Kenbridge, Virginia
Harris Residency (1800's-1920)
My great-grandparents, Robert Harris, Sr. and Algerine Hogan Harris, and their ancestors were born in Virginia around 1800. It is quite probable that Robert was a former slave of James A. Harris, a Lunenburg County, Virginia slave and plantation owner. Robert and his family made their appearance on record via the 1870 U.S. Census for Columbian Grove District, Lunenburg County, Virginia. Columbian Grove was a post office district. However, it is now known as Kenbridge. It is interesting to note that there were approximately 59 free Harris surnames in 1860 Dinwiddie County.
My grandparents, James Garfield Harris and Anna Belle Neblett Harris, were born in Lunenburg, County, Virginia. There were many Harris, Hogan, Neblett, Gee, Hinton, Bolling and Tucker relatives distributed throughout Dinwiddie and Lunenburg Counties, many of them migrated to the Gloucester County, New Jersey area. James Garfield Harris and Anna Belle Neblett moved to Gloucester County, New Jersey around 1900. Anna Belle was employed as a domestic worker at 24 Newton Avenue, Woodbury, New Jersey in 1907. It just so happens that I was able to contact the present owner of that residence and she told me that the house belonged to two "spinster" sisters. By all accounts, it was a grand home. My grandmother must have been very strong to make the journey from Virginia to New Jersey by herself, into such an unknown world, as a Black woman. What a women ! James Garfield was a farm laborer in Mullica Hill, Harrison Township, New Jersey. They were married in Barnsboro, New Jersey in 1907, William Gee was a witness. James and Anna raised their family in Clayton, Gloucester County, New Jersey. My father, Clarence Mack Harris, was one result of the marital union between James and Anna.
Virginia history, surnames, links, maps, and fun, go to...