Benjamin Harrison assumed the title to the home plantation, after his mother’s  death, which included the massive stone house, the plantation, and the spring. [1] Benjamin and his wife Sarah became large plantation owner in the Shenandoah Valley. His wealth and status set him apart from other farmers in the region. In 1763, at the tail end of the French and Indian War, Benjamin was commissioned to captain in Augusta County's Ninth Regiment in December of 1770.[2] According to historian John Wayland, Benjamin led his company under the command of General George Washington to the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774, when the militia defeated Chief Cornstalk during Lord Dunmore’s War. [4]He remained in the Augusta County and Rockingham County militias, rising to the lieutenant colonel rank in the Rockingham County militia on April 28, 1778.[3]

 

     In addition to his ranks within the militia, Benjamin played a pivotal role in the shaping the early history of Rockingham County, as he held various positions within Rockingham’s offices. On May 25, 1778, Benjamin took the Oath of Fidelity to the State as vestrymen.[5] In addition, on September 28, 1778, he accepted his Commission of the Peace and a Commission of Oyer & Terminer from Governor Patrick Henry.[6]  These offices Benjamin assumed gave him a substantial measure of authority within the community. The most respected men in Rockingham County were Justices of the Peace and were important not only because of their courtroom decisions, but also because they controlled access to nearly all other county offices.

 

     Positions of influence and power were important for landholding men in Virginia and Benjamin continued to rise in the Virginia government, as he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.[7] Daniel’s decision to follow his father and family into the Shenandoah Valley proved to be beneficial for his son and grandson. Their determination to settle in the backcountry allowed them to grow in wealth and importance, enabling them to aid in the establishment of a new frontier, Rockingham County, and the United States of America.

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Notes:

[1] The date of Sarah Stephenson Harrison’s death is unknown. “Last Will and Testament of Daniel Harrison.” Augusta County, Virginia, 1767; “The Appraisement of the Estate of DanielHarrison, Deceased.” Augusta County, Virginia, 1770.

[2] Augusta County Order Book VII, Augusta County Courthouse, 363.

[3] John W. Wayland. A history of Rockingham County, (Dayton, Virginia: Ruebush-Elkins Company, 1912), 63.

[4]Rockingham County, Virginia Minute Book 17780-1792: Part I: 1778-1786, Rockingham County Circuit Court, ed, and compiled by Constance A Levinson and Louise C. Levinson, (Harrisonburg, Virginia: Greystone Publishers, 1985), 3-5.

[5] Rockingham County, Virginia Minute Book 17780-1792: Part I: 1778-1786, Rockingham County Circuit Court, ed, and compiled by Constance A Levinson and Louise C. Levinson, (Harrisonburg, Virginia: Greystone Publishers, 1985), 6.

[6] Rockingham County, Virginia Minute Book 1780-1792: Part I: 1778-1786, Rockingham County Circuit Court, ed, and compiled by Constance A Levinson and Louise C. Levinson, (Harrisonburg, Virginia: Greystone Publishers, 1985), 16.

[7] J. Huston Harrison, Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia, and Their Descendants of the Family of Harrison and Allied Lines (Dayton, Virginia: Joseph K. Ruebush Company, 1935), 200, 204, 296.