When only a young man, John Harris, Jr., was occasionally employed by the Province of Pennsylvania to transact important business with the Indians at critical periods.
His house was frequently visited by the aborigines, and several very important conferences were held there between the several tribes of Indians on the Susquehanna, Ohio, etc., and the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania.
Under the will of his father he became possessed of 700 acres of land, on a part of which he later laid out the city of Harrisburg.
John Harris, Jr., was an energetic and an extensive farmer and an Indian trader, who enjoyed the confidence of the Indians to an unusual degree. His ferry became the most prominent place along the frontier.
Prior to 1754, he had been sent on an Indian mission to Ohio, and at the same time to notice the practical route from his ferry to Logstown. He performed his errand satisfactorily.
Having accepted an Indian agency he was faithful to his charge, both to the Indians and the Provincial Government. The latter was kept constantly advised of happenings among the frontier settlements, for at this time many of the Ohio Indians had already taken up the hatchet against the English.
He frequently visited the Indians at Shamokin (now Sunbury), and when the French and Indians had committed atrocious murders upon the frontier inhabitants he, aided by others, rushed to their rescue and often buried the bodies of the slain.
These missions were frequently carried out under great hardship and danger. The most serious experience in the life of John Harris occurred October 25, 1755, when the party he was leading from Shamokin was attacked near Mahanoy Creek by Indians lying in ambush and four of his party were killed and four drowned. The person riding on the same horse with Harris was shot and killed, and a moment later the horse was killed and Harris compelled to flee for safety by swimming the river.
John Harris was a sincere patriot. When the independence of the colonies was being agitated he thought it premature, fearing that the colonies were unequal to the task of combating with Great Britain, but when independence was declared, he advanced £3000 to carry on the contest.
He was a man of keen foresight. He understood the natural advantages of Harris’ Ferry, and twenty years before he laid out the town, he observed that it would be a place of business and the seat of the government of Pennsylvania.