Ira Harris, Jr., USN (1848-1915)

 A few weeks ago, I went to the old Pioneer section of the city cemetery in Modesto, CA.  I went seeking a pair of 1840s vintage 24-pound coastal defense guns which serve as honorable sentinels of the Grand Army of the Republic plot, wherein rest veterans of the Civil War.  I found the guns, but I took the time to examine the graves of the honored dead, as well.  To my surprise, there were three veterans of the United States Navy buried there, the only Civil War sailors known to be buried in the whole county.  

With two of them---William J. Givens and James M. Dings---I was able to find nothing beyond their names and dates of death and burial.  The third, h0wever---Ira Harris, Jr.---I was able to find quite a lot about. 

Ira Harris, Jr. was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island on November 11, 1848.  His father was a successful wheelwright and blacksmith.  On July 15 1863 (at the age of 15), Ira volunteered for the US Navy, and was assigned to the USS New Ironsides, the first in its class of ironclad steamers which had launched in Philadelphia the previous year in 1862.

USS New Ironsides under sail

He was aboard her in time to be a part of Rear Admiral Samuel Francis DuPont’s attacks on the fortifications of Charleston Harbor (New Ironsides was DuPont's flagship), participating in the attacks on forts Wagner and Sumner, including the gallant action protecting the monitor USS Weehauken. On October 5, a Confederate torpedo-boat managed to detonate a spar torpedo against New Ironsides’ starboard quarter, causing some damage and wounding a number of sailors, but she stayed on station until May, 1864 when she returned to Philadelphia.  While in Philadelphia, Ira Harris, Jr. was medically-discharged due to an embedded shell fragment, and an injury sustained while manning a gun---a true fighting sailor. 

Harris returned to Smithfield to learn the trade of his father, and became a successful carriage-maker in his own right.  In 1879 he emigrated to Colorado, then moved on to San Francisco five years later.  A few months later he moved inland to Modesto, where he worked under a few other tradesmen before opening his own carriage-making shop.  He became a successful businessman, active in many organizations and eventually being elected a City Trustee in 1899.  He would live to see his son serve with distinction as part of the 6th California Volunteer Regiment during the Spanish American War.  He died on October 20, 1913, and was laid to rest with his fellow Civil War veterans.  

Fair Winds and Following Seas, Mr. Harris.  

Sources: USGenWeb, DANFS, and A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Norther California. Standard Genealogical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1901 (d0wnloaded 4/13/21 from Google Books).