HARRIS Dicey

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alt. Birth: 1747, Amelia County, Va
• Land: 1782, Orange Co. NC
• Land: 1813, Orange Co. NC

Notes:

Mt. Bethel Church was built by Archer Harris

Land:
Land Grants of Orange County, NC
1617 Archer Harris 754-188-l 9 Nov. 1781 -9 Nov 1784 57-132-lôODyalsCreekofFlatRiv.

2538 Archer Harris 1635-490- 9 May 1798 - 20 Dec 1800 -112-275-325 Waters of Eno

Orange County. NC, deed books
Book 1, page 164 - George Smith sold to Archer Harris on 20 November 1782
100 acres for 30 pounds land on Dyals Creek. George Smith from Warren Co., NC, Archer from Orange Co.
The tract of land where James Wilkinson formerly lived which Wilkinson bought from John Wade. Bounded by
McCullochs line, Dials Creek, Carrolls corner, James Walker.
Book 13 page 307 dated 26 Sept 1808, Feb Term of Court 1810 Archer Harris to his son Edward Harris
for $325 land on waters of Eno River, land which was granted to Archer by the state 9 May 1798.
Book 13, page 308 Archer Harris to son Edward Harris for 30 pounds land on waters of Flat River
bounded by Dials Creek, land conveyed to Archer Harris by George Smith 20 Nov. 1782
Book 14, page 643 dated 30 April 1814 ArcherHarris to Thomas Horner for $170, 125 acres on waters of Flat River
Book 14, page 696 dated 30 Oct. 1813 Archer Harris to Edward Harris for $300, 100 acres on waters of Flat River.
Book 15 page 192 dated 31 May 1813 Archer Harris to Williams Harris for $200.10, 300 acres on waters of
Flat River bounded by land of Edward Harris, James Dollar, John Tilley, Mark Harris and Nathaniel Harris.
Book 15, page 193 dated 21 May 1813 Archer Harris to Nathaniel Harris for 200 pounds, 100 acres on
waters of Flat River bounded by lands of Edward Harris, Thomas Homer, Mark Harris, and Thomas Rhew.
Book 15, page 336 dated 27 Oct. 1813 Archer Harris to Mark Harris for $600, 200 acres nearwaters of Flat
River, part of land where Archer now lives.
Book 17, page 317 dated 6 Feb. 1819 Archer Harris to his son Robert Harris. for love and affection, 202
acres on southwest side of Flat River.
Book 17, page 370 dated 1812 Archer Harris to John Wilson, John McFarling and Nathaniel Harris
Trustees of a meeting house standing at Cross Roads, for one penny, 2 acres.

Land:
1813: Orange County Records, Vol. XIX, Deed Books 15 & 16, William Doub Bennett, privately published
Deed Book 15, page 193, 21 May 1813

Archer Harris of Orange to Nathaniel Harris of same, two hundred pounds, 100 acres on waters of Flat R.; begin at a white oak Edward Harris & Thomas Horner's cor., W 103 rods to a stake, S parallel with Horner's line to a stake in Mark Harris' line, E along line of Thomas Rhew's cor. post oak, along Horner's line N about 45 ch. to beginning,
signed: Archer Harris,
wit: John Hunt & William Harris, proved November Term 1815 by William Harris.

Archer married SMITH Elizabeth in 1766 in Orange Co. NC. Elizabeth was born in 1748 in Amelia County, Va; died about 1810 in Orange Co. NC; was buried about 1810 in Durham, Durham, North Carolina, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

MOUNT BETHEL METHODIST CHURCH

Nathaniel Harris in the mid-eighteenth century acquired a tract of 6000 acres in what is now northern Durham County and the community of Bahama. Thereon his son Archer built a meeting house around 1784 which operated for the benefit of all denominations until 1808 when it affiliated with the Methodist Church. The first building was a log structure and was used by all who desired to worship, white and black. The meeting house, originally known as Crossroads, is mentioned in a deposition filed against Archer Harris in 1784 as part of a boundary dispute.

In 1812 a two-acre tract was conveyed to church trustees. The church was placed within the Granville Circuit of the Virginia Conference. On December 20, 1820, Washington Duke, patriarch of the "Dukes of Durham," was converted to Methodism at the church. His parents, Taylor and Dicey Jones Durham, were members at Mount Bethel. The gifts of the Duke family to Methodist causes, not the least of them the establishment of Duke University, are many. Duke is said to have claimed that "whatever I am, I accredit to the Methodist circuit riders."

The present church building was completed in 1949 and is the congregation's sixth. The raising was the culmination of a prolonged fundraising effort. Harley Chester, minister, recalled that "gallons of Brunswick stew were made and sold, suppers were given, bazaars were held, Negro minstrels, plays, a womanless wedding and almost anything to make an honest dollar."


References:
Jean Bradley Anderson, Durham County: A History of Durham County, North Carolina (1990)
Harley A. Chester, "A History of Mount Bethel Methodist Church" (eight-page pamphlet
published by the church, n.d., 1950?, copy in the marker files, North Carolina
Office of Archives and History)
Orange County Deed Books, North Carolina State Archives

SR 1793 (Bahama Road) at Bahama

Nathaniel married SULLIVAN Ellender about 1740 in Amelia County, Va. Ellender was born in 1712 in Amelia County, Va; died in 1783 in Orange Co. NC; was buried in 1783 in Orange Co. NC. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Virginia to North Carolina
Edward Harris with wife Unity lived on Harris Creek in Amelia (now Prince Edward,) Virginia by 1745. His wife was Unity, said to be Native American. Their son, Nathaniel Harris, married Eleander Sullivan and moved to Orange County, NC. Orange County, North Carolina was created in 1752 from Bladen, Granville, and Johnston Counties. The County Seat is Hillsboro. The Court House burned in 1789. The first census records are 1800., NC.

Edward married HARRIS Unity --unknown-- about 1721. Unity was born about 1705; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Edward Harris with wife Unity lived on Harris Creek in Amelia (now Prince Edward,) Virginia by 1745. His wife was Unity, said to be Native American