Journey to the Wilderness

Journey to the Wilderness. Fort Harrison Story Walk. , Living first at Oyster Bay on New York's Long Island, the English family of Isaiah Harrison moved on to Delaware where he owned substantial acreage. About 1732, the family moved south, landing by ship at the port of Alexandria. From there, they traveled over land and crossed Thornton's Gap into Virginia's Page Valley near present day Luray., Isaiah Harrison's sons - Daniel, John, Thomas, Jeremiah, and Samuel - settled temporarily with their families on the banks of the Shenandoah River. After exploring the surrounding area, each claimed land near a spring or water source in what would become Rockingham County., Daniel Harrison, born about 1701 at Oyster Bay, chose to settle here on Cook's Creek and would come to own 1200 acres of land with flax and hemp as his cash crops., Daniel built his limestone home in 1749 and became a prominent member of this remote wilderness community. He established a mill and distillery and was licensed for an "ordinary" (tavern). He served as an undersheriff in then-Augusta county and was a Captain of foot soldiers in the Augusta County militia prior to the start of the French and Indian War in 1755. Daniel Harrison died in 1770., (Captions):, MAP AT RIGHT: This 1762 map, depicts how primitive the Shenandoah Valley still was 30 years after the Harrison family's migration. , Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, More information about the Harrison family and Daniel Harrison's home are available at www.fortharrisonva.org and the book, "Settlers by the Long Grey Trail" by J. Houston Harrison., This interpretive sign is made possible through a gift from the Margaret Grattan Weaver Center, Bridgewater College.