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SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., 1744. OC-
CUPATIONAL PROFILE: probably a planter. PUBLIC
CAREER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Lower House,
Kent County, 1739-1741. LOCAL OFFICES: sheriff,
Kent County, 1735-1737, 1741-1743; justice,
Kent County, 1738-1748 (quorum, 1740-1748).
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. LAND AT FIRST
ELECTION: 145 acres in Kent County (a gift from
his father), plus 1.5 lots in Chestertown, Kent
County. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BE-
TWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: patented
483 acres in Cecil County in partnership with
Daniel Cheston and John Brice. Harris received
890 acres in Cecil County as the eldest son and
heir-in-law of his mother, only daughter of Ed-
ward Jones (?-1697), to whom the land had been
entailed. Certificates for this land had been issued
to Jones, but no patents were recorded until
Harris demanded his rights in 1744. Harris sold at
least 765 acres of this land shortly after recovering
it, 1744. He inherited 300 acres in Cecil County
from his father's estate, which he also sold in
1744. Harris received at least additional 991 acres
in Kent County from his father's estate, by 1747.
He resurveyed the 145-acre tract he owned at first
election into a 554-acre tract in Kent County,
1746. Harris, Brice, and Cheston sold 350 acres of
the land they held in partnership in Cecil County,
1747. Harris purchased 474 acres in Kent County,
1747. WEALTH AT DEATH. DIED: on June 22, 1748,
at his plantation on Fairly Creek, Kent County.
PERSONAL PROPERTY: TEV, £113.2.11 sterling,
£1,537.15.4 current money, plus 52,344 pounds of
tobacco (including books and plate); FB,
£1,944.14.11 current money. LAND: at least 1,844
acres in Cecil and Kent counties; plus 133 acres in
Cecil County in partnership with John Brice and
Daniel Cheston.
HARRISON, BENJAMIN (ca. 1754-1825)
BORN ca. 1754, mentioned as unborn in father's
will written in August 1754; second son, youngest
child. NATIVE: fourth generation. RESIDED: in Her-
ring Creek Hundred, West River, Anne Arundel
County. FAMILY BACKGROUND. FATHER: Richard
Harrison (?-1761), of Anne Arundel County, son
of Samuel Harrison (1679-1733) and wife Sarah
Hall (?-ca. 1741/42). MOTHER Rachel. BROTHER:
Samuel. SISTERS: Sarah; Susannah; Araminta; Ra-
chel; and Margaret. MARRIED on February 23,
1775, Sarah (?-by 1803), daughter of Stephen
Steward (?-ca. 1790), of Anne Arundel County, a
shipbuilder and merchant. Her brother was
Stephen, Jr. Her sister was Elizabeth, who married
Frederick Skinner, of Calvert County. CHILDREN.
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SON: John, who married Holland and moved to
Washington County by 1805. DAUGHTERS: Elea-
nor, who married in 1803 John Stevenson; Anne,
who married in 1809 Thomas Tongue, Jr. PRIVATE
CAREER. EDUCATION, literate. RELIGIOUS AFFILIA-
TION: his father, of Quaker background, specified
in his will that his sons should not be educated in
the Roman Catholic faith of his wife. SOCIAL STA-
TUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., 1787. OCCUPATIONAL
PROFILE: mariner, 1774, possibly master of the
ship Gedder that imported goods for an Annapolis
merchant. Known as "captain" from at least 1776
until at least 1808, although he called himself a
planter in 1803. PUBLIC CAREER. STATE OFFICES.
Executive Council, 1787-1788; Constitution Rati-
fication Convention, Anne Arundel County, 1788.
WEALTH DURING LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROP-
ERTY: assessed value £1,169.0.0, including 16
slaves and 90 oz. plate, 1783; 31 slaves, 1790; 34
slaves, 1798. In 1792 Harrison was appointed ad-
ministrator of the estate of his father-in-law to
replace his brother-in-law, Stephen Steward, Jr.,
who had petitioned for relief as an insolvent
debtor. The estate of Stephen Steward, Sr., was
responsible for the debts of Col. John Steward, as
well as his own, and his personal property was
insufficient to satisfy all their creditors. Harrison
applied for relief as an insolvent debtor in April
1795, appointing a trustee for his real and per-
sonal estate. He eventually sold the real property
of Stephen Steward, Sr., but he was forced to pay
many of the debts himself until the transactions
were confirmed. LAND AT FIRST ELECTION: prob-
ably 501 acres in Anne Arundel County (400 acres
were a gift from his uncle, Benjamin Harrison,
1774). SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN
FIRST ELECTION AND DEATH: obtained warrants
and surveyed ca. 150 acres in Anne Arundel
County in 1796, but sold the land before patenting
it. Assessed for 538 acres in Anne Arundel
County, 1798. Probably purchased 100 acres in
Anne Arundel County during the 1790s, but sold
50 acres of that tract in addition to 15 acres of his
uncle's gift in the early 1800s. Purchased 124 acres
in Anne Arundel County, 1806. Sold the remain-
der of his uncle's gift in 1812 and 1815. WEALTH
AT DEATH. DIED: between September 1 and No-
vember 10, 1825, in Anne Arundel County. LAND:
probably 271 acres in Anne Arundel County.
HARRISON, JOSEPH (ca. 1623-1673). BORN
ca. 1623, probably in England. IMMIGRATED: in
1653 as a free adult. RESIDED: in Charles County.
MARRIED Elizabeth. CHILDREN. SONS: Joseph
(1659-1710), who married Jane; Francis; Richard
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