And this Mary Harris seems “quite” controversial.
From the profile for Robert Harris:
Major Robert Harris of "The Forks"
Possible Marriage
The conclusion of several researchers of the Harris family is that Robert Harris of Wales (1630-1700), about 1650, married the widowed Mrs. Mary Rice, whose maiden name was Claiborne. She, reportedly the widow of one Edward Rice, was the daughter of Secretary William Claiborne and his wife Elizabeth Butler. These same researchers have concluded that Robert and Mary's son, William, born in 1665, married Temperance Overton (b. 1679), daughter of William Overton.
However, Dr. Harris has written, "It seems more probable that Robert Harris did marry Mary Rice, widow of Edward Rice and daughter of Col. William Claiborne and Elizabeth Butler his wife, but there is no record left to prove it, as far as known [parts of sentence are italicized], for records have been destroyed." In a later publication concerning the Claiborne family, John Frederick Dorman writes in a footnote that there is no evidence of a such a marriage.
Davis also cautions that there is no definitive answer concerning the wife of Robert Harris. Neither does there seem to be evidence of the name of the wife of Edward Rice. There is no documentation that Robert Harris married Mary (Claiborne) Rice, widow, nor is there documentation that William Harris was the son of Robert Harris, "the immigrant. "
Davis points out that the land holdings of both Robert Harris and William Overton were in Blisland Parish, New Kent Co., not too far from the plantation where Colonel William Claiborne had established his home, after he left Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay.
