John Calvin Harris

As printed in 1912

JOHN CALVIN HARRIS.

One of the most painstaking and modern agriculturists of southeastern Knox county is John Calvin Harris, of near Bladensburg, Jackson township. He was fortunate in having good parents, who taught him from the start the duties of life — not ordinary instruction, but the higher duties which all owe to each other and to society. The result has been to give him broad ideas of life and its responsibilities and to fit him for upright and worthy citizenship.

Mr. Harris was born in Bladensburg, Ohio, August 10, 1856, and is the son of Jesse and Elizabeth (Holtz) Harris. The paternal grandparents, Elijah and Sarah Harris, were natives of Pennsylvania and they came to Ohio in a very early day. He was a farmer and he spent his last days here, becoming very well established through his industry, he and his wife dying in Clay township. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. The maternal grandparents, George and Susan Holtz, were also natives of Pennsylvania and from that state they, too, came to Knox county in pioneer times where they developed a good farm and spent the balance of their lives.

The parents of the subject were married in this county and here the father devoted his life to farming. He also conducted a tannery at Newcastle for a number of years, in connection with which he also did some farming. He lived a quiet and retired life. His family consisted of seven children, six of whom grew to maturity, and five of them are now living.

The death of Jesse Harris occurred on January 28, 1908, aged seventy-seven years, and his wife died on December 30, 1903, aged seventy-six years.

John C. Harris was educated in the public schools of his native community and at Newcastle, and he went to school two years in Greene county, Indiana. When a young man he took up carpentering and farming, buying forty acres in Jackson township, which he later sold and bought fifteen acres. He now owns about forty-five acres in and around Bladensburg, also forty acres in Clay township. He farms in a general way and handles some good stock. For about twenty years he ran a nursery on his fifteen-acre farm, handling all kinds of fruit trees, and he became widely known in this connection. He made a special study of horticultural subjects and was very successful as a nurseryman, enjoying a large business.

Politically, Mr. Harris is a Democrat, and while he takes the interest of a good citizen in public affairs, he is not a seeker after public honors. He has served his community as road supervisor. He and his wife are members of the Disciples church, and he belongs to the Patrons of Industry.

Mr. Harris was married on August 31, 1880, to Hattie Larason, a native of Knox county and the daughter of Thomas and Melinda Larason, old settlers here, he having come to Knox county from New Jersey, the father accompanying his parents, James and Elizabeth Larason, when he was one year old. Here the parents established a comfortable home and spent the rest of their lives here. The mother of Mrs. Harris was a native of Muskingum county, Ohio. Eleven children were born to Thomas Larason and wife, six of whom are living, two daughters and four sons. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, Odessa, who married Lloyd Hall, and Ethel, who lives at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hall are the parents of two children, Zelpha and John Thomas.

As printed in Past and present of Knox County, Ohio (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.