bullet Catherine GRIPE was born in 1764 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. She died in 1835. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bullet Daniel GRIPE was born on 15 Apr 1752 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. He died on 19 Apr 1791 in Montgomery Co., Ohio. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

He was married to Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE about 1778 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Children were: Catherine GRIPE, Jacob GRIPE, Daniel GRIPE, Barbara GRIPE, John GRIPE, Esther GRIPE, Rinehart GRIPE.

bullet Daniel GRIPE was born on 14 Jul 1783 in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania. He died on 22 May 1865 in Pleasant Twp., Wabash Co., Indiana. Parents: Daniel GRIPE and Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE.

He was married to Catherine OVERHOLTZER on 23 Aug 1812 in Montgomery Co., Indiana.

He was married to Susan (Cripe) about 1804 in Pennsylvania.

bullet Elizabeth GRIPE was born in 1748 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bulletEsther GRIPE was born in 1790 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. She died in Saint Joseph, Floyd Co., Indiana. Parents: Daniel GRIPE and Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE.

She was married to John STUTSMAN on 1 Mar 1810 in Montgomery, Hamilton Co., Ohio.

bullet Esther (Hester) GRIPE was born in 1762 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. She died in 1834 in Carroll Co., Indiana. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

She was married to John WAGONER in 1786 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

bullet Hannah GRIPE was born in 1769 in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania. She died in 1827 in Montgomery, Hamilton Co., Ohio. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

She was married to Daniel MARTIN in 1788 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

bullet Jacob GRIPE was born about 1782 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He died in 1847 in Saint Joseph, Floyd Co., Indiana. Parents: Daniel GRIPE and Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE.

He was married to Frances YORDIE before 1815 in Montgomery, Hamilton Co., Ohio.

He was married to Fanny JORDON about 1806.

bullet Jacob GRIPE was born in 1712 in Amoneburg, Germany. He died in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania.
Another founder of the extended Replogle family was Jacob Cripe (Greib). As far as I know all the Cripes and Gripes in America descend from him. If so they descend from Elizabeth Ulrich too. He married her about 1740. Their son married a Rinehart Replogle daughter, uniting Cripe, Ulrich and Replogle genes. Their daughter married a Shively, joining the Cripe-Ulrich-Shively lines. Then a daughter of this Shively union (Elizabeth) married Rinehart's son Peter Replogle. So by 1805 or thereabouts one line of Rinehart Replogle's descendants carried Cripe-Ulrich genes and another carried the genes of Cripe-Ulrich-Shively. By this time Metzgers had entered the family too. George Metzger's daughters married three of Rinehart Replogle's sons. A fourth son (Peter) had a son who married a Metzger (whose mother was an Ulrich). If this sounds bewildering, it is. The point is: these families became, after two or three generations in America, a kind of clan. They lived in the same communities, moved to new frontiers together, and married each other for more than 100 years.

For example, Henry Metzger (1803-1865) and his wife Susannah Ulrich had six children who married Shivelys; another married a Cripe. My great grandfather, Samuel B. Replogle (born 1820), with a Shively mother, a Cripe grandmother, and an Ulrich great grandmother, married a Metzger. So did his son William, my grandfather. The familiar names shift among the same families: a Replogle daughter marries a Cripe; their daughter marries a Replogle. (In one case three Metzger sisters marry three Metzger men.)

Jacob Cripe (Greib) arrived in Philadelphia Sept. 28, 1732 (George Washington was eight months old) on the ship "Richard and Elizabeth." He was about 20, and the only Cripe on board. His next six years are a blank. If he followed the pattern of most German immigrants (those not indentured) he passed through Germantown, learned what the prospects were, and headed west. West wasn't far away. In 1732 nearly everybody in Pennsylvania lived east of the Susquahanna River, in an arc about 100 miles from Philadelphia. Most of this was very sparsely settled too. A contemporary writer describes Conestoga (only 20 miles from Germantown) as "wilderness." This is the country Germans spread into. Philadelphia itself was controlled by English Quakers.

