The Harrison Family

Dr. Harrison was also (in 1810) one of the founding members of the Richmond County Medical Society.

 

He served as a surgeon in the War of 1812 in Conner's Richmond County Battalion of the New York Militia and in Sitcher's First Regiment Artillery of the New York Volunteers. In 1817 he served as the surgeon for the 146th Regiment of the State Militia from Richmond County.

 

John T. went on to serve in the New York State Assembly as the Richmond County member in 1830 and 1831.

 

In 1835, he served on the first board of directors of the Staten Island Banking Association in a building on Shore Road and Broadway in Port Richmond. His future father-in-law, Judge Richard D. Littell, was President of the bank. The bank had a brief life of two years.

 

One of the many histories of Staten Island reveals that Dr. Harrison, along with Dr. Ephraim Clark (brother of John's aunt, Fanny Clark Harrison), saw to the care of Aaron Burr when he came to the Island to die in 1836.

 

John T. was a Presidential Elector in 1840 (the year William Henry Harrison won the Presidency), and was a member of the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1845.

 

Christmas Day, 1843 marked the beginning of a great scandal in Staten Island history - a double murder in the area known as Graniteville. A woman named Polly Bodine was accused of killing her sister-in-law, Emeline Housman, and her niece, Ann Eliza, and then setting the house on fire. A meeting of locals at Gaylord's Tavern led to the appointment of a committee to investigate the crimes. The committee, which also acted as coroner's jury, consisted of Dr. John T. Harrison, Dr. Ephraim Clark, Judge Richard D. Littell, Judge Cropsey, Daniel Crocheron, a merchant, and a Mr. Grant. Based on the findings of this committee, Polly Bodine was arrested, charged, and tried. The jury was hung; a second jury in Manhattan found her guilty, but the judge ordered a retrial, and a third trial in Newburgh, NY, resulted in a not guilty verdict.

 

The Harrisons were obviously one of the wealthier and well-respected families on Staten Island. The 1850 census shows John T. and Hellen (Lany) living in a house worth $30,000, with their daughter, Mary, and son, Alabamus. They had two Irish servants, Elinor and Bridget.

 

After the death of his wife, Lany, on April 22, 1851, he married Jane Johannah Dumont Littell, daughter of Judge Richard D. Littell and Margaret Eliza Dunn, on January 19, 1854. Jane is listed as 39 years of age in the 1860 census; also listed is their daughter, Eliza Theodosia, six years old. John T. Harrison, then 74, is listed as living in a house worth $100,000, with a personal wealth of $1,300.

 

John T. Harrison died on March 6, 1863 at the age of 79. According to his obituary in the New York Times, he was buried from the Dutch Reformed Church in Port Richmond, Staten Island, and friends arrived from Manhattan for the funeral on board the steamers Pomona and Flora.

 

Jane J.D. Littell Harrison later remarried Thomas M. Sother and resided in Orange, NJ, where she died on June 16, 1906. She was buried from Brick Church and laid to rest on Staten Island with John T. Also buried in the Moravian Cemetery is Jane’s brother, Franklin P. Littell. They are the children of Judge Richard D. Littell, a prominent Staten Islander and contemporary of Dr. John.

 

10.  JAMES COOK HARRISON (JONAS, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 14 Dec 1819 in Buffalo, NY, and died 21 Nov 1882 in Buffalo, NY.  He married MARY WILSON PEARCE.  She died 11 Jun 1891 in Buffalo, NY.

     

Child of JAMES HARRISON and MARY PEARCE is:

17.         i.   MARY PEARCE HARRISON, b. 12 Nov 1849, Erie, PA.

 

 

11.  JACOB HARRISON (JONAS, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 1825, and died 1870.  He married CORNELIA SEVIER.  She died 1870.

     

Child of JACOB HARRISON and CORNELIA SEVIER is:

18.         i.   WILLIAM B. HARRISON, b. 1848; d. 1917.

 

Generation No. 5

 

12.  FRANCES HENRIETTA FITZ RANDOLPH (MARY HARRISON, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 14 Apr 1809 in New York, NY, and died 15 Jan 1831.  She married GEORGE DWIGHT PHELPS.  He was born 06 Apr 1804 in Simsbury, CT.

     

Child of FRANCES HENRIETTA FITZ RANDOLPH and GEORGE PHELPS is:

              i.   MARY PHELPS.

 

13.  CORA HARRISON (JOHN TALBOT, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) married OBIDIAH BOWNE.  He was born 1824, and died Apr 1874 in Staten Island, NY.

 

Notes for OBIDIAH BOWNE: The story of his suicide is in the New York papers.

 

Children of CORA HARRISON and OBIDIAH BOWNE are:

i. ANDREW BOWNE, born 1847 in New York.

ii. JOHN TALBOT HARRISON BOWNE, born 1851 in New York.

 

14.  EMELINE HARRISON (JOHN TALBOT, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 1813 in Staten Island, NY.  She married FERDINAND MARSTELLA HEISKELL 09 Jul 1835.  He was born 05 Aug 1801.

     

Children of EMELINE HARRISON and FERDINAND HEISKELL are:

              i.   HELEN DELPHINE HEISKELL.

              ii.   EMELINE HEISKELL.

             iii.   MATTHEW NEWKIRK HEISKELL.

            iv.   FERDINAND MARSTELLA HEISKELL, b. 01 May 1849.

             v.   MARGARET HEISKELL.

            vi.   JOHN TALBOT HEISKELL.

            vii.   MARY RANDOLPH HEISKELL.

 

15.  FRANCES MARIA HARRISON (JOHN TALBOT, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 1813 in Staten Island, NY.  She married WILLIAM HAYES 10 Sep 1837 in Staten Island, NY. 

