Mrs. Adele B. Looscan, in Southwestern Historical Quarterly
 

The title recalls John Richardson Harris, founder of the town of Harris burg, TX. He was one of Austin's first  300 colonists.  Sailing from New Orleans in  1823 in his own boat, he visited several places on the coast of Texas, and found what he regarded as an ideal location for a city at the junction of Buffalo and Bray's Bayous.  This  point  marked the head of the navigation at that time;  any boat that could cross  Clopper's and Red Fish Bars could come thus far and no farther. He seems to have been the only one of that early period who foresaw the future of Buffalo Bayou, on whose bosom now float big ships from foreign and domestic ports.  J.N. Almonte, who was sent from Mexico in 1834 to make a statistical report of Texas towns, evidently had never visited Harrisburg; he says It is 18 or 20 miles from Galveston on  Buffalo Creek,  has  a sawmill for cutting boards, and lost  its  importance when  troops  stationed there were removed."  "Anahuac"  said  Austin at about the same time period, "will no doubt become  an  important place, as it will command the trade of  the  Trinity and a considerable portion of San Jacinto."Not a word about Harrisburg as the future important entrepot of Texas.

As soon as John R. Harris, colonist, received his title  to  the 4,428 acres of land selected by him,  he built a house,  opened a store, and put schooners, and sloops  in  service  between  this  point  and  New Orleans.   The arrival of these boats was an event of great importance for the settlers in the surrounding country, for they supplied most of their necessities.

The town of Harrisburg was surveyed and laid off in 1826; the site for his future home was selected by John R.  Harris on the crown of  a sloping bank of Buffalo Bayou about a half mile from the point of land at the confluence of the two bayous.

In 1827 he was joined by his brother, David, who was fond of the water a good sailor,  and  often  commanded  one of his vessels.  At a later date two other brothers, William Plunket and Samuel, came out from their home at Cayuga, New York.  By the year 1829, John R. Harris was not only the founder of the town, with merchant ships on the gulf, sailing to New Orleans and Mexican ports, but he had large stocks of merchandise at Harrisburg and at Bell's Landing, Brazoria County; his steam sawmill and gristmill at Harrisburg was nearing completion, but he had to go to New Orleans for a piece of belting to put it in running order.  He never returned.  The Texas Gazette, published at San Felipe de Austin, in its issue of October 3, 1829 records his death in feeling terms as follows: "The fatality of yellow fever this season in New Orleans has deprived this colony of one of its citizens, who, for the enterprise which characterized him, was not only a very useful and important member of this young community, but one to whom it is indebted for the undertaking of a very valuable and considerable branch of mechanical industry....

In the death of Mr. John Richardson Harris the colony has lost an enterprising citizen, and his friends have been bereaved of one whose loss will not easily be replaced.  He died on Friday evening, the 21st of August last, in that city after a five day illness."

Papers relating to important business operations in which he engaged at this time, are in my possession.  Among them is a contract for the purchase of from ninety to one hundred bales of cotton from Jared E. Groce.

The document, dated March 27, 1829, shows that Zeno Phillips was a partner in the transaction, which was to be consummated by final payments on the 10th day of January 1830.  This was probably the first cotton contract in Texas.

John R. Harris's death subjected his property to an administration, which, owing to the slow methods of Mexican judicial procedure, threatened to drag along indefinitely, greatly to the detriment of the property and the interests of his heirs.  His family consisting of a wife and four children, were at their home between Waterloo and Seneca Falls, New York, intending to join him at Harrisburg as soon as the contemplated buildings would give them a suitable abiding place.  The startling news of his death wrecked all their plans.  After mature deliberation, it was determined to make no move until Dewitt Clinton Harris, the oldest son should be of an age to accompany his mother to Texas and assist her in taking possession of their lands and other property.  At length, in 1833, traveling by stage, by canal boat, by steamboat, to New Orleans, and thence by sailing vessel to Harrisburg, they were met at the boat landing by David Harris, who, with his family, was living at the former home of his brother, on the point of land at the confluence of the two bayous. The store was near to this dwelling.

