I was doing some research at the Library of Congress last week on the HARRIS line and came across several resources of interest, one of which was the book, The Five Thomas Harrises of Isle of Wight Co., VA by John A. Brayton, 1995.

Mr. Brayson wrote, "Excitement among Harris descendents has never abated since the publication of John Bennett Boddie's Historical Southern Families, Vol. 4. The material in that volume linked two Thomas Harrises of Isle of Wight, the testators of 1672 and 1688, to John Harris and his wife Dorothy (--) of Charles City Co., VA, and traced the family back to the armigerous Harrises of Cricksea, Essex. The appearance of Boddie's material not only caused a series of detonations in research determined to claim descent from the Essex family, but also clouded the original documents of both Isle of Wight and Charles City counties in opaque misconception. In a flurry of source-citing (which nevertheless failed to prove their connections), genealogists for the next several generations took Boddie's chapters at face value, rarely bothering to question the conclusions therin, and used his writings to claim descent from Edward III through the Percys and the Mortimers."

Brayton goes on to refer his readers to two articles that apparently corrected many of Bofddie's errors, including 1) "Sergeant John Harris of Charles County, Virginia: A Reappraisal", by Claiborne Smith Jr. in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 37, No. 1, 1993: pgs 18-28; and 2) "The Will of Creeksea, County Essex" contributed by Brice Clagett, in The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 38, No. 2, 1994: pgs 129-30.

If anyone would like more information about these articles--or has additional information to share--please send me a message.