John Richardson Harris (October 22, 1790 – August 21, 1829) was an American settler of Mexican Texas and the namesake of

Harris County, Texas Harris County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 4,731,145, and was estimated to be 5,009,302 in 2024, making it the List of counties in Texas, most populous cou ...

. He founded the town of Harrisburg, Texas, and Harris County, Texas is named in his honor.

Family life

Harris was born on October 22, 1790, to John and Mary (Richardson) Harris in Cayuga, New York. After serving in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, he married Jane Birdsall, and they took residence near

Waterloo, New York Waterloo is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 7,378 at the 2020 census. The town and its major community are named after Waterloo, Belgium, where Napoleon was defeated. There is also a village called Wate ...

. Their first sons were born there: DeWitt Clinton Harris and Lewis Birdsall Harris. The family migrated to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in 1819, where Mary Jane Harris and John Birdsall Harris were born.

Gone to Texas

Harris prepared to locate to Texas at the urging of Moses Austin. To prepare for this gamble, he resettled his family in upstate New York. In 1823, he sailed his boat from

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Buffalo Bayou Buffalo Bayou is a slow-moving river which flows through Houston in Harris County, Texas. Formed 18,000 years ago, it has its source in the prairie surrounding Katy, Texas, Katy, Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, and flows approximately ...

, where he scouted locations for a trading post. Harris was granted a league of land at Buffalo Bayou on August 16, 1824. He contracted for a town plat of Harrisburg in 1826, while he established a trading post and a grist mill there. He named the new town for

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, the namesake of his great-grandfather. In addition to the grist mill, he ran a saw mill with the assistance of his two brothers, David Harris and William Plunkett Harris, and his business partner, Robert Wilson. They also offered carpentry and blacksmithing services. Harris and Wilson managed a small fleet of sailing ships, which imported trade goods from the United States and Mexico, and exported cotton and lumber. John Richardson and David Harris founded a second trading post at Bell’s Landing, Texas.

Death and legacy

Harris started building what was the first steam saw mill in Texas. With machine belts needed to complete the project, he sailed to New Orleans. He arrived amidst a yellow fever epidemic and died there on August 21, 1829. In 1833, two parties filed claims on the John Harris Richardson estate. Wilson and William Plunkett Harris claimed the real estate and equipment as their own. John Richardson Harris’s widow, Jane Harris, and DeWitt Clinton Harris arrived in Texas for the first time to make a competing claim. In 1836, Augustus Chapman Allen and John Kirby Allen approached the Harrises to make a bid on the Harrisburg site, but ownership of the property had still not been settled. By 1838, Mary Jane Harris and her family constructed a house on that property and reorganized the town in order to sell lots. Harris County, Texas was named for John Richardson Harris and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

is the county seat; Harris is the third largest county in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, John Richardson 1790 births 1829 deaths Ship owners Mexican businesspeople American city founders American emigrants to Mexico