The sawmill which was also a gristmill stood nearly opposite on the southside of Bray's Bayou, and was being run by David Harris and Robert Wilson, administrators.  An inventory of the estate filed in court gives a complete list of goods owned by John R. Harris, and the names of the colonists who traded at his stores.  The mill was doing a good service, making lumber from the big primeval pine trees, rafted directly to the mill.  They were used by Mrs. Harris in building her home on the dedicated to that purpose, years before, by her husband.  The site was all that could be desired.  The front piazza afforded a fine view of the
bayou, whose bank on the opposite side was clothed to the water's edge with beautiful magnolia trees.

A feature connected with the Harrises as colonists was the usefulness of their vessels to the public.  Austin applied to John R. Harris for a light draft baton which to inspect the coast, and obtained from him the Mexicana, exactly suited to this purpose, which was bought at a moderate price.  Letters among the Austin papers show that he was prepared also to rent a sloop fully equipped and manned by six sailors, with an attendant rowboat with four oarlocks for a stated sum per month.

In 1832, the Harris schooners, Rights of Man and Machauna, were chartered by Colonel Subaran and did good service in transporting the obnoxious Mexican garrison to Mexico.  David Harris commanded the Rights of Man on this occasion, and landed its cargo of soldiers at Tampico; the Machuana was wrecked on the Mexican coast, but there were no lives lost.

Again in 1835, a Harris sloop commanded by David Harris, bore a very important part at the beginning of the revolution at Anahuac; when Travis was authorized by the government at San Felipe to organize a company of volunteers for the relief of Andrew Briscoe and Clinton Harris, who were held in prison there, the sloop Ohio, with a six-pounder cannon aboard, commanded by David Harris, carried the company of about twenty-five men to attack the Mexican garrison under Tenorio.  The garrison surrendered promptly, and its members were sent on board the sloop to Harrisburg, thence to march to San Antonio.

Besides these ships, the Harrises are said to have brought out the Cayuga -- a small steamboat named for their native town -- which was used by the provincial government at Galveston in the summer of 1836. She carried two light guns and was commanded by Captain William P. Harris. 

The widow of John R. Harris had been living in her comfortable new home less than three years when she was called upon to play an unexpected role, that of hostess to the Cabinet of the Texas provisional government.

The convention at Washington on the Brazos having adjourned, President
Burnet instructed the cabinet to proceed to Harrisburg and assume their duties.  On March 21 they arrived, and from that time until the advance of the Mexican army warned them to seek safety at Galveston, they were her guests. Although poorly equipped to accommodate this large accession to her household, she cheerfully made them welcome, and sacrificed her own comfort for their convenience.

There was confusion everywhere; rumors of the advance of a Mexican army
caused a feeling of tension and unrest, even among the members of the cabinet.  Few important measures were formulated while here; among them was the devise for a naval flag for the Republic of Texas by President Burnet; it was copied from that of the United States of America, except that a single white star shone of the blue field instead of a galaxy of stars.

Few details have been preserved of official cabinet meetings during this period of storm and stress.  Private letters and diaries reflect the usual discontent of individuals outside of the government as to government, often betraying deplorable ignorance of actual conditions.

President Burnet had frequently expressed himself as favoring Harrisburg for the future seat of government, and in adjourning to meet there he chose the best possible location.  The honor of providing the temporary capital of the nascent republic did not compensate the Harrises for the loss of their home, their sawmill and other valuable property which fed the flames kindled by the Mexicans to appease their wrath at the escape of the Texan cabinet.  When on April 13th, the government adjourned to meet at Galveston, Mrs. Harris, with a few friends, also sought refuge there.  With the news of the glorious battle of San Jacinto came also that of the utter destruction of Harrisburg.  Not a house was left standing, the torch having been applied without discrimination.