Jacob Cripe and the Ulrichs may be the first Replogle ancestors to have joined the German Baptist Brethren Church. It was a new sect, and most of its members lived close to Philadelphia. Their first American congregation, in Germantown, only dated from Christmas day 1723. But the church already had gone through a serious split. Just four years before Jacob arrived the more mystical wing had gone off to establish a colony at Ephrata. But Jacob didn't join this branch. Maybe he joined the church in Germantown. Maybe his marriage to Elizabeth Ulrich brought him into it. All of this is conjecture. The fact is he shows up next in 1738, some 80 miles west of Philadelphia, a charter member of the Little Conewago Congregation, along with the Ulrichs, Dierdorffs and Stutesmans. He stayed in this area for another 10 or 12 years at least. In 1743 he obtained a warrant for 150 acres in Manchester Township, Lancaster County. The 1745 survey is in "Conewago township" (probably the same land). He was almost certainly married by now and had started a family. Then about 1750 a number of Brethren families felt it safe to move further west, among them the Shivelys, Ulrichs and Cripes. In 1752 Jacob bought 300 acres in Frederick County, Maryland. I don't know where this property was located. But Stephen Ulrich bought land the same year next to (today's) Clear Springs, and Daniel and John Ulrich settled there too. These were probably all Jacob Cripe's brothers-in-law, and he may have lived near them. No towns had been established here yet. John Hager had already built a stone house in the neighborhood (still standing), but Hagerstown came ten years later. As far as I can tell the only thing resembling a village was Conococheague, a settlement where the creek of that name empties into the Potomac. (Part of Braddock's army crossed the river there in 1755.) This was about nine or ten miles southeast of Stephen Ulrich's farm. In contemporary accounts "Conococheague" often refers to the whole area. So in 1752 Jacob Cripe and his growing family lived somewhere in this locality, along with Stephen Ulrich, Uhli Shively and other ancestors-to-be. Some, of course weren't present yet. The Konigs and Metzgers had arrived in America only the year before, the same year Rinehart Replogle had buried an infant son (and probably a wife) in Alsace. But the clan was drawing together.

In 1753 Jacob Cripe is on record in Frederick Co. as an Overseer of Roads; in 1754 he's Overseer of the Poor. In 1758 he's described as a "cooper." That year he sold 106 acres, and other land transactions place him in the community up through 1764. Now the RRG says that in 1762 his daughter Esther was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. If true this would change the scenario. The big German migration from Frederick County, Maryland to Bedford County, Pennsylvania took place about 1770. If Jacob Cripe went earlier it would be a significant deviation. For one thing it would detach him from the Ulrichs and members of the clan, and it would detach him from the Brethren congregation he seems to belong to. Maybe more important, it would suggest some hint of individuality so universally lacking in these early ancestors, known mostly from land records and children's names. Some writers say a few Brethren families entered Morrisons Cove (Bedford County) in 1755, perhaps the first permanent settlers in the valley. (But they didn't come from the Conococheague.) Living up there was not only dangerous; it was illegal. A 1744 treaty had given land between the Alleghenies and the Ohio River to the Indians. In 1750 to honor this treaty the British had chased squatters out of the Juniata Valley next door and burned their cabins. Then in 1756 an Indian massacre in Morrisons Cove took the lives of unknown numbers of Brethren. Those left almost certainly fled when in 1763 Pontiac's uprising cleared the land of most remaining settlers. It would be interesting to find the Cripes living there in this turbulence, doing something rather odd and very risky. I hope it turns out to be true, but so far I have seen no evidence for it. More likely Jacob Cripe went north after the defeat of Pontiac in 1768, along with almost everybody else. That triggered a mass migration over the mountains. The Replogles, Metzgers, Shivelys, Ulrichs were part of it. All of them went to Morrisons Cove. Jacob Cripe was there too by 1776 -- the year revolutionaries in Philadelphia signed the Declaration of Independence. The next year, as a non-resident, he sold 455 acres back in Frederick County, Maryland. All this suggests the family had recently moved north, had decided to stay, and was selling off Maryland holdings. It's worth noting the size of this acreage. In 1743 Jacob bought 150 acres in Lancaster County, in 1752 300 acres in Frederick County. By 1784 he's taxed for 900 acres in Frankstown Township (in the Morrisons Cove area). That's the familiar pattern: buy land cheap on the frontier, wait until it appreciates, then move to the next frontier.

