When Josiah Harris was born on 16 November 1732, in Hopewell Township, Cumberland, New Jersey, United States, his father, Nathaniel Harris, was 39 and his mother, Elizabeth Buck Harris, was 35. He died on 18 June 1776, in his hometown, at the age of 43.
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Historical Boundaries 1748: Cumberland, New Jersey Colony, British Colonial America 1776: Cumberland, New Jersey, United States
"During the six-year Revolutionary war, more of the fights took place in New Jersey than any other colony. Over 296 engagements between opposing forces were recorded. One of the largest conflicts of the entire war took place between Morristown and Middlebrook, referred to as the ""Ten Crucial Days"" and remembered by the famous phrase ""the times that try men's souls"". The revolution won some of their most desperately needed victories during this time."
Thomas Jefferson's American Declaration of Independence endorsed by Congress. Colonies declare independence.
English (southern England and south Wales): from the personal name Harry + genitival -s. This surname is also established in Ireland, taken there principally during the Plantation of Ulster. However, in some cases, particularly in families coming from County Mayo, Harris can be an Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó hEarchadha. This surname is also very common among African Americans.
American shortened and altered form of Greek surnames begining with Cha(r)-, such as Chasandrinos (variant of Kassandrinos, a habitational name from the Kassandra peninsula of Chalkidiki), and various patronymics from the personal name Charalampos (see Charos ). In North America, the surname Harris may possibly also originate from a transferred use of the Greek personal (given) name Charis or Harris (shortened forms of Charalampos) as a surname (i.e. as a replacement of the original surname).
Americanized form of various like-sounding Jewish surnames.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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