The return of Mrs. Harris to this scene of desolation was somewhat brightened by the presence of another son, Lewis Birdsall Harris, who arrived at Galveston by sailing vessel from New Orleans, together with other volunteers, on the very day the news of the victory at San Jacinto was received at government headquarters on Galveston Island.

In a diary, kept by him, details are given of how the returning refuges managed to live amid the ashes of their former homes.  There was one house known as the Farmer house, outside the limits of the town site, and here the Harrises lived until their home was rebuilt of logs hewn by the Mexican prisoners captured at San Jacinto.  It was rebuilt on identically the same ground as the one destroyed by the Mexicans, and by a coincidence, one of the men who kindled the flame under it was now engaged in wielding the axe to rebuild it.  When, in after years, peace and plenty favored its being improved, the hewn logs were covered with weatherboards, the interior walls ceiled and papered, a second story was added, and it was protected on three sides with wide galleries on both stories.

While this enlargement was going on Dewitt Clinton Harris, who was in New York City in the interest of his mercantile business, learned that the former home of Governor Tomkins was being razed, to give room for commercial buildings, and the doors and windows were for sale.  He bought and shipped them to Harrisburg for his mother's home.

At this time, the late 1840s, all fine carpentry was obtained from New York or Boston, and this opportune purchase was noted for its quality. The doors were heavy, handsomely paneled, and served admirably for the four large rooms and hall, downstairs.  The windows fitted the openings in the same rooms.  A simple devise for raising and lowering then consisted of wooden stops shaped like a bootblack, screwed to the casing on one side.  The doorknobs were of brass and corresponded with the brass andirons in the large parlor fireplace.

A spacious garret completed the main building.  It was provided with two large windows at each gable.  As a depository for broken furniture, leather trunks decorated with brass nailheads and containing dresses of loved members of the family who had moved away, trunks of rawhide, filled with manuscripts diaries, school books, novels, etc., it was an interesting place on a rainy day.  Its store of useful articles made it a boon to the family during the War between the States.

Mrs. Harris shared her home at different times with each of her sons, Lewis Birdsall, Dewitt Clinton, and John Birdsall and their families.  When the first railroad in Texas, the Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado, was started at Harrisburg, the home was adapted to the uses as a tavern; here for several years friendly hands opened wide the doors to newcomers from the States.  The officials of the railroad whose homes were in Boston, made a yearly visitation to Harrisburg and were entertained there, up to the breaking out of the War of Secession.  There were many visitors of distinction from Germany and France.  A few of the exiled nobility of these countries were guests in this home.  Steamboats on the bayou brought them from Galveston and the railroad carried then to the rich cotton lands on the Brazos and Colorado rivers.

In 1849, Lewis B. Harris, accompanied by his wife, joined the vast caravan of gold seekers, and made his home thenceforth in California. The other sons became absorbed in railroading and saw milling, and built themselves homes at Harrisburg.  Finally in 1859, Mrs. Harris invited her daughter, Mary J. Briscoe, widow of Judge Andrew Briscoe, then living in Galveston to come, with her family of four children, and share the Harris home.

Henceforth, and especially during the War between the States, this home became a synonym of Southern hospitality.  It gave bed and board to many sick soldiers, who were nursed back to health by Mrs. Harris's sister, Mrs. Eliza Van Tuyl, who united in her person the skill and sympathy of the ideal nurse.  When the four years struggle was ended and the war-torn veterans trudged back, hopeless and disheartened, they were cheered and comforted in this haven of rest, where some lingered for weeks.

The death of Mrs. Harris occurred in August of 1869.  Mrs Briscoe moved to Houston in 1873, and the place at Harris burg, after being occupied for a few years by her son, A.B. Briscoe and his family, was rented.  It caught fire accidentally and was utterly destroyed.  A few Brick chimneys marked the place but they were soon used to build chimneys elsewhere. Now the only relic to mark the site of the famous homes the curb of a large cistern, which stood at the North side of the house, partly under the floor of the piazza.

