From: KyArchives [archives@genrecords.org]
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 1:36 PM
To: Ky-Footsteps
Subject: Harris.Nathaniel.1759.Jessamine-Woodford.BIOS


Nathaniel Harris 1759 -
Jessamine-Woodford County KyArchives Biography

Author: Bennett H. Young

Rev. Nathaniel Harris.

   Few men have ever been better known in Jessamine county than Rev. Nathaniel Harris. 
He was born in Powhattan county, Va., in 1759, of Presbyterian parentage. Being an only 
son, he was indulged in many things, which in the end proved hurtful. His intercourse 
with what were then known as the gentlemen of the day, caused him to become both 
profane and wicked.

   Shortly after his father removed from the old home place he became a volunteer in 
the American army, and was in the battle of Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.

   He was converted in August, 1783, and joined the Methodist church, and the conviction 
forced itself upon his mind that he was called to preach. He settled in Jessamine 
county in 1790, and he was principal of the English department in the Bethel Academy.

   He preached in the various towns in Central Kentucky, and in administering to the 
afflicted and the sick none ever excelled him. At marriages and funerals his presence 
was always sought, because of his tender sympathy and because of the love and confidence 
manifested towards him. He founded several Methodist churches in Jessamine county.

   The last years of his life were spent in Versailles, where he purchased a home for 
himself and his two maiden daughters. He died on the 12th day of August, 1849, lacking 
only a few days of ninety years of age. He had been in the Methodist ministry for more 
than sixty years. On the 26th of August, 1843. he entered in his journal, "I am this 
day eighty-four years old. I stand to my engagement to be holy for the Lord."

   The records which contain the certificates of the earlier marriages in Jessamine 
county, show that his services for these ceremonies were largely in demand. On the 
14th of March, 1799, he married Jesse Hughes and Nancy Nicholson, and a very large 
proportion of the early marriages celebrated in the county were solemnized by him. 
He was a faithful, earnest, devout man of God. Some might call his sphere humble, 
but his influence on the religious and moral condition of Jessamine county will long 
be felt, and in it he has a monument which should be both to his church and to those 
of his name, a cause of unfailing pride.


Submitted by: Joy Fisher
sdgenweb@yahoo.com



Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A HISTORY OF JESSAMINE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1898.
By BENNETT H. YOUNG,
PRESIDENT POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY; MEMBER FILSON CLUB; MEMBER CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1890; AUTHOR HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF KENTUCKY, OF "BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, ETC, ETC.

S. M. DUNCAN, ASSOCIATE AUTHOR.

Every brave and good life out of the past is a treasure which cannot  be measured in money, and should be preserved with faithfullest care.

LOUISVILLE, KY.: COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO., 1898.


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