Felix Harris was born in Georgia on January 7, 1832, the 6th of 10 sons of William M. Harris, Sr. and Lucinda Scoggins. Felix Harris served in Company D of the 42 Mississippi Infantry. He died on January 2, 1909, and is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Georgetown, Texas.

FROM MARVIN HARRIS RE: FELIX HARRIS:316 On May 14, 1862, sixteen months after hostilities had begun in South Carolina, Felix left his young family to accompany his brothers Cicero and Joel to Granada, Mississippi, to enlist as a private in Company D, 42nd Mississippi Infantry, CSA, led by Captain R. W. Locke. Mustering officer was Captain H. W. Miller; enlistment was "for 3 years or the war," the common enlistment period at the time. Toward the end of the hostilities, Lieutenant General R. Taylor of the CSA surrendered his army to Major General E.P.S Canby, USA, on May 4, 1865, at Citronelle, Alabama. Felix's unit--Company D, 38, 14, 3 Consolidated Regiment Mississippi Calvary, commanded by Colonel James McGuirk--was a part of that army and became prisoners of war. A week later on May 12, 1865, Felix as paroled at Gainesville, Alabama. Military service: 14 May 1862, Enlisted in Granada, MS as private in Company D, 42 Mississippi Infantry, CSA, in Capt. R. W. Locke's Company by Capt H. R. Miller "for 3 years or the war"

From Billie Etchells”316 In 1880 Felix and Velenia are in Tate County, MS. In 1876 Velenia signed an indenture in which she bought part of a section of land. (Where was Felix at that time as it was strange for wives to carry out this type of a transaction.) In 1878 the same land was sold by Velenia and J. S. Harris. J.S. might be James S. Harris, the son to Albert H. who was a brother of Felix -- Velenia’s brother-in-law.

1870 Census of DeSoto Co MS:

Name Age
Felix Harris 39 mw Farmer GA
Verilia Harris 42 f w Keeping house NC
Charles Harris 9 m w MS
Henry Harris 6 m w MS
Samuel Harris 4 m w MS
Alma Perry 9 f w MS
Willim Welburn 23 m w Farmer MS
James Welburn 19 m w Farm labor MS

1880 Census of Looxahoma, Tate Co MS:

Name Age
Felix Harris 48 self mw Farmer GA GA GA
Valeria Harris 53 wife f w Keeping house NC NC NC
Charles M. Harris 19 son m w NC NC NC
Richard H. Harris 17 son m w NC NC NC

13 March 1891 issue of the TATE COUNTY, MISS, included this notice: “Mr Felix Harris and family intends to move to Texas next month. Uncle Felix is a Jolly man and a good citizen and we hate to see him go, especially do we hate to have his most esteemable wife leave our community.”
17 April 1891: "Our neighbors are having the Texas fever. Messrs. Felix Harris and Mack Gillespie have left for the state of Texas. . . . " 

In the 1900 census of Beat 5. Tate Co MS, Felix is listed as the “stepfather” of William Wilborn.

William Wilborn, head, white male, b Nov 1847, married, b MS, father b KY, mother b NC
William C. Wilborn, son, white male, b May 1883, single, b MS, father b MS, mother b MS
James N. Wilborn, son, white male, b June 1887, single, b MS, father b MS, mother b MS
Mary J. Wilborn, daughter, white female, b March 1890, single, b MS, father b MS, mother b MS
Locke L. Wilborn, son, white male, b May 1892, single, b MS, father b MS, mother b MS
Felix Harris, stepfather, white male, b Oct 1832, married, b GA, father b GA, mother b GA

He is also listed as a “boarder” in the 1900 census of Smith, Cross Co AR, the town where his two brothers lived. These two counties are relatively close. The Cross Co census was taken on June 4 and the Tate Co census was taken on June 23. Since Smith, AR and Thyratira, MS are only 260 miles apart, and since there were already railroads in 1900, Felix presumably relocated in mid-June, 1900.