By the late 1770s Cripes, Replogles, Ulrichs, Shivelys, and Metzgers all lived near each other in Morrisons Cove (or nearby) and our ancestry was well under way. Jacob Cripe's son Daniel married Barbara Replogle (1775), his daughter Susannah married Christian Shively, and his other children had married into the families of Shidler, Nesbett, Rench, Martin, Wise and Wolf. Jacob's will in 1779 divided 850 acres among his children and grandchildren, plus cash, horses and cooper's tools. His wife got lifetime use of half the land, buildings, a mare, and the "horned cattle." He died in 1801. He'd been in America for 68 years, and had lived on three frontiers. In 1802 his wife Elizabeth Ulrich relinquished executorship of the estate, signing with a mark. That same year a list of 99 free males over 20 in a single township of southern Ohio (O Banon) included the names Metsger, Shively, Replogle and Cripe. The family had moved on.

Jacob is our 7th Great Grandfather

He was married to Elizabeth ULRICH in 1740 in York Co., Pennsylvania. Children were: John GRIPE, Jacob GRIPE, Elizabeth GRIPE, Sussanah GRIPE, Daniel GRIPE, Samuel GRIPE, Esther (Hester) GRIPE, Catherine GRIPE, Mary GRIPE, Hannah GRIPE, Joseph GRIPE.

bullet Jacob GRIPE was born in 1746 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bulletJohn GRIPE was born on 5 Aug 1788 in Pennsylvania. He died on 25 Feb 1847 in South Bend, Saint Joseph Co., Indiana. Parents: Daniel GRIPE and Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE.

He was married to Eva RUHF on 26 Dec 1813 in Montgomery, Hamilton Co., Ohio.

bullet John GRIPE was born in 1744 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. He died on 9 Jul 1814 in Madison, Montgomery Co., Ohio. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

He was married to Elizabeth RENCH in 1770 in Morrisons Cove, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania.

bullet Joseph GRIPE was born about 1771 in Huntingdon Co., Pennsylvania. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bullet Mary GRIPE was born in 1768 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bullet Rinehart GRIPE was born on 18 Jul 1791 in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He died on 30 Oct 1870 in Saint Joseph, Floyd Co., Indiana. Parents: Daniel GRIPE and Barbara Lovine REPLOGLE.

He was married to Sarah WINEBRIGHT on 29 May 1814.

He was married to Elizabeth HETRICK on 26 Aug 1821.

bullet Samuel GRIPE was born in 1755 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. He died in 1845 in Clinton Co., Indiana. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

He was married to Catharine NESBITT about 1782 in Washington Co., Maryland.

bullet Sussanah GRIPE was born in 1750 in Bedford, Bedford Co., Pennsylvania. She died in 1818. Parents: Jacob GRIPE and Elizabeth ULRICH.

bullet Margaret HANNAFORD was born on 9 May 1773 in New Glouster, Maine. She died on 10 Oct 1850 in Paris, Oxford Co., Maine. She was Quaker. Parents: Robert Bartoll HANNAFORD and Martha TUCKER.

She was married to Simeon WALTON on 13 Apr 1800 in Paris, Oxford Co., Maine. Children were: Arthur WALTON .

bullet Robert Bartoll HANNAFORD was born in 1746 in Falmouth, Barnstable Co., Massachusetts. Parents: Thomas HANNAFORD and Margaret BARTOLL.

Children were: Margaret HANNAFORD .

bulletThomas HANNAFORD was born on 17 Apr 1718 in Stratham, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Parents: John HANNAFORD and Anna ROBINSON.

He was married to Margaret BARTOLL on 17 May 1744 in Falmouth, Cumberland Co., Maine. Children were: Robert Bartoll HANNAFORD.

bullet Anna HANSEN was born on 2 Feb 1733 in Tjorneby, Maribo, Denmark. She died on 1 Feb 1806 in Tjorneby, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans DINESEN and Anna Hansen ANDERSEN.

She was married to Hans HANSEN on 17 Jan 1755 in Tjorneby, Maribo, Denmark.

She was married to Lauritz Johansen PINKER on 19 Jan 1771 in Denmark.

She was married to Morten CLAUSEN on 3 Jun 1758. Children were: Hans MORTENSEN, Margrethe MORTENSEN, Claus MORTENSEN, Karen MORTENSEN.

bullet Birthe HANSEN was born in 1719 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. She died on 27 Mar 1764 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark.

