2025.12.23 Daily Thread – American Stories: When in the Course of human events – Part 35

While completing this series my heart and mind have been stirred by the patriots and their families. It has also made me curious about members of our family trees. It has been encouraging to see more study and research into American family genealogy. Our Aubergine is well versed in it and inspired me to get back to work on it recently after she posted some of her results and connections. Two decades ago I did some research on my family and came up empty beyond the mid-1800s. I restarted it with more current resources lately and was amazed. It is a testament to the interest of many more people wanting to know their family histories and taking time to post results with supporting documents. I first restarted with my paternal side as there were more readily accessible sources.

In this series of “begats” in my paternal lineage there were various maternal maiden names that need traced as well. Those will come as time permits. I also looked at the paternal lineage on wifey’s side of the family on a limited basis. The original purpose, which has since expanded, was to add this information to the two memory books of our fathers. However, in doing so I did note one curious connection from 1720 in North Carolina that has led to many jokes in our household. It seems we have a mother in common from that year. 😂 She originated from my side and married a man on wifey’s side. She then had a son that eventually led to wifey’s father and her.

So kissin’ cuzins would be us! I knew there was sumthin’ about that gal. No hillbilly jokes, please. Around here we use Bammer (Alabama) jokes. I made the mistake one time of telling a kissing cousin Bama joke to a really nice guy from that state who really had married his first cousin.

Oopsie. He took it well. I was a bit embarrassed. But I digress.

😀

This paternal trace on my side of the fanily originates in Scotland in the 1100’s with family members migrating into Ireland and England in the 1400-1500’s before soon leaving for the colonies. At its farthest point back that I have traced individuals, my paternal direct linage came from the Kent, England area pre-emigration to the colony of Rhode Island. A royal governor of that colony is in my direct lineage. He is about the only prominent or famous dude in all of those centuries I could find. Other than one Captain in the British Navy well before the Revolutionary War period, it appears all of the men on that side were grunts doing grunt things.

This particular paternal trace has progressed from 1547 in Middlesex, England to a 1661 marriage document in Quaker information in Maryland to the family migration, births and burials in the Raleigh area of NC during the early 1700’s to the migration of descendants to southeastern KY lumbering and coal mining areas, followed by moves to eastern TN lumbering and coal mining areas. In the process it has become very apparent I came from a Christian background with all of the baptism and christening documents that have been posted. It is in my blood. I am glad because I have not desired to live any other way. As a side note I immediately become emotionally involved when I hear the sound of bagpipes. I never understood why when I was younger. I do now.

In the middle of it all there was one who was born in 1731 and died in 1798 who served in the colonial army as a member of the 3rd battalion of the Cumberland County, PA militia. I was able to trace others, including younger military aged sons from North Carolina, who enlisted in Virginia and served honorably. Just knowing that brought patriot pride.

When we examine our family trees, we experience a slice of Americana that binds us even more to this great country. It becomes personal instead of simply names and events in a book. We are American by birth and by choice, it is our heritage. It helps us understand better why the non-enemy peoples from all over the world want that same citizenship and birthright as well. American pride is a real thing. You can tell the motives of those people by their desire to assimilate into the American Way. If they don’t want to assimilate, they are compromised and may be enemy combatants. They will never be real Americans if they do not assimilate. That is how you can identify them.

I will never understand why citizens of Great Britain willingly chose to throw all of it away by not resisting the opening of their doors to hordes of Islamic muck rakers and jihadists. Their blind allegiance to the Crown and Parliament has been their undoing. Their plight illustrates how right our patriot fathers and mothers were for kicking them and their lackeys out of America. Now, we are having to do it again with the heathen hordes that came in illegally that were invited by the uniparty and Demoncraps in particular. Of course, that bunch has always been tightly associated with the Brits and the (un)royal family. There should be no more pretending about bipartisan support of America and its culture. We have seen the enemy, we cannot unsee it. They are still the same as they were centuries ago.

