JOHN HARRISON

John Harrison [Malone]

In the summer of 1854, John was born to teenagers, 15-year-old Sarah Jane Harrison and his father James Malone. James lived with his father who worked on the farm of Sarah's grandmother, Phoebe Harrison.  James' mother was enslaved, but his father, a free man, had taken steps to secure his children's freedom. He purchased James and his sister, Julia, from their owner, granting them freedom. Sarah Jane later cared for young Julia on the Harrison farm. After John’s birth, due to the societal norms of the time, the family faced danger, as the community would not tolerate a relationship between a colored boy and a white girl. To protect their children, James' father thought it best that the family should relocate, and Sarah never heard from James again. In his young adult years, John later chose to go by the last name Malone, despite the challenges his parents faced. 

John Harrison appears in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Federal Census records for Greensville County, Virginia. Unfortunately, most of the 1890 Census records were destroyed in a fire at the United States Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 1921. 

As a young man, John Harrison wasn't ready for marriage. He had a relationship with Alice's mother, who gave birth to Alice at 18 years old. Since John wasn't ready to be a husband and father, his girlfriend agreed that John's mother, Sarah, would take in and raise Alice Harrison, her grandchild.

John grew up on the Harrison family farm with his siblings James, Benjamin, Samuel, Sallie, and Richard. As a young man, John worked and lived on different farms to earn money.  The Harrison brothers worked separately and together, as farmers, growing cotton and tobacco. They also helped their mother with her farm work.