She was married to Iver Peitersen MEYER about 1742 in Rodby, Maribo, Denmark. Children were: Kirstina IVERSEN, Jens IVERSEN, Jorgen IVERSEN, Hans IVERSEN, Hellena Rebecka IVERSEN, Peiter IVERSEN.

bullet Christiane HANSEN was born on 10 Nov 1791 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

bullet Dines HANSEN was born on 26 Oct 1802 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

bullet Dines HANSEN was born on 8 Jul 1730 in Tjorneby, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans DINESEN and Anna Hansen ANDERSEN.

bullet Egler HANSEN was born on 27 Oct 1797 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

bullet Lars HANSEN was born on 9 Feb 1794 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

bullet Margarethe HANSEN was born in 1738 in Tjorneby, Maribo, Denmark. She died in 1740. Parents: Hans DINESEN and Anna Hansen ANDERSEN.

bullet Margritte HANSEN was born on 17 Sep 1797 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. She died on 18 Mar 1820 in Branderslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

Children were: Sophie Margrethe SORENSEN.

bulletMorten HANSEN was born on 15 Nov 1788 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. He died on 12 Jul 1834 in Utterslev, Maribo, Denmark. Parents: Hans MORTENSEN and Marie LARSEN.

He was married to Margrethe Elizabeth PEDERSEN on 16 Jul 1830 in Denmark.

bullet Kristen HANSON Parents: Hans KRISTENSEN.

He was married to Joanne NESJE in 1835. Children were: Hans FROJEN.

bullet Patsy HANSON was born about 1745 in Halifax, Halifax Co., North Carolina.

Children were: Joseph HYDE, Rhoda HYDE, Mary HYDE.

bulletAngeline HARRIS (photo) was born on 4 Nov 1834 in Bertrand, Berrien Co., Michigan. She died on 14 Feb 1893 in Nephi, Juab Co., Utah. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER .

She was married to William HYDE in 1852 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah. Children were: William Edward HYDE, John Gilbert HYDE, Edith Adelia HYDE, Sarah Lavina HYDE, Harriet Parthenia HYDE, Ernest Bertrand HYDE , Francis Herbert HYDE, Edna Estelle HYDE.

bullet Charles Timberly HARRIS

Children were: Daniel Coleman HARRIS .

bulletDaniel HARRIS (photo) was born on 13 Mar 1831 in South Bend, Saint Joseph Co., Indiana. He died on 25 Aug 1892 in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.
Life of Daniel Harris (Compiled 1963. Incomplete and probably incorrect in some details)

Daniel Harris was born on 17 March, 1831, in south Bend, St. Joseph county, Indiana, or nearby in Michigan, as a census record states.

His parents, John Harris and Lovina Eiler, were married two months before his birth, probably because of the scarcity of ministers in their area. His father’s family had come there three years before from Ohio and they were the first white settlers in that area. They chose a choice prairie grassland enclosed by wooded area, which is named Harris Township to this day.

When Daniel was 16 or 17 years old, and his brothers and sisters numbered seven, his father and mother decided to go to Oregon. They were converted to the Church. His father, mother were baptized at Navvoo in 1846, a brother and sister were baptized. Daniel and the oldest girl, both were baptized in Grand River on 9 June 1846.

They remained in that vicinity until 1848. A baby brother was born at Harris Grove, Iowa. They emigrated to Utah in 1848 in Brigham Young’s second company. There were over a thousand people in the he company. Did Daniel notice and become acquainted with a young sixteen year old girl, Lydia Harris, who was no relative but later became his wife?

Daniel’s father settled in Farmington, Utah, and another brother was born there. In 1851, this family went to San Bernardino, California with Lyman and Rich to make a Mormon settlement. At San Bernardino, in the fort, their 2 families lived for some time in a one room apartment in the fort wall. Two years later he married Lydia Harris, whose family had also moved to California.

In 1856, his father was sent on a mission to the mining camps in northern California to raise money to pay the mortgage on their land. John Harris mentions in his diary about Daniel going home—was he called on a mission too? By this time Daniel and Lydia had a son and daughter.

In 1857 Johnson’s army invaded Utah and Brigham Young called the San Bernardino settlement back to Utah. Because of their hurried departure, they only received a fourth of the full value of their property. Their settlement there has been described as "The most beautiful spot on earth". It must have been heart breaking to leave it.

For awhile Daniel and his family lived at Harrisburg, Parowan; at Fillmore, a son was born, and at Deseret two years later, a daughter.

Daniel was called with some of his father’s family to go back to San Bernardino to bring back some of the cattle left behind. They were accused of stealing livestock, and jailed. This episode caused friction in Daniel’s family, and he left Lydia and his children (his oldest son about 12 years old) and never saw them again as far as we know.

