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Brief Biographical Sketch:

William Harris (1650) / Edith (unknown surname) Harris

Name: William Harris

Birth: About 1620, near Hatherup, Gloucestershire, England (GMB, TAG)

Emigration: From Bristol, England on the ship "Lion" of the Winthrop fleet to Boston, Mass. 1630. He came with both parents, four brothers, and one sister. Removed to Salem, Mass., then Rowley, Mass. by 1643.(Ancestry of Bethia Harris/Davis, 1934) To Middletown before November 1652.(FFS)

Death: 1717 (SAV). Before Nov. 7, 1719, Middletown, Conn. (Ancestry of Bethia Harris/Davis, 1934). Before May 17, 1714 (TAG, MAN).

Occupation & Public Service: Townsman, grand levy man, rate make, packer, & constable.(FFS)

Marriage: m.(1) Edith (unknown surname) about 1644, Rowley, Mass.(GMB) (b. England; d. August 5, 1685, Middletown, Conn.)(MVR); m.(2) Lydia (Wright) Smith, by 1687. (Ancestry of Bethia Harris/Davis, 1934)(TAG)

Children: 5 children between 1645-1652.(MVR, BCVR) (See in-depth profile in Member Area for details.)

See abbreviation code for sources. And then verify, verify, verify, verify.
For more biographical information see the In-Depth Profile in the Member Area.

The First Meeting House, Middletown, Conn. The engraving below by W.C. Butler was a fanciful illustration for David Field's Centennial Address published in 1853. In 1939 the image was used on the title page of The Log Cabin Myth by Harold R. Shurtleff. Surrounding the engraving are signatures of some of the first settlers as found on wills and deeds by Charles C. Adams in preparation of Middletown Upper Houses (1908).