When George W. Harris was born on 13 April 1795, in Elgin, Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada, his father, Silas Gibson Harris, was 32 and his mother, Elizabeth Sawyer, was 27. He married Hannah Brooks on 2 February 1818, in Quebec, Quebec, Canada. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 6 daughters. He lived in Linn Township, Linn, Iowa, United States in 1850. He died on 11 June 1852, in Linn, Iowa, United States, at the age of 57, and was buried in Shiloh Cemetery, Hiawatha, Linn, Iowa, United States.