William HARRIS

1610 - 1681

• Name	William HARRIS  [1]
  	At age 18, William was apprenticed as a needle-maker to Thomas Wilson of the Drapers' Company in Eastcheap, London, for seven years beginning 22 Oct. 1628; his future father-in-law John Hyde was a member of that company. William emigrated to New England and was in Providence, R.I., by the spring of 1636. He may have known Roger Williams in Salem, Mass., as he was among the small group who accompanied Roger Williams to the Providence area by that spring. Through the remaining years in R.I., William Harris and roger Williams had an antagonistic relationship. John Garrett calls him "the quarrelsome William Harris" and adds, "When the Quakers came to Rhode Island in the mid-1650's Harris took up with their cause." As an old man, Roger Williams actually wrote, "W. harris, who, being an impudent morris-dancer in Kent...under a cloak of separation, got in with myself, till his self-ends and restless strife, and at last his atheistical denying of heaven and hell, made honest souls to fly from him. Now he courts the Baptists; then he kicks them off and flatters the Foxians; then the drunkards (which he calls all that are not of the former two amongst us); then knowing the prejudices of the other Colonies against us, he dares to abuse his Majesty and Council, to bring New England upon us." [1]
  Christening	9 Dec 1610  [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Between 2 Aug and 3 Dec 1681	London, England   [1]
  Person ID	I83407	Main Tree
  Last Modified	14 Mar 2016

  
  

  Father	Andrew HARRIS
  Mother	Jane BAGLEY
  Marriage	2 Feb 1603/4	Northbourne   [1]
  Family ID	F34102	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Susan HYDE,   c. 20 Mar 1609/10, St. Mary Aldermanbury, london d. Aft 6 Dec 1681 (Age ~ 71 years)
  Marriage	Abt 1634  [1]
  Children	+ 1. Andrew HARRIS  [Birth]
  Family ID	F34101	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	14 Mar 2016

  
  

• Sources

  [S5602] The New England Historical and Genealogical Register 2013, Vol. 167 April.