Chasing the Past

This post is a part of the 2025 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow at www.amyjohnsoncrow.com.

I remember when my grandmother being visited by Gray Harris. He wanted to know about her Harris family for a book he was writing. I remember sitting at her kitchen table with them and listening to her tell about her parents and grandparents.

You see, three of her grandparents were Harrises. Her paternal grandparents were third cousins and her grandparents were also third cousins. All are said to have descended from West Harris Sr. I remember hearing the names West, Jarrot, and Etheldred. What unusual names!

West Harris came to Anson County (now Montgomery) sometime in the 1770s and was influential in forming Montgomery County from Anson. He served as a Major in the Revolutionary War and died in May of 1795.

He farmed and mined for gold in Montgomery County. He was said to have used a 2.5 pound rock as a door stop for many years until someone bumped it and found it to be gold!

He was buried in northern Montgomery County. In the early twentieth century, he and several family members buried in this plot were moved to the Old English Cemetery in Salisbury, NC. His initial resting place would soon be under water as a dam was being built.

While all of my ancestors have been in Montgomery County for nearly as long as the Harris family, West is by far the best documented. As a result, I haven’t spent a lot of time researching that line. It doesn’t mean it’s any less interesting or important to me. In fact, it was this line, these names that sparked my interest in genealogy. The fire that Gray had for history was evident. The importance my Ma Ma felt for family relationships was also evident.

I grew up hearing the unsourced family history, knowing the names of my 2nd and most of my 3rd great grand parents. It was something that was important to both sides of my family. For this I am thankful.

I want this space to be a place where my family members, both close and distant, can read about our ancestors. Since coming back to this woefully neglected blog, I have focused on documenting my research. I would love to be a storyteller, but alas I am not. However, perhaps through trying 52 Ancestors again, I can bring add some color to their lives.

I hope to spark some interest for family history and genealogy. Instead of focusing solely on documenting research, I want to also try to tell the story of my ancestors.

As 2024 closes and I look forward to 2025, I look forward to supporting my cousin breaking the John Jacky Morris brick wall. I look forward to discussing with another cousin the Cranfords of Randolph and Montgomery Counties. I look forward to finding the elusive John P Smith as well as the connection between William and Sarah Christian to James and Martha Smith. I look forward to discovering more about the lives of my ancestors and sharing them with you. What do you look forward to in 2025?