Four years ago, Mrs. Patricia Harris-Davis handed me the military pension file for the brother of her ancestor, Jacob Harris. When she originally started her research, she believed Jacob to have been enslaved at Retreat Plantation on St. Simons Island, Glynn County, Georgia.

When I found out that he served in the military during the Civil War and that he had filed for a pension, I told Patricia that we had to get that file. That pension file gave us the truth and told us how Jacob got to St. Simons Island and also identified a brother, Ned Harris.

In 2020, I was giving a presentation at Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation and Patricia attended and handed me a folder that had the pension file for Ned Harris. The following is a summary of that information.

A card in his pension file states that Ned enlisted on 20 January 1865 and was discharged the next year, 20 April 1866. He did not have any military service prior to enlisting and thus, no Confederate military service. He did not fight in any battles but was hospitalized at Hilton Head, Beaufort County, South Carolina.

His wife’s name was Ella, whom he married sometime around 1872 or 1873 and they never divorced. He was married previously to Hannah, who died around 1869 or 1870 and his “comrades” were Sam Iron, John Carpenter, and Jacob Harris.

Vitals & Statistics:

30 January 1865 – Ned was 21 years old, born in Liberty County, Georgia, 5’7” tall, black complexion, eyes, and hair.
1 February 1865 – Mustered in at Hilton Head, South Carolina.
6 February 1865 – age listed as 23 years.
26 November 1890 – 45 years old, 5’7”
24 June 1903 – 60 years old, 5’8”, complexion, hair, and eyes are black.
19 March 1912 – 5’7”, complexion, hair, and eyes are black.
25 July 1917 – Ned was dropped from the pension roll due to his death.

While there was no date, a physical conducted in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida revealed the following: pulse sitting 80, standing 84, after exercise 88; respiration 20 sitting, 20 standing, 24 after exercise. Temperature “normal”, height 5’9”, weight 150 pounds, age 60 years. He was suffering from rheumatism in both knees, both thighs, and small of back but the doctor found no swelling or inflammation of joints; he was able to move, stoop, squat, and rotate without any pain. The doctors did not find anything wrong with Ned, he was in excellent shape for his age and considering he was formerly enslaved.

While the physical revealed no issues, local doctors stated that they had treated him for years and that he had chronic pain and swelling in his joints, and, really, Ned’s pension file resembles nearly every man’s pension for the time, and that was that he was nearly crippled from rheumatism and couldn’t work, or was nearly incapacitated, which is how Ned filed in 1890 and after the Jacksonville doctors evaluated him, Ned’s pension was rejected. Eventually, as with all men whose application was rejected, a few more tweaks to Ned’s illness and condition, and voila! Pension is approved.

On 20 January 1865 in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia, Ned volunteered in the United States of America Army for a three-year stint. He enlisted with his brother, Jacob Harris and he signed his name with an X, which meant he could not read or write. He filed for his pension for the first time on 26 November 1890, using a lawyer from Washington, D.C. named N.H. Wills.

Other documents state he enlisted on the 30^th of January 1865, was honorably discharged on 20 April 1866, and, while on duty, Ned contracted rheumatism from cold and exposure on 1 March 1865 while at Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia. When he mustered out he owed the US $6.00 for a gun and equipment and he was due $2.26 for clothing.

A deposition taken on 24 June 1903 gives us some history about Ned’s life. He states that he was 60 years of age, a gardener, and living at 1700 George Street in Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia. He states he was born in Liberty County, Georgia and was enslaved by the Dunham family. His father was Johnson Harris and it was from him that Ned took his surname. Prior to enlisting in the military, he worked as a farm laborer.

He could not remember when he enlisted but he knew that he enlisted in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia and was immediately sent to Hilton Head, Beaufort County, South Carolina where he was sworn in to service and they stayed there in a sort of boot camp, running drills, and then were sent back to Savannah once they could march in formation.

The regiment was then put on a train and sent to Doctortown, Wayne County, Georgia to meet up with the rest of the regiment. They were then split and part of the regiment was sent to Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia and the other part, of which Ned was a member, was sent to Fort Pulaski and, for some reason, he states that it was because of this that he received his discharge.