     

Child of FRANCES HARRISON and WILLIAM HAYES is:

i. John T. Hayes, born 1840, died 1841.

 

16.  HOWARD FITZRANDOLPH HARRISON (JOHN TALBOT, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 18 Jul 1820 in Staten Island, NY, and died 20 Aug 1882 in Staten Island, NY.  He married DUTILLA A.F. WILLIAMSON, daughter of MATTHIAS WILLIAMSON and HANNAH BANTA. (See #18 on the Williamson page.)   She was born Jan 1829 in Staten Island, NY, and died 25 Feb 1909 in New York, NY.

 

Children of HOWARD HARRISON and DUTILLA WILLIAMSON are:

    i. HELEN D. HARRISON, b. 1848; she married John H. Van Clief (born 1845 in NY), a lawyer, and they had the following children:

      

       Harry, born 1867; Charles, born June 1870, died Sept 1911; Walter, born 1874; Adele, born 1876.

 

       John H. Van Clief served as a County Clerk. He died before 1900, when the widowed Helen is living with daughter Adele on West 11th Street,

       New York City. By 1910, Helen was working as a clerk for a church, and living with son Charles, a carpenter, who also widowed.

       Daughter Adele married Walter J. Guion on December 8, 1902; they were living in Mt. Pleasant, NY in 1920, and Helen lived with them.

       Adele was born May 7, 1876 and died June 22, 1966 in Sarasota, FL; her husband Walter was born in 1880 and died on July 2, 1972 in Sarasota, FL.

 

19.         ii.   JOHN TALBOT HARRISON, b. 1850, Staten Island, NY; d. 08 Sep 1938, New York, NY.

             iii.   HOWARD FITZRANDOLPH HARRISON, JR., b. 1857; d. 16 Aug 1876.

20.       iv.   ST.GEORGE TALBOT HARRISON, b. 1864.

             v.   CORA A. HARRISON, b. 1866.

            vi.   AIDA V. HARRISON, b. 1870.

 

Howard Fitz Randolph Harrison was also a doctor, and with his wife, Dutilla Williamson Harrison, he lived on a property adjacent to or nearby that of JohnT., with their daughter, Hellen (2 years old), and their Irish servants, Patrick and Mary.

 

The 1860 census reveals that Howard had a wealth of $4,000 and he and Dutilla had four children - Hellen, John T. (9 years old), Howard (5 years old), and Cora (5 months old). They had a 19-year-old servant named Matilda Lewis, who was born in New York, as well as a 21-year-old coachman named James Chester, from Ireland.

 

Howard Harrison, Jr. died of bilious fever on August 16, 1876 at the age of 19.

 

On August 12,1882, Dr. Howard suffered a stroke and died on August 30 at the age of 62 of apoplixial paralysis.

 

17.  MARY PEARCE HARRISON (JAMES COOK, JONAS, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 12 Nov 1849 in Erie, PA.  She married GRIFFIN STEDMAN WILLIAMS 20 Dec 1871 in Buffalo, NY. 

     

Child of MARY HARRISON and GRIFFIN WILLIAMS is:

              i.   HARRISON WILLIAMS.

 

18.  WILLIAM B. HARRISON (JACOB, JONAS, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 1848, and died 1917.  He married SALLIE T. BLAKEMORE.  She was born 1852, and died 1933.

     

Child of WILLIAM HARRISON and SALLIE BLAKEMORE is:

21.         i.   WILLIAM A. HARRISON, b. 1879; d. 1905.

 

Generation No. 6

 

19.  JOHN TALBOT HARRISON (HOWARD FITZRANDOLPH, JOHN TALBOT, ST.GEORGE TALBOT, WILLIAM, ROBERT) was born 1850 in Staten Island, NY, and died 08 Sep 1938 in New York, NY.  He married ELIZABETH F. KERNS 02 Dec 1896 in Newark, NJ.  She was born 1871 in New York, NY, daughter of FRANCIS KEARNS and ELIZA CUTTLE; she died 10 Jun 1929 in New York, NY.  (See #4 on the Kearns page.)

 

Children of JOHN HARRISON and ELIZABETH KERNS are:

              i.   HOWARD F.W. HARRISON, b. 17 Dec 1897; d. Mar 1898.

22.         ii.   JOHN TALBOT HARRISON, b. 20 Dec 1898, New York, NY; d. 22 Jan 1971, Kingston, NY.

             iii.   STILLBORN MALE HARRISON, b. 26 May 1906.

 

Family stories recall that Dr. John referred to the house on the Island as "The Old Homestead." He is the first Harrison to move to Manhattan. This family had several addresses in Greenwich Village, where the doctor worked as a surgeon at St. Vincent's Hospital. He, like his father and grandfather, studied medicine at Columbia University, and graduated in 1879. He suffered an illness which resulted in the loss of the use of the muscles of his hand. This ended his surgical career, and he became a family practitioner. Three generations of neighborhood families went to his funeral. He died on September 8, 1938, at the age of 88, of nephritis. His address at the time was 179 W. 63rd St., New York City.

 

My favorite story of Dr. John is, of course, one of my father's tales. He told of one of the nuns at school hitting his hand with a ruler to break him of writing left-handed. She cut him and he shook his hand and stained her white collar. The nun sent home a bill for cleaning of the habit, and Dr. John in turn sent her his bill for his medical treatment of my dad.

 

One of my aunts has many loving memories of old Dr. John from her childhood. She remembers the jars of cat gut in his office, used for suturing wounds. She also remembers sitting on his knee and being brought on wonderful trips through his anatomy books. When she was really good, she received some small peppermint pills that she suspects were given to people for indigestion.

 

Elizabeth Kerns was married previously to Chauncey Devall, and had his son, Talbot, who was born in April 1895.