Name/Title
AU Harris, Paul Joseph Jr. - 1990-12-09 letter to Nancy Ruth (Harris) CurtisEntry/Object ID
1991.2.20Context
3923 Seeley Avenue
Downers Grove, IL 60515
December 9, 1990
Ms. Nancy Curtis
1100 Williams Street
Valdosta, GA 31601
Dear Nancy,
Thank you so much for your recent contribution to the Harris-Lambert Archives. Both letters have already been transcribed, encapsulated, and filed. I am most grateful for any items such as these. What may appear to be unimportant or mundane at first glance often holds that one little clue to help unravel a puzzle when all of the pieces can be viewed at once.
The Reverend Joseph Hastings Harris was my grandfather. My father, Paul Joseph Harris, was forty-seven when I was born; explaining why I am of an older generation than you even though I am slightly younger. Joseph was married to Bertha Elizabeth Lambert, Ida's sister and the seventh child of Daniel Webster Lambert and Deborah Vernon Embree. You have guessed correctly about the reference in the letter to Daniel. He is speaking about Daniel Alfred Harris, the third son of Joseph and Bertha. Uncle Dan still teaches privately and lives in Coral Gables, Florida. He is eighty-seven years young, the last surviving member of his generation in my branch of the family.
The other letter about Ida Lambert Harris is written by Pauline (Lambert) Warfel. In the event you weren't aware, she was a daughter of William Otterbein Lambert, younger brother of Ida and Bertha. She put forth a great deal of effort on family history research. Unfortunately, most of her work is full of inaccurate information based on assumptions and guesses. Her claim that a Stanton ancestor signed the Mayflower Compact was always left to presumption. She never made an effort to prove or disprove such a simple thing. I have discovered that she and her father were referring to Robert Stanton, your eighth great grandfather who did in fact sign a compact, but not the Mayflower Compact. Robert Stanton and his wife, Avis, came to New England between 1627 and 1638. In 1638, along with the noted William Coddington, he was one of the founders, and hence one of the signers, of the compact forming the colony at Pocasset, Rhode Island, now called Portsmouth.
I can not date the letter written by George Lay except to say it is written before 1929 as that is the year my grandfather, Joseph, left Westerville for Dayton to become the president of Bonebrake Seminary. I am enclosing a transcript of two letters. One was written by George Lay in 1925 and the other by Joseph Harris in 1926. I thought they might be of some interest to you since they involve your branch of the family. Any questions, feel free to contact me. Hang in there, there's a book to come out of this yet!
Happy Holidays to you and your family,
