2nd s/o Benjamin Harrison and Evelyn Taylor Byrd

Brandon is a significant part of the early history of Virginia; John Martin (ca.1562-ca.1632), one of the founders of Jamestown, held the patent of 5, 000 acres for the lands of Brandon in 1616. Benjamin Harrison II (1645-1712) purchased the land in 1712 and on his death, the land passed to his son Nathaniel I (1677-1727) of “Wakefield.” His son, Colonel Nathaniel Harrison II (1703-1791), built a house called “Brandon” in 1765. The house and property passed to his son Benjamin Harrison III (1743-1807). Upon his death, he left his inheritance to his two sons, George Evelyn Harrison (1797-1839) and William Byrd Harrison (1800-1870), who were to receive their property when they reached the age of twenty-one. When he came of age, George Evelyn Harrison took over the original Lower Brandon house and divided the land with his brother. William Byrd Harrison received the land known as Upper Brandon and finished construction of his plantation house in 1825. He raised his family there until the outbreak of the Civil War. William Byrd Harrison did not return to live at Upper Brandon and upon his death in 1870, the farm was purchased by his nephew, George Harrison Byrd. In 1948, the last Harrison descendant, Francis Otway Byrd, sold the estate to Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Thompson. Following the death of Mr. Thompson in 1955, his son-in-law H. Frederick Robertson took over the management of the farm. Even after the property was sold to Fred E. Watkins of Curles Neck Farms in 1961, the Robertsons remained in residence and continued to run the farming operations until June 1969, when Mr. Robertson accepted a job with the First & Merchants Bank and Trust and the family moved to Petersburg, Virginia. The house remained unoccupied until 1984 when the property was purchased by the James River Corporation.

Father: Benjamin Harrison
Mother: Evelyn Taylor Byrd
Marriage 1 A. W. Unknown b: ABT 1821 in Virginia
Marriage 2 Mary Randolph Harrison b: 10 SEP 1804 in Clifton, Cumberland Co., Virginia
Married: 8 FEB 1827 in Clifton, Cumberland Co., Virginia
Children
Benjamin H. Harrison b: ABT 1827 in Virginia
Randolph Harrison b: ABT 1829 in Virginia
C. Shirley Harrison b: ABT 1840 in Virginia
George E. Harrison , Jr. b: ABT 1844 in Virginia
Marriage 3 Ellen Wayles Randolph b: ABT 1825 in Virginia
Married: ABT 1860
Children
Jane Nicholas Harrison b: ABT 1863 in Virginia
Jefferson Randolph Harrison b: ABT 1865 in Virginia