John Richardson Harris

John Richardson Harris (October 22, 1790 – August 21, 1829) was an American settler of Mexican Texas and the namesake of Harris County, Texas. He founded the town of Harrisburg, Texas, and Harris County, Texas is named in his honor.

Family life Harris was born on October 22, 1790, to John and Mary (Richardson) Harris in Cayuga, New York. After serving in the War of 1812, he married Jane Birdsall, and they took residence near Waterloo, New York. Their first sons were born there: DeWitt Clinton Harris and Lewis Birdsall Harris. The family migrated to Ste. Genevieve, Missouri in 1819, where Mary Jane Harris and John Birdsall Harris were born.

Gone to Texas

Harris prepared to locate to Texas at the urging of Moses Austin. To prepare for this gamble, he resettled his family in upstate New York. In 1823, he sailed his boat from New Orleans to Buffalo Bayou, where he scouted locations for a trading post.

Harris was granted a league of land at Buffalo Bayou on August 16, 1824. He contracted for a town plat of Harrisburg in 1826, while he established a trading post and a grist mill there. He named the new town for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the namesake of his great-grandfather.

In addition to the grist mill, he ran a saw mill with the assistance of his two brothers, David Harris and William Plunkett Harris, and his business partner, Robert Wilson. They also offered carpentry and blacksmithing services. Harris and Wilson managed a small fleet of sailing ships, which imported trade goods from the United States and Mexico, and exported cotton and lumber.