His wife, Lydia, moved in with her father and mother in Southern Utah. She married Samuel White and moved to Beaver. He died several years later. She spent the remaining sixty years of her life as a widow of meager means and raised Daniel’s four children and Samuel’s one daughter alone.

Daniel evidently moved to Juab County. In the 1870 census he was living at the new settlement of Chicken Creek with his parent’s family. He was baptized while there, the first baptism in the new ward.

Where and how did he meet Rachel and Hannah Thornton? These two English girls had emigrated to Salt Lake and evidently spent several years doing housework for a living before marrying Daniel. In 1873, he married Rachel when she was 27 years old. He married Hannah about a year later when she was about 20. One wife lived in Juab and one in Salt Lake. Five years later both were living in Salt Lake City.

Rachel’s children’s history was tragic. She had four children born in five years. Two were stillborn, one lived two months, and one eight months.

After 1879, Daniel and his two wives left Utah, joining others of the John Harris family and went to Colorado to work on the railroad. Family tradition says a land transaction left them with bitter feelings toward Utah settlements.

From there they evidently went to New Mexico where they met the Bingham brothers who were hauling freight to soldiers who were pursuing Geronimo. They worked with the Bingham boys and at times lived in Chavis, Lincoln, and Grand counties.

Around 1885 they met James McGee, who was head of an apostate Mormon group and affiliated themselves with him.

Daniel moved his family to Thatcher, Arizona, where there was a branch of the Church. Was he interested in reaffiliation?

Hannah had six children by this time, five boys and one girl. While at Thatcher the youngest boy died. In 1892 Daniel went with mcGee to Mexico to look after mining property. While there he died on August 25. McGee said he died of Salt poisoning—that is, took too much salt to ease the pain of abdominal cramps. The exact site of his grave is not known to us.

McGee moved Hannah and Rachel and their families to Tucson and at Ranch Rero they grew up.

Daniel’s two families were not well acquainted—hardly knew the other existed. Now we’re happy to have them reunited in a family organization.

Compiled by Shirley DeLapp

Daniel is our 3rd Great Granduncle Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER.

He was married to Rachel THORNTON in 1873.

He was married to Lydia HARRIS on 5 Oct 1853. Children were: Daniel Duane HARRIS.

He was married to Hannah THORNTON in 1874.

bullet Daniel Coleman HARRIS was born on 16 Jun 1864 in Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri. He died on 26 Jun 1931 in Ely, White Pine Co., Nevada. Parents: Charles Timberly HARRIS and Louisa EMERY.

He was married to Ellarine Augusta ANDERSON on 10 Apr 1899. Children were: Venus Deon HARRIS.

bullet Dewayne HARRIS was born about 1829 in Ohio. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

bullet Eliza HARRIS was born about 1822 in Ohio. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

She was married to Joseph E. METZGER on 17 Mar 1836.

bulletGeorge HARRIS was born on 18 May 1850 in Farmington, Davis Co., Utah. He died on 1 May 1926 in Tucson, Pima Co., Arizona. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER.

He was married to Martha Ann THORNTON about 1875 in Utah.

bullet George HARRIS was born about 1824 in Ohio. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

bullet Hannah HARRIS was born in 1820 in Ohio. She died about 1874. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

bullet Jacob HARRIS was born on 10 Mar 1837 in Bertrand, Berrien Co., Michigan. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER .

He was married to Eliza CARPENTER in 1863 in California.

bullet Jacob HARRIS (photo) was born on 22 Nov 1785 in Northern Ireland. He died on 5 Mar 1860 in Saint Joseph Co., Indiana.
Jacob Harris came from North Ireland. He started over with his parents and brother, but his father died on the way over and was buried at sea.

The widow and orphans embarked at New York, and the mother, not being able to take care of the orphans, indentured Jacob to a Mr. Hartman, a German and Revolutionary War veteran, who took him to Pittsburgh or near there. The Hartmans gave him an education, and he learned the trade of cabinet maker and joiner, as well as the German language. He married Susannah Hartman, a daughter of his master.

As a pioneer, he first left Pennsylvania for Dayton, Ohio, and shortly moved on to the South Bend, Indiana, area in 1829. Being the first settler in this region, the Harris Township was named in his honor.

It is not known how he felt about being indentured, but because of the fact that he didn’t talk about it to his children until late in his life, he must have resented it.

