Sarah Naomi Harris’s Cousin Thomas Jefferson:
A Presidential Ancestor?By: Mark A. Maddux12 (Norman Maddux11, Robert Johns10, Greek Cicero9, Benjamin Clinton8, James Monroe7, Benjamin Wills6, Zachariah5, Alexander4, Lazarus3, Alexander2, Thomas1)
When descendents of James Monroe Maddux and Sarah Naomi Harris get together and begin boasting of great Maddux ancestors, the name of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and 3rd President of the United States is inevitably brought up with pride (albeit recent DNA developments have created quite a stir).
Several sources specifically state that Sarah Naomi Harris was a cousin of President Jefferson. However, is Thomas Jefferson really an ancestor, and if so, how exactly is he related? Or is this ‘Presidential connection’ merely a tall tale passed down for generations?
When I attended the last Maddux family reunion in Brock, TX, I once again heard Thomas Jefferson’s name mentioned as an ancestor lurking somewhere back in the family tree. Upon returning re-energized for family history, I wanted to perform the research to substantiate this claim and validate this Presidential connection.
Several years ago in the age of books, I had performed a cursory investigation into the Jefferson tie, but felt unsure of the data and whether the Harris line tied into the Presidential Jefferson line. Now, in the age of a burgeoning internet, with so much data accessible from the comforts of my own living room, I have researched numerous websites and sources, trying always to corroborate data from multiple sources.
Fortunately, the Presidential line of Thomas Jefferson has been exhaustively researched by numerous individuals/societies and genealogies abound. Though, like all lines, some names/dates/places differ slightly between sources, but by-and-large the core body of information is documented by original source research and consistent among the resources.The Jefferson Connection
Thomas Jefferson is most well known as one of the nation’s Founding fathers, the Author of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Continental Congress, Secretary of State, Vice-President, and most notably the two-term 3rd President of the United States.
President Thomas Jefferson was born April 13, 1743 in Albemarle, VA, to Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph. His father Peter was the son of Thomas Jefferson and Mary Field, and grandson of Thomas Jefferson and Mary Branch. In addition to all these Thomases, Peter had a brother named Thomas Jefferson (be careful to avoid confusing the various Thomases). Peter also had younger sister named Mary, who eventually married Thomas Turpin. I t is this Mary, the aunt of President Jefferson, that is shown as an ancestor of Sarah Naomi Harris through Obedience Turpin who married John Harris. See chart illustrating how Sarah Naomi Maddux links to President Thomas Jefferson on top page 4.
So, the tie into the Presidential Jefferson line exists and all is well . . . well, maybe and maybe not...The Weak Links
The Maddux family tree descending from Sarah Naomi Harris Maddux is solid and well documented. The family tree extending back in time from John Harris and Obedience Turpin has been thoroughly researched and documented by others. However the weak links in the chain connecting the two are the three generations of Harris families, namely William G Harris, his father Hiram Harris, and his grandfather John Harris (wife Rebecca Brittain). The most obvious problem comes from conflicting information about whether Hiram Harris is actually a son of John Harris and Rebecca Brittain (Britton, Britten, etc.). From the data gathered, there appears to be two different sets of people and dates
. Story One: as I’ll term it, would have Hiram as a child in this family and seems to solidify the connection to Sarah Naomi Harris. Story Two does not necessarily include a Hiram as a child in the family and indicates a probable break in the link. Story One: Some data submitted available on the International Genealogical Index (IGI) and the Ancestral File (AF) shows that Rebecca Brittain was born in 1762 and married in 1774. This data includes 10 children born between 1774 and 1792, one of which is Hiram. The original source of the information submitted is unknown.
Story Two: The National Societies of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) contain applications documenting genealogies for at least two different individuals tracing back to Col. John Harris and his wife Rebecca Brittain [DAR Volume 34, ID #33472 and DAR Volume 114, ID #113717]. Other data found in the IGI and the AF agree with the DAR sources. These sources state that Rebecca was born in 1778 and married in 1794. The two children of John and Rebecca listed in the DAR documentation were born in 1798 and 1799. The ‘Good News’ is that these sources neither show nor disprove a child named Hiram. The ‘Bad News’ is that if these sources are correct, the connection becomes serious doubtful. The major problem arises if Rebecca was actually married in 1794, making the birth of Hiram Harris b: 1778 impossible and wreaking havoc in the connecting generations of his son William G Harris b: abt 1800 and granddaughter Sarah Naomi Harris b: 1824.
The serious conflict between the data of Story One and Story Two must be resolved before there can be any confident assertion that Sarah Naomi Harris is or isn’t related to President Jefferson. Unfortunately, my research was unable to uncover evidence to resolve the conflicting data.
The second weak link is the connection of William G. Harris to Hiram Harris. Despite numerous searches and web postings, I have found no references whatsoever connecting William and Hiram. The problem may be minor by my looking in the right places. However, some type of credible documentation should be found to substantiate this tie before the tie can be fully accepted.Summary
Sadly, I didn’t satisfy the question I set out to answer. However, through the investigation I did discover the wonderful genealogy of President Jefferson’s line and identified the weak links that remain to be answered. My feeling is that a solution is out there which does tie Sarah Naomi Harris to John and Obedience Harris, but until evidence is presented, the jury must remain out. In the meantime, YOU keep looking and I’ll keep looking and hopefully someday somebody will come up with the answers. Mark Maddux
Here are a few sources helpful in researching this topic and where more detailed information about Thomas Jefferson may be found:
Websites General Information:
Thomas Jefferson - Monticello
Thomas Jefferson
Websites Genealogy Information:
Gen Forum -Jefferson
Jeaffreson
Coffman Family Tree
Armstong Family Tree
And numerous other websites where no relevant information was found.
Other Sources
The Powell Families of Virginia and the South, by Silas, Emmett Lucas, Jr. © 1969, pg 132: “Sarah Naomi Harris . . . was a cousin of Thomas Jefferson.”
History of Parker County, Parker County Historical Commission, © 1980, pg 427: “James Monroe Maddux and his wife Sarah Naomi Harris, a second cousin of Thomas Jefferson ...”
International Genealogical Exchange and Ancestral File found at LDS Family History Centers.
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