It is a dirty shame THAT is not taught in public schools today. But it can be in private schools and homeschooling. As for me and my house…

As we near the completion of this topic of American Stories there are just two signers left that are far too important to the cause of liberty to take time away time from their stories. As we have learned the state of Virginia mattered greatly to the efforts of the patriots in their quest for independence. Below is just one more example. If there was such a thing as American royalty, perish the thought, this family would be listed near the top.

Benjamin Harrison V

We will now discuss a signer with a distinguished family tree and legacy. Benjamin Harrison V was born in 1726 at the Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County, VA. It is the site of one of the first annual Thanksgiving celebrations in America in 1619. That is correct, two years before the popular Plymouth, MA related native Indian and pilgrim feast tale told to schoolchildren. Interestingly, it is also reported as the location where the Army bugle call of “Taps” was first written and played in 1862.

His parents were Benjamin Harrison IV and Ann Carter Harrison. He was the eldest son of their ten children. He was born the same year his father completed the Berkeley Plantation mansion, which is constructed of brick that was fired on the property. The initials of both his father and mother appear on a date stone over a door. Harrison V’s (H-5) great-great grandfather (H-1) emigrated to the area in 1633 from the Isle of Wight in England.

H-5’s mother was the daughter of wealthy planter and politician, “King” Carter. Carter owned over 300,000 acres and a thousand slaves. For a time he was Treasurer of Virginia, on the King’s Council, and very involved in colonial government. The Carter family traced their roots in America to predecessors who emigrated to the area in 1649.

H-5 was tutored at Berkeley until attending William & Mary College in classical studies with patriot notables, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson. However, at age 19 a lightning strike killed his father and two sisters back home at Berkeley in 1745. Already disenchanted with college life anyway, he returned home to take over operations of their 1000 acre farm that included ship building and horse breeding. Three years later at the age of 22, H- 5 married Elizabeth Bassett of nearby New Kent County, a niece of Martha Washington. Her great grandfather, William, had also emigrated to the area from the Isle of Wight.

H-5 grew into a physically imposing man during the period. As an older adult he stood 6′ 4″ and weighed about 250 lbs. He and Elizabeth had eight children who survived to adulthood in their 40 year marriage. He and his family had between 80-100 slaves, but had a more humane view and treatment of them, feeling a great responsibility for their care. Families were respected and kept together. The Harrison family were Anglican and felt a duty to teach them about Christianity. Many other slave holders would not do so as they were considered property, while H-5 and family made sure that the willing were baptized. Unfortunately, some of the other younger Harrison men in the extended family were less principled and had relations with slaves. Over the years that followed H-5 began working to stop the slave trade and introduced legislation to do so.

H-5’s family had deep involvement in politics going back to H-1’s arrival there. There are records of their many squabbles with British authorities going back to 1640. One Harrison was even imprisoned for six years for challenging British authority over charges of tyranny and treason. H-5 entered politics in 1749 with his election the House of Burgesses where he periodically served as Speaker until royal governor Lord John Dunmore shut it down in 1774. Throughout his years of service and due to his influence the Brits tried to win him over to their side with potential appointments, but he always refused and sided with colonial causes. He strongly opposed the Stamp Act, but did not agree with Patrick Henry’s resolutions proposing civil disobedience.

With the dissolution of the House of Burgesses, he was immediately selected for the First Continental Congress in 1774, during which he participated greatly from the beginning. He chaired the committee that debated the drafting of the Articles of Association and signed them later that year. He roomed with Peyton Randolph and George Washington while they were in Philadelphia and remained a major contributor throughout his service in Congress into 1778 including the signing of the Declaration.

H-5 was well noted for his use of humor that helped reduce tension among the patriots through the years. From the Descendent site is this humorous conversation with Elbridge Gerry as they prepared to sign the Declaration.

“I shall have a great advantage over you, Mr. Gerry, when we are all hung for what we are now doing.  From the size and weight of my body I shall die in a few minutes and be with the Angels, but from the lightness of your body you will dance in the air an hour or two before you are dead.”

