring line. So I've had no questions about Isaiah. Just been trying to answer your questions.