Mrs. Luvenia E. Harris
Two very prominent and interesting families are united in the above name of Mrs. Harris, who since the death of her husband, Elam T. Harris has kept her residence chiefly on the old homestead in Franklin Township. Mrs. Harris' maiden name was Jones, and she is of that branch of the family which furnish so many prominent personalities in both early and modern Jonesboro and Miss Township annals.
Elam T. Harris, who died at the family homestead in Franklin, May 19, 1905, after a long illness, was the oldest son of John and Sarah (Thornberg-Osborn) Harris. The grandfather was Thomas Harris, and there is a large relationship in the original Harris family. John Harris and his family were among the largest landholders and most influential farmers in Grant County. All the sons cooperated with their father, and for years there was no division of property among them. The entire life of Elam T. Harris was spent in one community. His widow now lives where they both lived together for more than forty years. Two of their children were bon in Mill Township and two in Franklin.
Concerning the children of John and Sarah Harris, the following is a brief record: Elam T. Harris; George S. Harris, who married Margaret Ann Cretsalow; Benadah C. Harris, who married Eliza Winslow; Mary Harris, , who married T. Baldwin; Davis W. Harris, who married Eva Unthank; Nancy Jane Harris, who became the wife of David Winslow; Sarah Rosetta Harris, who married J. W. Hardin.
On September 17, 1856, at Jonesboro, Elam T. Harris married Luvenia Elizabeth Jones, a daughter of Daniel H. and Amelia Jones. (See chapter on Mill Township). The children of of Elam T. Harris and wife are mentioned as follows:
- Ernest Clifford.
- Ora Byron, who married Myrtle Gibson, and has two children, Blanchard and Russell.
- Charles Rollin, who by his marriage to Ida Hinton, had two children, Lowell Rollin and Mary Marguerite.
- Nellie V. became the wife of W. O. Fenstemaker, and her children are Lawrence E., Charles A. and Grace Amelia Fenstemaker, all her immediate family living in the community.
In the division of property Mrs. Harris retains the homestead, and she remains at home or spends the time among her children as suits her best, also making frequent visits at the old home in Ohio. She has always saved "Rolinda" clippings from newspapers and she was glad there was to be a "Rolinda History." While she survived her husband, she is also the last of her own family, her brothers were J. Branson Jones; Dr. Charles R. Jones, who married Amanda Walling, and Adelaide Dolman; Byron H. Jones, who married Rosetta McClure; and Newton Jones -all of whom were at one time well known citizens of Grant County. The ancestry on both sides of the family comes of Quaker stock, and "Aunt Millie" Jones the mother of Mrs. Harris had not changed her family name when she married, although she came from Georgia, and her husband from North Carolina, and they met in Ohio. Like other Quaker families in the south, the institution of slavery was most unpleasant to them and when the Northwest Territory was opened for settlement, they came into Ohio, and later into Indiana.
While the Harris family has always been identified with Franklin, the Jones family was prominent in Mill, and Mrs. Harris feels proud of the wide streets in Jonesboro, due to the forethought of her father who made the plat of the town. "Brant" Jones was a Jonesboro carriage maker, and he dealt in carriages and buggies as soon as they came into popularity. Dr. "Rol" Jones was one of the best posted men who ever lived in the community. Byron H. Jones was the first citizen in grant County to open a bank account with Jason Willson, the pioneer Grant County Banker. "Aunt Millie" Jones lived on the corner of Maine and Sixth street in Jonesboro, and everybody knew her. She was a typical Quaker woman and outlived her husband so long that many who knew her had never known him at all. Mrs. Harris is like her mother, and she is one of the few Grant County women who connect the present with the past. The future will not change her, and such women always have an influence in the community.
Centennial History of Grant County Indiana 1812-1912. The Lewis Publishing Co., 1914.