I find it odd that Ned says he was sent to Fort Pulaski when his first marriage took place in Thomasville; I think he may have been confused. His brother, Jake, said that they were all sent to Thomasville and then back to Savannah. For the most part, the brothers confirmed each other's statements with slight variations.

Ned was asked to name the officers, he couldn’t really remember their names but he thought that Bogan was the colonel, Easter or Easton was the captain, Moore was the only lieutenant, Iron was ordinance sergeant, and Ned’s brother, Jacob Harris, was a corporal.

Ned was likely asked about his friends and acquaintances in order to have witnesses to his testimony: Perry Nibble, Ten Moore, John McCarpenter (other documents say Carpenter), David Jones, and Joseph Swinton.

He was also asked about his medical history while in service, of which he said he was never hospitalized but he had suffered from rheumatism for the past 16 years.

A guardian was appointed to Ned on 21 September 1915 per an act dated 11 May 1912, which basically gave a pension to men who served during the Civil War and the War with Mexico. His guardian was John E. Dubberly, and likely, Ned was in failing health and needed an advocate to help with his pension. Local court documents state he was “non compos mentis”, suggesting some dementia or Alzheimer’s.

By this year, Ned appears to have learned how to read and write, or someone signed his name for him on a document asking a few follow-up questions. The handwriting for the answers and the signature on this document match. The spelling appears to be phonetically because his wife’s name was Ella (Hill) Harris and was spelled Eller (hills) hirres (lowercase letters on the surnames) and that they were married by Revrn Amoust.

Marriage records for Glynn County show a marriage between Ned Harris and Ella Dansey on 14 August 1873 officiated by Rev. Amos, pastor of the Methodist-Episcopal Church. When asked if there was any official record of his married, he listed Grace A.M.E. Church in Brunswick.

Marriage records in Thomasville tell us that Ned married Hannah Jenkins on 20 March 1866 in Thomas County, obviously, right when Ned was discharged from the military. It does not appear that they had any children together, at least, none that survived, however, he and Ella did have children, whom he listed in his pension:

          Anna Marie born 4 December 1874
          Edward born 7 August 1877
          Moses born 28 August 1879
          Oscar born 16 September 1882
          Ernest born 10 December 1891
          Bertha born 16 December 1893

Ned listed that the above children, and one stillborn, were dead by 1915 except for Edward and Oscar. He also stated that Ella had never been married before him yet her name on the marriage license was Dansey.

Ned and Ella were found in the 1880 Glynn County census with children Edward and Moses, and by 1900, it was just Oscar in the home and Ella was listed as being the mother of only two children, of which both were still living.

It appears that two men with the name of Edward Harris lived in the area, both had a son named Oscar born around 1883-84, one was James Edward Harris who lived in McIntosh County and Ned, who lived in Glynn County. Having never realized there was a second Oscar, I had long thought he was the son of James Edward Harris; however, it appears that the man named Oscar Jasper Harris who lived in Brunswick, was the son of Ned and Ella.

Ned purchased a cemetery plot in Greenwood Cemetery in Brunswick where he and Ella were buried with a double tombstone that had their pictures set in the stone. Unfortunately, Ned’s photo has long since disappeared.

One record states that Oscar was an undertaker and his tombstone says he was born in 1864, when, really, he was born in 1883. It is possible that Oscar purchased the cemetery plot and tombstones for his parents.

At some point, Ned and Ella removed to Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida, where they both passed away within a month of each other; Ella died on 3 June 1917 and Ned died on 25 July 1917. Ned’s cause of death was “acute amoebic dysentery” while Ella passed from “acute paralysis of bulbar”, which is known as bulbar palsy today.

Due to the commonness of the name Edward Harris, I have yet to trace Ned’s son; after all, it is very confusing with two families having similarly named children in Glynn and McIntosh Counties; it took me a few hours to realize I had the wrong Oscar attached to the wrong family.