Sam Harris was born around 1813 and was enslaved on St. Thomas Manor plantation in Maryland. Sam married Betsy Ware (b.1817) in 1832 and they had eleven children together: Ned (b.1833), Ellen (b.1834), Martha (b.1836), Sam (b.1838), Louisa (b.1843), George (b.1844), Madison (b.1847), William (b.1849), Alice (b.1851), Edward (b.1855), and Harriet (b.1856).
The Harris family was sold to Jesse Batey in 1838. Four of the couple’s eleven children were transported on the Katharine Jackson with their parents in 1838. Ned, the oldest child, was five years old when he was sold, while Sam Jr. was still an infant. Martha and Ned both passed away within a month of the family’s arrival in Louisiana. Sam died between 1859 and 1864 around age 46, and Betsy died between 1865 and 1870 at least at 48. Sam and Betsy had 45 grandchildren, several of whom lived into the mid-20th century.
