First Annual John Harris Day

First Annual John Harris Day
At the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion and Grounds

By Candice J. Wanner

First Annual John Harris Day Grab your trade goods and your buckskins and bring them to the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion on July 18th for an historical good time. The people at the Mansion have established the First Annual John Harris Day and are providing a powder keg load of activities and treats for young and old. There will be re-enactors from the Donegal Township Riflemen, an 18th Century Living History Group, talks and presentations by various people on life in Harrisburg during the 1700s as well as real-life descendants of some of the native american tribes that were settled in this area. And, of course, there will be food and lessons in open-pit cooking among other family oriented activities.

For those of you who don’t know, John Harris, the man Harrisburg is named for, built a log cabin and established a trading post and built the Harris Ferry on the shores of the Susquehanna in the 1700s. At the time, there was hardly anything here except wilderness, a few scattered log cabins and the native americans. Harris’ son, also named John, built the John Harris-Simon Cameron Mansion out of local limestone and continued to run his father’s many business enterprises.

Georg Sheets, Executive Director of the Historical Society of Dauphin County, states that the purpose of the day is to bring “awareness of the earliest days of the Harrisburg area. We picked the 1740s because it’s a time period that is rarely re-enacted and it’s when John Harris first established his trading post and Ferry. We expect a large turn-out and I feel people are going to enjoy themselves because the re-enactment will be truly authentic. Many of the people who do the living history make their own costumes and they totally eliminate anything that is not appropriate to that time period. We like to think our exhibits will provide an ‘eye to eye encounter with history.’”

One of the re-enactors giving a presentation, Rusty Sherrick, is an actual descendant of the Lenape indian tribe which dwelt in the Delaware area. Sherrick’s european ancestors fled religious persecution in Germany in 1650. They moved to Lancaster in 1735 where they inter-married with the Lenapes until Sherrick was considered a Delaware name. Some Sherrick family members were forced to move to Oklahoma on the Delaware Trail of Tears, where their ancestors remain till this day. Rusty will be sharing stories of life in the 1700s and giving a presentation entitled “The Impact of the Delaware People on Colonial Pennsylvania”.

Admission to the John Harris Day will be $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. Parking can be obtained in the Harrisburg Parking Garages or on local sidestreets. The re-enactment will be held rain or shine. For more information call the Historical Society of Dauphin County at 233-3462.

Schedule of Events
10 a.m. “Coins and Currency in the mid-18th Century”
11 a.m. “Trade and Trails in the Susquehanna Valley”
1 p.m. “The Impact of the Delaware People on Colonial Pennsylvania”
2 p.m. “Trade and Trails in the Susquehanna Valley”
3 p.m. “Muskets and Rifles on the Frontier”
3:30 p.m • Reading of the Declaration Marking “John Harris Day in Harrisburg”
by Mayor Stephen R. Reed • Flag Raising Ceremony, Mayor Reed • Reading of the Declaration Marking “John Harris Day in Dauphin County” By Dauphin County Commissioner