Thomas Bradley Harris

Thomas Bradley Harris (October 29, 1826 in New York City; – May 22, 1866 in Ellena, Borneo) was an American businessman and co-founder of the American colony of "Ellena" together with Joseph William Torrey on the island of Borneo.

Early life Harris was born in New York on October 29, 1826. He was a professional merchant for ship equipment at the corner of South Street and Maiden Lane. At the first, he was working alone but later with his business partner named Nathan Gilette Pond, where they established the Harris & Pond company. The business premises had already opened by his father in 1805, and since working there they began to exported large quantities of butter to British Hong Kong. This export business was so successful that the trademark was soon copied by other exporters and stuck on its own goods.

Further career In 1862, Harris left New York to set up his own branch of business in Hong Kong and put an end to unfair business competition in his country. He left his wife Sarah Louisa née Seymour and his children in Walton, New York, where his father James Harris had already retired from the company in 1857. In December 1865, Torrey with 12 Americans and 60 Chinese founded the colony of "Ellena" with Harris was appointed as vice-governor.

The position of Ellenas in the mouth of the sluggish Kimanis River was unfortunate and favored the outbreak of malaria and other diseases. Ellena soon failed as the colony lacked a solid financial base, and Torrey was forced to leave his own colony to Harris a while to look for investors in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Later life and death

Harris however died of malaria on May 22, 1866 while Torrey was in Hong Kong trying to raise additional funds for their colony.

Torrey buried him on the top of a nearby hill, now known as Governor's Hill where Harris had built his house on the slopes of the hill and laid a path down to the jetty by the river. A powerful granite block, which is said to require six water buffaloes to carry it in a two-days effort from a nearby quarry to the grave, marks his last retirement. Torrey made the following inscription to this tombstone:

In Memory of Thomas Bradley Harris Hon. Chief Secretary of the Colony of Ambong and Maroodu. By Birth a Citizen of the U.S.A. Died 22 May 1866. Aged 40 Years. Erected by the Rajah A Tribute of Respect to the Memory of An Old, Faithful and Esteemed Friend. “After Life’s Fitful Fever, He Sleeps Well.”

The coffin with the mortal remains was exhumed shortly afterwards and brought back to the United States.