The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 369
390 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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The Pioneer Harrises of IHarris County, Texas
providing the temporary capital of the nascent republic did not
compensate the Harrises for the loss of their home, their sawmill
and other valuable property which fed the flames kindled by the
Mexicans to appease their wrath at the escape of the Texan cabinet.
When, on April 13th, the government adjourned to meet at Gal-
veston, Mrs. Harris, with a few friends, also sought refuge there.
With the news of the glorious battle of San Jacinto came also
that of the utter destruction of Harrisburg. Not a house was left
standing, the torch having been applied without discrimination.
The return of Mrs. Harris to this scene of desolation was some-
what brightened by the presence of another son, Lewis Birdsall
Harris, who arrived at Galveston by sailing vessel from New Or-
leans, together with other volunteers, on the very day the news
of the victory at San Jacinto was received at government head-
quarters on Galveston Island. In a diary, kept by him, details are
given of how the returning refugees managed to live amid the ashes
of their former homes.3 There was one house, known as the Farmer
house, outside the limits of the townsite, and here the Harrises
lived until their home was rebuilt of logs hewn by the Mexican
prisoners captured at San Jacinto. It was rebuilt on identically
the same ground as the one destroyed by the Mexicans, and by a
coincidence, one of the men who kindled the flame under it was
now engaged in wielding the axe to rebuild it. When, in after
years, peace and plenty favored its being improved, the hewn logs
were covered with weatherboards, the interior walls ceiled and
papered, a second story was added, and it was protected on three
sides with wide galleries on both stories. While this enlargement
was going on DeWitt Clinton Harris, who was in New York City
in the interest of his mercantile business, learned that the former
home of Governor Tompkins was being razed, to give room for
commercial buildings, and the doors and windows were for sale.
He bought and shipped them to Harrisburg for his mother's home.
At this time, the late forties, all fine carpentry was obtained
from New York or Boston, and this opportune purchase was noted
for its quality. The doors were heavy, handsomely panelled, and
served admirably for the four large rooms and hall, downstairs.
The windows fitted the openings in the same rooms. A simple
device for raising and lowering them consisted of wooden stops
"THE QUARTERLY, XXV, 185-187.369
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928, periodical, 1928; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101088/m1/393/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.