l893-] d'OLIER — MEMORIAL OF GEORGE H. HARRIS. 225 



cabin in front of where Mr. EUwanger's residence now stands. With 

 other children he brought with him Daniel Ely Harris, a boy of three 

 years. Young Daniel's boyhood was spent on the farm, sharmg the 

 hardships and pleasure of pioneer life. 



In 1836, Daniel Harris married Miss Strickland, a relative of 

 Agnes Strickland, authoress of " The Lives of the Queens of 

 England " and a sister of General Silas A, Strickland. Of this 

 marriage was born George Henry Harris, the subject of our sketch, 

 in West Greece, Monroe county, on the 29th of December, 1843. 



During George Harris's early years his father was a contractor, 

 which probably accounts for the fact that while yet a lad he had lived 

 in Charlotte, Rochester, Hinsdale and Buffalo. His grandfather was 

 also interested in public works and almost ruined himself on a 

 contract to deepen a section of the Erie canal, having to blast an 

 immense quantity of rock not counted on. When George was a lad 

 of twelve years his father moved with the family to Green Bay, 

 Wisconsin, where he engaged in the lumbering business. As the boy 

 was in delicate health the physician advised his father to take him 

 out of school and let him run wild in the woods for a year. That 

 year instilled in the boy a love of nature, canoe, camp and. rifle that 

 never waned while life lasted. It was always a pleasure to him to 

 live over in memory those days, telling of the many adventures that 

 he had with a young companion. Having regained his health he was 

 apprenticed, at the age of fifteen, to a watchmaker. This man was a 

 student of history, and without doubt it was largely due to his influ- 

 ence that the boy's taste turned to historical subjects. Three years 

 later he came back to Rochester and entered Pierce's Military 

 Academy, in a building that stands on the northeast corner of Spring 

 and Fitzhugh streets. As in everything he undertook he soon 

 mastered the details of military tactics, and in 1863 he joined 

 Company K, 54th Regiment, in which he held the rank of orderly 

 sergeant. When his regiment was disbanded he returned to Roch- 

 ester, and his health again failing, he engaged in farming for a time, 

 after which he went to Oil City, and in the spring of 1868 to Omaha. 

 Here, after trying farming and store keeping, he was appointed on 

 the night force of the post office. In this duty he came near ending 

 his career in a bloody adventure with a burglar. Later he was 

 appointed first. mail clerk between Omaha and St. Joseph. 



Trusting to a friend to get out papers for a claim which he had 

 taken up near Omaha, and upon which he had spent all his spare 



