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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 74
1874 shows an appraisal of the personal property, which includes a category for the appraisal of the apparel of the wife and children. The words “the wife” were struck through and no apparel was listed for her, which suggests she died prior to that date.
Lou Dawson Harris, wife of William Harris II, in about 1910 (photographed from a painting). William Harris II, who was born in 1866, in about 1910.
Henry Harris is also listed as a head of household in the 1880 census. He was shown as age 40, so he would have been about 12 years younger than William Harris. He was listed as a Farmer. He also was born in Virginia, in 1840. This would indicate that both he and William Harris I were brought to Madison County by the same White owner. Since those born in slavery generally took the last names of their owners, the relationship of William Harris I and Henry Harris could simply be that. However, Henry's wife's name was Lavinia, and William Harris I named a daughter Lavinia, which suggests the two men may have been brothers or otherwise related. Henry Harris' wife was born in Alabama.
Both William and his wife Richetta are shown to have been born in Virginia. The children present in their household in 1870 were all born in Alabama. April 6, 1865 was the date the Civil War ended. Five of William's children (Delia, Caroline, Shelley, Lavinia, and Silas) were born into slavery. Dorothy Harris Foster was told by her mother that her grandfather's sister Lavinia was very fair in complexion, “so fair I think she
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