James Harris
A Free Man of Color &
Revolutionary War Veteran
Posted by: Charles Leon Harris
on the Patrick Co., VA Mailing List
While
researching my Harris roots in Patrick County I
became aware of a Revolutionary War veteran named
James Harris, and also a free African-American named
James Harris. Recently I looked at the Revolutionary
War pension application and realized that these were
one and the same person. The story is unusual enough
to be of general interest, and it might also help
descendants still in the area. James Harris applied
for a pension as a Revolutionary War veteran in the
Patrick County court on 2 Feb 1835, giving his age
as 87 on the previous 14th of January. He stated
that he was born in Dinwiddie County VA in 1748 and
was drafted into service while living in Orange
County as a free Negro.
During the war he worked primarily in the
construction of earthworks in Charleston SC, Augusta
GA, and in Florida. (In the South Blacks were seldom
issued arms for fear of a slave uprising.) James
Harris further stated that he was present at Gates’s
Defeat. (This battle near Camden SC on 16 Aug 1780
was the worst Patriot military defeat of the war.
The blame is usually assigned to Gen. Horatio Gates,
who did not adequately provision his troops, and who
placed untried Virginia militiamen opposite seasoned
British soldiers.) Asked to name officers under whom
he served, Harris mentioned Gen. Gates, Gen. De Kalb
(who was killed in Gates’s Defeat), and Lafayette.
Like many veterans, James Harris appears to have
received a bounty of land as reward for his service.
In 1794 he had 65 acres surveyed on the North Mayo
River, and in 1827 he and his wife, Kizziah Harris,
paid 1,000 pounds of tobacco for 31 acres on Mayo
River. The 1810 Patrick County census records him as
James Harris, mulatto.
In
James Harris’s pension file is a latter dated 13 Feb
1836 from one James M. Read of Patrick County who,
with no motivation other than the prevention of
fraud, he said, inquired whether James Harris, being
“as black as half the Negroes of the county,” was
entitled to a pension. The reply to Mr. Read was
that
free Negroes had served in the Revolution, and that
the pension act made no distinction based on skin
color.
In
the 1840 census of military pensioners, James Harris
was recorded as age 85 and living in the household
of William Cassell of Patrick County. According to
The History of Patrick County, Virginia, James
Harris died in 1844. In the 1840 Patrick County
census, James Harris’s widow, Keziah, was listed
as a
head of household, “free colored.” The 1850 census
lists her as Kasire Harris, 80, born in Virginia,
mulatto. With her was Milly Harris, 40, possibly her
daughter, as well as Richard 26 and John 7. Listed
next to her and presumably related was Serena Harris
35 with Peter 13, Lucinda 6, and Samuel 2,
all
listed as mulatto. Next on the census and alone was
Susan Harris 18, mulatto.
In
1856 Keziah Harris applied for a pension as the
widow of a Revolutionary War veteran. She stated
that her age was 87 and that she had married James
Harris around 1800. She had recently moved to
Fayette County, OH to live with relatives because of
failing health.
To
avoid confusion, anyone interested in researching
this James Harris should be aware that there was
another James Harris of Patrick County who was a
Revolutionary War veteran. He was the son of William
and Sarah Harris, and his wife was named Patte. This
James Harris owned property in the northern part of
the county, but he appears to have lived mainly in
Buckingham County until he moved to Floyd County KY
in the 1820s.
Charles Leon Harris |