Harris Family News

All About Thomas Harris of Rhode Island

His Family, Ancestors and Descendants

This collection presents Thomas Harris (born 1613 at Northbourne, Kent, England and died 1686 in Rhode Island), his brother William, 3 sisters and widowed mother who all migrated to New England in the mid 1630s. They joined with Roger Williams at the new settlement of Providence Plantation, now part of Rhode Island. Information includes research correcting long-standing errors by previous historians. This Harris family ancestry dates back to Staplehurst, Kent, England in the early 1500s. This collection also focuses on Nathan Harris (father of Emer and Martin Harris) who were great-great grandsons of Thomas Harris. The Nathan and Rhoda Harris family migrated to Palmyra, NY in 1793 and later generations moved westward eventually into Utah and Idaho.

Thomas Harris Signature

Click here: for research into Thomas Harris' history, his birth to the Andrew Harris Family, Northbourne, Kent, England and migration to New England.

Click here: the New England Historic Genealogical Society completed an extensive research paper differentiating this Thomas Harris from several other individuals also named Thomas Harris residing in New England at the time.

Click here:to read The NEHGS Register Article,The Origins of Thomas Harris and William Harris of Providence, Rhode Island, by Helen Schatvet Ullmann and L. Randall Harris

Click here: to read a research paper "Thomas Harris II and his son Nicholas Harris and families" by Helen S. Ullmann

Click here: additional research has extended the Harris line back several generations before Thomas Harris to Staplehurst, Kent.

Click here: to go to Thomas Harris' descendants Nathan and Rhoda Harris of Palmyra, New York and their family.

Thomas Harris was baptized at

St. Augustine's Parish in Northbourne, Kent, England

About the author: L. Randall Harris, 8th Great Grandson of Thomas, has devoted countless hours over 5 decades in pursuit of expanding the rich history of his Harris ancestry. The extensive pedigree of the Harris family is now found on FamilySearch. Thomas Harris: LC3H-JYS

His direct Harris family lineage is as follows:

Thomas Harris 1528–1567

Henry 1552–1616

Andrew 1585–1616

Thomas 1613–1686

Thomas II 1645–1711

Richard 1668–1750

Preserved 1715–1797

Nathan 1758–1835

Emer 1781–1869

Alma 1832–1900

William Emer 1854–1904

James Alma 1883–1939

Donald Kent 1925–2013

L. Randall Harris

Additional information, more recent research and sources are now found at FamilySearch for all Harris Family members. Since 2002, this website serves as a repository for assembling previous histories, adding new details and analysis to enlarge the known history for several Harris individuals. You are invited to use both sites in order to access completed research.