Mary Harris Hooper, Large Wife of Sanford (part 2)

Remember Joseph Smith Harris told us that Mary Harris was a large woman, weighing 220 lbs? Here's a second photo of Mary... well, what do you think? I wish I knew how tall she was!

Here she is, Mary Harris

Undated photo of Mary Harris. How old do you think she is here? Keep in mind she died in 1875 at the age of 64.

Here he is, Sanford A. Hooper

Undated photo of Sanford A. Hooper. Check out that goatee! Does he look how you imagined?

Thank you Ebay and Esnipe!

When I started my Hooper & Harris search in November 2008, my biggest goal was to find photographs of the ancestors. I noted previously that I don't have a single photo pre-1920 of any ancestor on my mother's side.

My research led me to believe that the book "This is Our Town" by Harold Albrecht, sponsored by the Belle Plaine Historical Society, might be a source of information for the Hoopers. Sanford A. Hooper, wife Mary Harris, and their young family moved to Belle Plaine, MN from Geneseo County New York in the 1850s.

This book is hard to find! It came up once on Ebay in January and I didn't bid high enough. So when it came up again last week, I set my Esnipe high enough to win. I won! And I was right! Lots of information on the Hoopers and photos, too!

EWWWW !!! Thanks a lot, John Harris!

Ever since I can remember, the taste of lima beans elicits the gag reflex in me. There is no taste or texture more foul, in my book. One of my most enduring memories from childhood is being forced to eat them at the age of 5. I could not swallow them, so I stuffed my mouth full and ran to the bathroom where I spit them out & flushed. My mother, fast on my heels, saw the whole thing and though I don't remember what happened next, I'm certain I got my butt spanked. But it didn't matter. Next time I didn't eat them and I have never eaten them since. And will never eat them again.

Imagine my horror when I came across this today in Joseph Smith Harris's book "Notes on the ancestry... " . He is speaking here of John Harris (1789-1864), brother to our Campbell Harris.

It runs in the family!

Not the last of the Harris line to work for the post office! From Google Books, this:





This book was published in 1819. By that time Campbell Harris was already in New York so I suppose this was out of date when printed. It seems that Campbell's duties as postmaster were probably tied to his activities at the General Wayne.