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Felix Harris was apparently married in Cross Co AR on 7 Dec 1899.317 He was recorded as being 66 years of age and his bride, Mary Ellen McKinney, as being 50 years of age. Both were recorded as being residents of Wynne, Cross Co AR. She may have been the widow of John H. Mckinney, whose family was recorded in Randolph Co AR in the 1880 census:

Name Age
John H. Mckinney 34
Mary Mckinney 29
Thomas Mckinney 8
Alonzo Mckinney 6
Emma R. Mckinney 4
Martha J. Mckinney 2

John H. McKinney died 14 Dec 1887.318 However, Mary Ellen was not listed as a wife of Felix on the June 4, 1900 census of Cross Co AR. She was not deceased at that time because she applied for a pension in the name of her deceased husband John H. McKinney in 1901.319 Furthermore, in her application, dated 29 June 1901, Mary E. McKinley represented that “I have not since re-married, so help me God.”

Randolph Co AR is in the NE corner of the state, not far north of Cross Co AR and just west of Tate Co MS.

Mr. Heathcock,

I stumbled onto your web site by accident.  I was looking for more information on the family of Joel Morton Harris when I found it.  Joel was one of the sons of William M. Harris and Lucinda Scoggins.  My ancestor, William Archie McCall, enlisted in Granada, MS, on the same day as Cicero, Felix and Joel Harris.  All four men were in Captain R. W. Locke's company which later became part of the 42nd Mississippi Infantry.  Following the war, Joel Morton Harris and William Archie McCall moved to Gonzales Co., TX, where two of Joel's children married two of William's children.

I don't know if you are aware of this - following the British conquest of Northern Ireland, the British government promoted Scotch settlement in Northern Ireland.  To that end, members of the Harris, McCall and Calquoun (Calhoun) families departed Scotland on a single ship and settled in Northern Ireland, where they stayed for two generations.  When the British government became repressive, these families left Northern Ireland for America, most landing in Philadelphia.  Many settled in PA, at least temporarily, until moving on.  When the Calhouns opened their own settlement in South Carolina, members of the three families flocked there in enormous numbers.  York Co., SC, and adjoining Mecklenburg Co., NC, were heavily Scots-Irish.  As their population, surged, they expanded their range to the west into adjoining counties.  

I don't know if your Harris line is one of the Scots-Irish who were associated with the McCall and Calhoun families but I have a suspicion that they may have been.  

I am simply trying to understand how the three families interacted during their treks to the west and your Harris family in particular.  

Ed Corey <ecorey@cox.net>

Valeria Elizabeth Hailey married first Joshua Clark Wilborn, son of Joshua and Rachel Smith Welborn of Monroe County, KY. The couple had two sons, born in 1848 and 1849. Joshua Wilborn was still alive at the time of the 1850 census of DeSoto Co MS, but died sometime after this time. In 1858, the widowed Valeria Elizabeth Wilburn married Felix Harris. The couple is listed in the 1860 census of Marshall Co MS, along with Elizabeth’s two sons from her first marriage and a one-year old daughter named Mintosa Harris. In the 1870 census, Mintosa is no longer listed, apparently having died. There are three sons, Charles, Henry, and Samuel, plus a nine-year old girl named Aima Terry. Elizabeth’s two sons William and James, ages 23 and 19 were still listed as members of the family. Felix and Elizabeth appear again in the 1880 census of Tate Co (still in Looxahoma--the county lines were redrawn in 1873). At this time, sons Charles and Richard are still living with the family. Son Samuel is no longer listed, apparently having died during the preceding decade.

It is not known for sure when Felix migrated from Mississippi to Texas. He apparently took his family to Texas in 1891 because the 13 March 1891 issue of the TATE COUNTY, MISS, included this notice: “Mr Felix Harris and family intends to move to Texas next month. Uncle Felix is a Jolly man and a good citizen and we hate to see him go, especially do we hate to have his most esteemable wife leave our community.” The 17 April 1891 issue of the same newspaper reported: "Our neighbors are having the Texas fever. Messrs. Felix Harris and Mack Gillespie have left for the state of Texas. . . . "

Clayton Heathcock, Jr. is in possession of a photograph of Felix and Elizabeth Harris, taken about 1891 or 1892 in a studio in Waco, Texas.

However, Valeria Elizabeth Harris apparently died between 1891 and 1900 because in the 1900 census of Tate Co MS, Felix is listed as step-father in the home of William S. Wilborn, Elizabeth’s son from her first marriage. Eventually, Felix ended up back in Texas because he died in Georgetown in 1909 and is buried there.

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Her name is given in some sources as “Velenia”.320,321,322