Memory Hill Cemetery

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George W. Harrison

Sep 20, 1807 - May 15, 1854

East Side, Section J, Lot 21, Grave 3
-- See section's Lot Layout map
-- or see section's Grave Location map.

Latitude: 33.07441019, Longitude: -83.22819150 -- See location on Google map.

Inscription and Notes:


b. Camden County, GA, d. Milledgeville, per family Bible and Union-Recorder, May 23,1854
Government Service.
State Senator. Secretary of State of Georgia 1849-1850. Delegate to Democratic convention, 1852.

George Washington Harrison

a short biography by Lois Harrison Colwell, his great great granddaughter

George Washington Harrison was born in Camden County, Georgia on 20 Sept 1807 (Family Bible). He grew up on a farm in Wilkinson County, Ga, the third son of Moses and Abigail Harrison. In 1825, George appeared on a "list of accounts" with the Beall and Patterson Trading Post (Wilkinson County, Georgia, Historical Collections, revised and reprinted 1978 by Maddox, p. 22). He would have been around 18 years of age.

Around 1830, George married Miss Joicy Cannon, daughter of Nathaniel and Frances Sumner Cannon of Wilkinson County. On 19th of May 1831, they had a daughter, Elizabeth Jane. When Elizabeth Jane was less than a year and half, her mother, Joicy, died on the Sept 24, 1832 (Family Bible). Her death is noted in the October 1832 Minutes of the Big Sandy Baptist Church, Wilkinson County, Ga.

In Milledgeville, on Aug 17, 1834, George Harrison married Frances Simpson West of Baldwin County, Ga (Family Bible; Baldwin County Probate Court records). Frances was the daughter of Joseph and Sarah Stanley West of Baldwin County (will of Joseph West, Baldwin County Probate Court records). She was born in Lenoir County, NC on Feb 7, 1807. On August 15, 1835, Frances and George had a daughter, Georgia Ann Harrison.

Within the next year, George and his family move to Randolph County, Ga. George became a state representative from Randolph County (A Source Book of the Early History of Cuthbert and Randolph County, Georgia, by Annette McDonald Suarez, p. 41). In 1837, George is found listed as a Justice of the Court of the Ordinary in Randolph County (Minutes of the Ordinary Court of Randolph County, Georgia, by George W. Shepard, Jr. and Jacquelyn Shepard). In the years 1838 and 1839, he is listed as a State Representative from Randolph County ("House of Representatives Journal", Georgia Dept of Archives and History).

On August 15, 1835 George and Frances had their first child, daughter Georgia A. Harrison, who married Alexander Wallace Starke, attorney and publisher. On April 21, 1840 George and Frances had son John Thomas Harrison, who later enlisted in the regular army of the Confederate States during the War Between The States. On November 26, 1842, George and Frances had son Zadok Daniel Harrison, who grew up to be Clerk of the Supreme Court of Georgia for 66 years in Atlanta. On September 26, 1844, George and Frances had son James Polk Harrison, who later brought the family into the printing and publishing business. On June 1, 1847 they had a daughter, Elnora Virginia Harrison, who married E. Y. Clarke. On March 31, 1849 they had son, George Washington Harrison, Jr., who later went into the publishing business and became the state printer.

In 1843, George became a State Senator from Randolph County ("Georgia Senate Journal", Georgia Dept of Archives and History). In 1849, George was elected as Secretary of State for a term of two years ("Journal of the House of Representatives of the State of Georgia at a Biennial Session of the General Assembly Begun and Held in Milledgeville, the seat of Government in 1840 & 1850", Georgia Dept of Archives and History).

George W. Harrison died in 1854, leaving 7 children. After his death, his wife, Frances, turned her home in Milledgeville, across the street from the Capital building, into a boarding house (1860 Census). She died in Atlanta and is buried in Memory Hill Cemetery.


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