Jacob is our 5th Great Grandfather

He was married to Susannah HARTMAN about 1806 in Pennsylvania. Children were: John HARRIS, Sarah HARRIS, James HARRIS, William HARRIS, Permilla HARRIS, Thomas HARRIS, Jacob Strauther HARRIS, Hannah HARRIS, Eliza HARRIS, George HARRIS, Dewayne HARRIS.

bullet Jacob Strauther HARRIS was born on 24 Feb 1818 in Ohio. He died on 7 Feb 1875 in South Bend, Saint Joseph Co., Indiana. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

He was married to Betsy HARMON on 25 Aug 1839 in Bertrand, Berrien Co., Michigan.

bullet James HARRIS was born in 1812 in Green, Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. He died on 11 Mar 1897. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

He was married to Mary Ann FUNSTAN on 6 Feb 1840.

bulletJohn HARRIS (photo) was born on 2 Dec 1808 in Green, Northumberland Co., Pennsylvania. He died on 4 May 1899 in Farmington, Davis Co., Utah.
John was the oldest of a large pioneer family (11 children). His father, who had come from Northern Ireland, had been the first to settle in the South Bend, Indiana, area. The township and fields had been named in his father's honor (Harris Township and Harris Fields).

At some time around 1845, John and his family had been converted to Mormonism. In February 1846 they started out to join the Mormon settlement in Nauvoo, Illinois, from South Bend. About a month later in March 1846 they arrived at Nauvoo. Two days after their arrival, John and his wife Lovina were baptized in the Mississippi River.

John attended the dedication of the Nauvoo Temple on May 1, 1846. Within a few days they found themselves on the move once more. The Mormons were being driven out of Nauvoo. They crossed the Mississippi River on May 9. John Harris was elected captain of his company on May 11. On May 15 they started out on their journey.

Family records indicate that John and his family didn't arrive in Utah until 1848. If this is true, it appears likely that he and his family stayed in the vicinity of Council Bluffs for a couple of years before starting out again. When they did arrive in Utah, they settled in the Farmington area.

In March 1851, John, along with many other Mormon families (500 people in 150 wagons), were called upon to move to the San Bernardino area in California to establish a Mormon settlement. They arrived in California in June 1851.

In 1855, John was called on a mission in the mining district near Sacramento to help the Mormon Church pay back the money they owed for the property in San Bernardino. He spent most of the year in Coloma as a carpenter and handyman. As his wife didn't know how to write, he was lonesome a good deal of the time. He did correspond when he could with some of his children. During this time, John kept a journal which is now on file in the LDS Church Archives in Salt Lake City.

During 1856 Brigham Young recalled the settlement in San Bernardino. This was during the Utah Wars. John and his family later settled in southwestern Colorado.

John and his family later had gotten word that the Mormon Church was planning to create a settlement in the Southeastern portion of Utah near Bluff. In anticipation, he moved a portion of his family over to this area, and they were there to greet the first scouting expedition who came through The Hole in the Rock looking for a shortcut to the area.

John's wife Lovina later died in Arizona. In his old age, John moved back to Farmington, Utah, where he died in 1899 at the age of 90.

John is our 4th Great Grandfather
Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

He was married to Lovina EILER on 5 Jan 1831 in Indiana. Children were: Daniel HARRIS , Lucinda HARRIS, Angeline HARRIS , Jacob HARRIS, Susannah HARRIS , Rebecca HARRIS, Joseph H. HARRIS, Oliver HARRIS, George HARRIS.

bullet Joseph H. HARRIS was born on 28 Nov 1844 in Bertrand, Berrien Co., Michigan. He died on 18 Mar 1846 in Warren Co., Michigan. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER.

bullet Lucinda HARRIS (photo) was born on 13 Nov 1832 in South Bend, Saint Joseph Co., Indiana. She died on 3 Nov 1906. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER.

She was married to Abner BLACKBURN on 28 Apr 1852 in San Bernardino, San Bernardino Co., California.

bullet Oliver HARRIS was born on 13 Jun 1847 in Council Bluffs, Pottawatomie Co., Iowa. He died on 13 Sep 1919 in San Marcos, San Diego Co., California. Parents: John HARRIS and Lovina EILER.

He was married to Lodemia SLY on 13 Sep 1869 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake Co., Utah.

bullet Permilla HARRIS was born in 1815 in Ohio. She died on 11 Mar 1852. Parents: Jacob HARRIS and Susannah HARTMAN.

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