Isaac Harris. The name of Harris is known and respected throughout Fulton County as belonging to one of the earliest pioneers of this section of the country, in whose honor the township of Harris was named. The present representative of the family is a son of the old pioneer, and was himself a pioneer. For many years he has been an important factor in the agricultural life of the township of Bernadotte and is one of its most venerated and highly esteemed citizens.

Our subject was born in Licking County, Ohio, February 21, 1813. His parents were of Pennsylvania birth. They came to Fulton County in 1827, and in 1834 removed to what is now Harris Township, which was named in honor of John Harris, the father. He was a prominent settler here for many years, dying at the venerable age of ninety-five years. His wife was eighty-six years old at the time of her death. In the history of Fulton County, we find the following concerning Mr. Harris' settlement here: "Harris Township, which borders upon the western boundary of the county was named in honor of John Harris, its first settler. He removed here from Bernadotte Township, and located on section 18, as early as 1827." It is said that for several years he followed the occupation of hunting, finding abundance of game in the native forests and upon the broad, beautiful, uncultivated prairies. It is said that when he first visited this region he made the journey to and from Ohio on foot.

The subject of this sketch remained with his parents until he was within twenty-two days of being twenty-one years old. At that youthful age he married and established a home of his own, taking as his bride Margaret, daughter, of John and Rachael Sinnett, to whom he was married January 30, 1834. Their pleasant wedded life was brought to an end after nine years by the premature death of the wife March 11, 1843. Their union resulted in the birth of five children, four daughters and one son, of whom the following is recorded: Emily born November 17, 1834, married J. L. Clifford, and died February 14, 1880; Mary, born August 11, 1836, married William DeFord in October, 1855; he is a butcher by trade, and they live in Smithfield, Cass Township; William H. was born on the 13th of February, 1839, enlisted in 1862 in Company H. One Hundred and Third Illinois Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Lookout Mountain in 1863; Rhoda, born February 24, 1841, married Edward Fennel in July, 1858, and they live on their own farm of two hundred acres in Wayne County. Iowa; Margaret, born March 11, 1843, married John Wheeler, October 30, 1864, and they live on a leased farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Putman Township.

Mr. Harris was married to his present estimable wife June 22, 1843. She was formerly Margaret J. Littlejohn, and is a daughter of Abraham and Sarah Littlejohn. The union of our subject and his wife has been blessed to them by the birth of ten children, of whom the following is recorded: Perry, born August 10, 1844, is married and lives on a homestead in the State of Nebraska; Sarah, born April 27, 1846, married Samuel Chambers and they live on a farm in Bernadotte Township; Nancy, born February 20, 1847, married John Crusen, who is a butcher, and they live in Cuba, Putman Township; John L. born February 8, 1850, lives on his farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Cass Township; Michael R., born March 15, 1852, owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in the State of Nebraska; Lana, born January 8, 1855, married Jesse Nate, a dairyman, and they live in Lewistown; Emma Jane, born September 7, 1858, married George Stockham, and they live on their farm of one hundred and ten acres in Lewistown Township; Julia E., born December 16,1860, married William Freeman, whose biography will be found elsewhere in this book; Elmira M., born February 28, 1865, married William Johnson, and lives on part of her father's farm; Amanda E., born January 19, 1857, died at the age of nine months. Soon after our subject's first marriage he entered one hundred and twenty-eight acres of land in Harris Township. After living on it two years he bought one hundred and sixty acres on section 13, Bernadotte Township, where he has resided ever since. It is in every respect a good farm, supplied with ample buildings, under the best of cultivation and highly productive. Our subject has been a hard working man. In his younger days he used to walk from Lewistown to where he now lives, cut two cords of wood and walk back again the same day, which feat no one but a very strong, active man could have performed. He has worked for fifty cents a day in the harvest-field.

Mr. Harris has been a witness of the many changes that have made this a well-developed country and which have been brought about in a great measure by the introduction of modern machinery that has so greatly facilitated the work of harvesting. He is a man of strong constitution and comes of a hardy, long-lived race, having about one hundred relatives now living. He has five widowed sisters and three brothers, the youngest of whom is sixty years old, and among his descendants he can count seventy-five grand children and great-grandchildren. His mother-in-law, Mrs. Littlejohn, is living with him and has attained the remarkable old age of ninety-two years. Mr. Harris is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a sturdy Republican. His portrait is presented on another page of this volume. (Portrait & Biographical Album of Fulton County, 1890, pages 255-256, submitted by Janine Crandell)


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