Here are some notes on the lives and Civil War service of the brothers
John Armstead Harris (1839-1893) Company G, USCT 1st
Joseph H Harris (1844-1931), Company G, USCT 1st
Parents: Mary Ann Harris (1820-1913) and Thomas Harris (1815-1891), who settled in Dry Meadows off Broad Branch Road in Washington County, District of Columbia, in the 1840s, perhaps escaping the racial violence of downtown DC.
1860, John Harris, eldest son, turns 21 and seeks freedom certificate, attested to by Martha Parker. Then works in Georgetown (and probably regularly returns to Dry Meadow Farm to help out) Address: 20 Fifth street (now 34th and Q st) near Georgetown College, joined eventually by brother Joseph.
Before 1862 John Harris, eldest son, marries Millie/Mildred
May 22, 1863. US War Department establishes Bureau of Colored Troops.
July 10, 1863. John Harris enlists USCT 1, Co. G (Col. Holman, for three years)
July 12, 1862 Joseph Harris enlists USCT 1, Co. G
June 18, 1864 John Harris, suffers severe wound in his hand in the assault on Petersburg (nb ten percent of the USCT 1st were wounded or killed in the campaign. The June 18 assault on the city fails, and initiates a 9 month siege.)
-John Harris transported to Balfour US General Hospital in Portsmouth, VA, underwent surgery to remove part of hand, leaving it permanently disabled. Transferred to US General Hospital, Fort Monroe, Hampton, VA.
Sept 1864. Joseph Harris falls ill, evacuated to field hospital, Point of Rocks. VA, potentially could have been tended to by Clara Barton. Then seven months at Fort Monroe, before discharged from Army
Christmas Eve, 1864, John Harris rejoins his regiment
June 11, 1864, Confederate General Jubal Early and 11,000 troops advance towards DC. The Harris family evacuate from Dry Meadow Farm.
January 1865 John Harris with USCT1 sailed to staging near near Fort Fisher, Wilmington NC
28 September 1865. John Harris mustered out of service, in North Carolina
c.1866 Joseph moved to New York City for 20 years. Pullman Porter
c 1866 John Harris moves to Herring Hill, Georgetown (26 Monroe Street, 1337 27th street, Georgetown)
7 November 1893 John Harris (same person?) leg broken while working at H.C. Winship Wharf, Georgetown
Late 1893? John Harris dies? (Still searching for death record or death notice.
1894: Mildred Harris listed as “widow” of John Harris, 1337 27th St, Georgetown. So John dead by now.
c. 1893 Joseph return to Dry Meadows Farm and farms
1925; Joseph Harris property auctioned off to white speculators
—Joseph Harris and wife Margaret move to 1117 19th street, south of Dupont Circle.
1929: Construction of the all-white Lafayette Elementary School begins on the former grounds of the Harris farms
25 March 1931. Joseph Harris dies Garfield Hospital. Buried Woodlawn Cemetery
Sources:
Barbara Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green, Between Freedom and Equality; The History of an African American Family in Washington DC, Georgetown University Press, 2021
U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1863-1865 (National Archives)
Special thanks to Cate Atkinson on DC land records.
Mark Auslander 