Burr Harrison (patriot)

Born at his father's Chappawomsic plantation (other spellings include "Chippawamsic") in Prince William County in 1734, Harrison became the fifth man in his family to share the same name, although he would become the first of that name to serve in the Virginia General Assembly. His grandfather, Burr Harrison (1637–1706) had fled the armies of Oliver Cromwell and emigrated from near Winchester, England to the Virginia Colony, then became one of the negotiators with the Piscataway native Americans in 1699, established Chappawomsic plantation in what was then vast Stafford County, Virginia, where he died. He named one of his sons Burr Harrison (1668–1722), who became Burr Harrison's (patriot) father. However, his uncle Thomas Harrison (1702–1774) became the first in the immediate family to serve in the House of Burgesses, representing Prince William County (which had been created from Stafford County). A cousin born in Fauquier County (later separated from Prince William County), Burr Harrison (1738–1802) also served in the revolutionary Patriot forces and farmed using enslaved labor, but moved to South Carolina, where he died. This Harrison family is distinct from the Harrison family further south in Virginia's Tidewater region, which gave rise to Benjamin Harrison.

Burr Harrison received a private education appropriate for his class. He married Mary Ann Barnes, whose family also had plantations nearby, and the couple had four sons and five daughters. His daughter Sarah in 1763 married Col. Leven Powell, who would distinguish himself in the Continental Army before resigning for health reasons, then became an important politician, including serving as a presidential elector and two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.^[1]

Having enlisted as a corporal in the Virginia militia on February 15, 1776, Harrison served under Colonel Thomas Marshall and Capt. John Francis Mercer, who led the 3rd Virginia Regiment.

Like his father and grandfather, Harrison farmed in Prince William County using enslaved labor. In the 1787 Virginia tax census, he owned eleven enslaved children and seven enslaved adults in Prince William County, as well as 13 horses, 30 cattle and a two-wheeled carriage.^[2][3]

Prince William County voters elected him to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1778 and re-elected him the following year.^[4]