The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915 Page: 200
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The South'western Hiitorical Quarterly
the papers of Stephen F. Austin, dated September 15, 1825, shows
that he was at that time well established and in a position to sup-
ply Austin with a sloop or schooner of light draft. After men-
tioning other boats which were una ailable on account of Ieing in
bad condition, lie offers to hire the sloop Mexican, recently pur-
chased by him, to furnish a good master and crew, provisions, etc.,
and keep everything in repair for a. monthly payment of one hun-
dred and thirty-five dollars. In 1826 lie laid off the town of
Harrisburg, which became an important depot for supplies. The
arrivals of his schooners running between this point and Ncw Or-
leans were events eagerly awaited by the colonists. In 1827 lie
was joined by his brother David, who was captain of one of the
vessels, and his services are recorded in the history of that time.
At a later date two other brothers, William Plunket and Samuel,
came out. By the year 1829 John Richardson Harris was not
only the founder of a town and the owner of a large stock of mer-
chandise, with ships on the sea, but he had also built a steam saw-
mill, at the junction of Buffalo and Bray's Bayous. In the summer
of this year he sailed for New Orleans on the schooner Iights of
Man, owned by himself and brother, to procure a piece of ma-
chinery for completing the mill, when he was taken sick with
yellow fever and died there, August 21.' In after years, when
Texas had become an independent republic, one of its first counties
was named in his honor, and retains this name at the present dav.
7"The fatality of yellow fever this season in New Orleans has deprived
this colony of one of its citizens, who for the enterprise which charac-
terived him, was not only a very useful and important member of this
young community, lt one to whom it is indebted for the undertking of a
very valuable and considerable branch of mechanical industry.
"In the death of Mr. John R. Harris, the colony has lost an enterpris-
ing citizen, and his friends have been bereaved of one whose loss will
not be easily replaced. He died on Friday evening, the 21st of August
last, in that city after five days illness." From the second number of
the Texas Gazette (Saturday, October 3, 1829) edited and published at
San Felipe de Austin by Goodwin Brown Cotton. The copy from which
this is taken is owned by iMrs. Mila Morris of Houston.
8Family tradition says that John R. Harris heard causes, or c',m-
plaints, which from time to time arose among the settlers, seated under
a magnificent magnolia tree, which stood on the point of land where
Buffalo Bayou receives the waters of Bray's nBayou and is now occupied
by Weld and Neville's Compress and warehomne. His first residence was
on this point, then a most picturesque spot, and his sawmill on the op-
posite bank of Bray's Bayou. The store and first settlements were in
this vicinity and southward down Buffalo Bayou to a point where the
Bayou makes a ,sharp curve. This sawmill site was used for a sawmill200
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 18, July 1914 - April, 1915, periodical, 1915; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101064/m1/206/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.