Each of the four Harris brothers bore a part in the colonial life of Texas.  They were influenced by very strong ties of brotherhood, yet each one possessed and equally strong personality, which expressed itself in shaping their lives. 

John Richardson Harris had a certain fearless spirit of adventure, he was daring and enterprising----witness his steam sawmill, the first in this part of Texas; witness his fleet of ships bringing goods to the colonists; witness his town where small houses were available to immigrants at reasonable prices; all these were blessings to the community. His early death cut him off from a life prolific of good to his fellow man.

David, too, had the spirit of adventure, but of a different type.  He was fond of the water, a born seaman; he was never so happy when sailing the schooner "The Rights of Man" to a Mexican port or returning threrfrom.  Every trip was fraught with thrills of excitement, and many a narrow escape was his, when pursued by some Mexican cruiser. The Mexicans knew him and his sailing craft; they knew that more than once he had helped to send Mexican garrisons packing.  In his old age he was wont to entertain the boys of his family connections with tales of personal experience which made them hold their breath in wonder and expect momenttarily that he might let slip a word which would convict him of having been one of Lafitte's men.  But he was not old enough to have been a companion of this romantic Frenchman, and would have spurned with indignation any such suspicion.  Soon after coming to Texas, he met and married Tabitha, widow of John Iiams, one of the first settlers on Cedar Bayou.  After living for a few years at Harrisburg they built a home on the bay shore about midway between Red Bluff, the home of his brother William, and the present town of La Porte.  Here his family of boys grew up, and having married, moved to Middle Bayou; henceforth he made his home with them and died there.  His old home on the bay shore was sold a few years ago to the Baptist organization for a recreation center.

William Plunkett Harris was connected with business enterprises at Harrisburg after the death of his brother John R. Harris.  He was chosen by the municipality of Harrisburg to represent its citizens in the meetings of the Consulate at San Felipe in 1835.  He became also a member of the General Council during this, the most turbulent on the Naval Committee at this time.

About April 20th as soon as informed of the arrival of General Houston and his army on Buffalo Bayou, President Burnet impressed the steamboat Cayuga, owned and commanded by Captain Harris, and dispatched it with a number of volunteers and provisions for the relief and succor of the Texan army.

William P. Harris was interested in the first attempt to promote a railroad at Harrisburg in 1840.  The Morning Star of March 20, 1840 contains a report of the surveyor of this pioneer railroad, also the report of a committee appointed to select the route.  William P. Harris was one of the committee who signed this report.  Two years later he was an active promoter of the interests in the Harrisburg town company in favor of the introduction of French families by Pelegrin.

Soon after the battle of San Jacinto he went to New York, where he married Miss Caroline Morgan, a lady of refinement, who assisted him in making a very attractive home on the shore of Trinity Bay at a point known as Red Bluff.  He furnished his home with due regard to comfort, and surrounded it with gardens and orchards.

The social qualities of his wife and himself made it a center of culture in the neighborhood.  Captain Harris did not live many years to enjoy his retirement; his life has been full of trials, and the serenity of this period was most grateful, the companionship of his wife and two children all that he desired, but his health was seriously impaired, and after a few happy years his life was ended.  His widow cherished her home as a living thing and would not be induced to leave it, although, in time, it became isolated and almost inaccessible.  After a few years of widowhood she married William Beasley, member of a fine old family
living on the bay shore.

William P. Harris left surviving him a daughter, who died just as she had reached womanhood, and a son, who inherited the home, spent his declining years there, and left it to his children.  The place is now known as El Jardin.

Samuel Harris, the youngest of the brothers, was of a temperment far removed from love of adventure.  He was a student, a mathematician, a philosopher, and a dreamer.  He had reached middle age when he married a pretty French woman, the widow of a Dr. E.T. Leger.  They lived in Houston, where he usually had some clerical position at the courthouse. He died leaving no descendants, and was buried in one of the old cemeteries there.  

From an article in "Frontier Times, August, 1928 Vol 5 No. 11 pub. by J. Marvin Hunter.   

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