H-5 did not trust yankees. 😂 He was well known for not trusting anything that came out of the New Englanders. He was a major backer of state’s rights. The only powerful patriot he trusted from that NE area was John Hancock, of whom he thought very highly due to his fair treatment of all. He said of Hancock that he was “noble, disinterested and generous to a very great degree.” Despite his opinions, he was chosen by all to read Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence on July 1 as well as to chair the debate the following day.

While serving he solicited assistance from other countries as a member of the Secret Correspondence Committee.  He worked closely with General Washington in planning the American army. He even served as a lieutenant in the county militia during the war and was a chief magistrate as well. Berkeley Plantation was ravaged during the war by Benedict Arnold and British troops, which included throwing their many family portraits into a fire, losing family historical documents and artifacts in the aftermath. That same Berkeley became the site of Gen. George McClellan’s headquarters as he gathered forces in the failed attempt to take Richmond for the Union during the Civil War many years later.

Further from the Descendants site:

After the war, Harrison remained active in Virginia politics as a member of the House of Delegates, which chose him to be its speaker.  When his second- cousin Thomas Nelson, Jr., resigned from the governorship in 1781, Harrison was elected governor of Virginia and was re-elected twice.  He was instrumental in shaping the U.S. Constitution as a member of the Virginia Ratification Convention in 1788 when he argued strenuously for a Bill of Rights prior to ratification, not after.  Failing that he voted in favor and helped secure Virginia’s ratification in a close vote.  He sat on the committee that recommended rights to be included in what became the Bill of Rights.

Whew. It wears me out just reading all this great man did on behalf of our nation. But after all that he returned to serve in the state legislature in 1791 before developing a severe case of gout and passing away at age 65. Elizabeth died a year later. They are buried at their beloved Berkeley Plantation, a national historic landmark.

Up to that point H-5 was long known for being healthy, active, and dignified in manner. He was rotund and found to love good food, wine, and bawdy behavior. As many noted he excelled in dealing with difficult situations and people as he was cheerful, steady and did not allow problems to bother him. John Adams wrote that Harrison had “contributed many pleasantries that steadied rough sessions.”

But Elizabeth’s and his story cannot be fully told without discussing their descendants. How about two future POTUS among other notables? From Wiki:

Among them was eldest daughter Lucy Bassett (1749–1809), who married Peyton Randolph (1738–1784). (Remember who H-5 roomed with in Philly?) Another daughter, Anne Bassett (1753–1821), married David Coupland (1749–1822). The eldest son was Benjamin Harrison VI (1755–1799), a briefly successful merchant who served in the Virginia House of Delegates but who died a self-indulgent, troubled, young widower. Another was Carter Bassett Harrison (c. 1756–1808), who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the US House of Representatives. Other children were Elizabeth Harrison (1751–1791), who married physician William Rickman (c. 1731–1783) and Sarah Harrison (1770–1812), who married John Minge (1771–1829).

The youngest child was General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841), who became a congressional delegate for the Northwest Territory and also was governor of the Indiana Territory. In the 1840 United States presidential elections, William Henry defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren, but fell ill and died just one month into his presidency. Vice President John Tyler, a fellow Virginian and Berkeley neighbor succeeded him. William Henry’s grandson, Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901), was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Benjamin served in the U. S. Senate and was elected president in 1888 after defeating incumbent Grover Cleveland.

Do you see what I mean that if it were a thing, the Harrison clan would be American royalty? We owe a big debt of gratitude to H-5, Elizabeth and family for their selfless, patriotic service to America.

Please remember Wolf’s rules for our community, which includes labeling all AI. In general the rules mean to be respectful to each other and to pull no shenanigans that your mom might find offensive or otherwise cause jail time. That said, free speech is honored here.

It is that time again. The Savior of all mankind is remembered and lifted up on the day. It is a story that never gets old or loses its meaning. Enjoy your times with family, friends and fellow church members. Pray for our nation that we may find favor and please Him.

Be blessed and go make something good happen! Merry Christmas!!!