My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Crawford County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Edgar P. Harris, founder of the Midland Blast Furnace Company, was born in Stowe, Lamoille Co., Vt., May 7, 1845. His father, James Harris, a native of Massachusetts, and of Irish descent, married Charlotte Downer, of Vermont, both having worked in the cotton mills of Massachusetts when young. They afterward moved to New York, and are now residents of Michigan, aged, respectively, eighty-one and seventy-four years. James Harris has been principally engaged in farming, though for a time he was superintendent of an iron mine in New York; politically, he was a Democrat, but since the war he has sympathized with the Republican party. The parents are Universalists in religious belief, and had six children. When eighteen years of age Edgar P. Harris enlisted in Company I, First New York Veteran Cavalry, Union army, served three years, and participated in the battles of New Market, Piedmont, Leetown Heights, Monocasy, Harper's Ferry, Charleston, two battles at Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek; he served one year as sergeant. Returning home he engaged in farming until 1867, and then went to Michigan, where he worked in a blast furnace. In turn he rose to the positions of watchman, helper in the furnace, keeper, and lastly founder, having entire charge of the furnaces at different places. He accepted his present position in 1877, which he has since continuously filled. In 1876 he married Mary Tyler, a native of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Harris have three children: Charles H., Bertie E. and Nellie. In politics Mr. Harris is a Republican.

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This family biography is one of 117 biographies included in The History of Crawford County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Crawford County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Crawford County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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