{"id":1229,"date":"2014-06-28T16:25:08","date_gmt":"2014-06-28T21:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/?page_id=1229"},"modified":"2020-10-31T11:52:14","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T16:52:14","slug":"katharine-harris","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/genealogy\/surnames\/harris\/katharine-harris\/","title":{"rendered":"Katharine Harris (1908-1990)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Katharine Harris was the daughter of Ralph Bertram Harris<\/a> and Rose Loring Lee. She married Wells Fay, son of Frank L. Fay, my husband’s great-grandfather.<\/p>\n

Birth<\/h2>\n

12 Jan 1908 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, USA.<\/p>\n

Education<\/h2>\n

Katharine attended Bradford Academy.<\/p>\n

\"1928
1928 Katharine Harris at Bradford, back row, fourth from left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Personal Life<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Date unknown but before 1929 – Casino Starring Katharine Harris, unidentified newspaper clipping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The newspaper clipping is entitled “Casino Starring Kathy Harris” and reads, “Kathy Harris, billed as the “Million Dollar Doll,” heads the cast of burlesque favorites with the new show opening a week’s engagement at the Casino tomorrow. This will be Miss Harris’ first appearance at the Forbes Avenue theater this season. Co-featuring in this week’s show is Deni Monet, a French exotic dancer. Miss Monet is also making her first appearance of the season. Irving Selig and Joey Cowan, a pair of veteran burlesque comediars will handle the comedy end of the show.”<\/p>\n

Marriage<\/h2>\n

She married Wells Fay, son of Frank L. Fay, my husband’s great-grandfather, on September 11, 1929. The couple honeymooned in Europe and was abroad during the stock market crash.<\/p>\n

This unidentified and undated newspaper clipping announces the engagement of Katharine and Wells in the spring of 1929. It reads, “Mr. and Mrs. Ralph B. Harris entertained at tea yesterday at 89 Federal street, Salem, to announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Katharine Harris, to Mr. Wells F. Fay of Greenville, Pa. The fiancee is a graduate of the junior college at Bradford Academy. Mr. Fay is a Harvard ’25 man, who will be graduated this coming June from the law school of the University of Pittsburgh. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Fay of Greenville, and a brother of Miss Florence Fay, who was a roommate of Miss Harris at Bradford Academy.”<\/p>\n

\"1929<\/a>
Announce Engagement at Tea in Salem, unidentified newspaper, spring 1929, Katharine Harris engagement<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"1929-09-12<\/a>
1929-09-12 Salem Girl Bride of Pittsburgh Lawyer, The Boston Globe, p11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Salem Girl Bride of Pittsburgh Lawyer<\/p>\n

Salem, Sept 12 –In the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph B. Harris, 89 Federal st last evening, their daughter, Miss Catherine Harris, became the wife of Wells Fay of Pittsburgh, son or Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Fay of Greenville, Penn. The ceremony was performed by Rev. Ralph Atherton Sherwood of the First Baptist Church, and was followed by a reception for 300 at the Salem Country Club.<\/p>\n

The bride was attended by a sister, Miss Dorothy Harris, as maid of honor. Another sister, Miss Elinor Harris; the groom’s sister, Miss Florence Fay; Miss Dorothy May of Jamaica Plain, and Miss Margaret Bradley of Winchester made up the bridesmaid group.<\/p>\n

James Fay, brother of the groom, was his best man, and the ushers were Davidson Sommers, St Paul, Minn; Howard Taylor Fisher, Chicago; George Ross Leighton, New York; Walter Eugene Beer Jr., New York; Leigh Chadwick, Washington, DC; Joseph C. Burley, Milton, and Joseph Clifton Gray, Brier Neck, NY.<\/p>\n

The honeymoon is to be spent in Europe, and after six weeks’ travel Mr. and Mrs. Fay will make their home in Pittsburgh, where the former has a law practice. He is a graduate of Harvard, class of 1926, and of the Pittsburgh University Law School in this year’s class.<\/p>\n

The bride is a graduate of Bradford Academy.<\/p>\n

\"1929<\/a>
1929 Mrs Wells Fay Marriage Announcement, unidentified newspaper clipping<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The couple returned home from their honeymoon toward the end of October.<\/p>\n

\"1929-10-30<\/a>
1929-10-30 Local Folk Return from Sojourn Abroad, The Pittsburgh Press, Wed, p28<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Children<\/h2>\n

Katharine and Wells had 6 children.<\/p>\n

Biography<\/h2>\n

Katharine was asked to write an autobiography for her 25th class reunion, which puts the date around 1953.<\/p>\n

\"Katharine<\/a>
Katharine Fay Autobiography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Writing a sketch of oneself is a new experience for me and rather boring when all one can boast about is mothering a brood of small fry–not brilliant fry, either, just down-to earth, normal, healthy animals that are kind to their mother, awfully nice ones, though.<\/p>\n

Similar to most twenty-fifth reunions, I have a premonition I’m going to be surrounded by lots of talent:- classmates with degrees of various sorts, journalists, authors of best sellers, scientists, social workers, travellers who come back from far-off places and give lectures to club women. If I can only practice: “Fermez ma bouche” (not Bradford French) at the reunion and not have to put in my two cents worth about Elinor, who, by the grace of God, just missed being the class baby–(Ginny McClaren always was two steps ahead of me!) The next best thing I could do was send Elinor to Bradford\u2014now she is assisting the Assistant Dean of the Law School at Yale\u2014after doing a good Job of bringing up five brothers–she helped Jon squeak through Exeter, and is still encouraging him through Brown\u2014mothering Jimmy at Harvard, and giving Michael fight talks on sticking to the job at The Hill School.<\/p>\n

Of course, I might just mention the five years Madame Fay, accompanied by maid, irish terrier and brood of four was a camp-follower and saw quite a lot of one fine United States. All we lacked was a station wagon–it was a life of picking up stakes every three months or so and following the man of this household from one Armored Division Camp to another–trying to find adequate housing facilities–new schools for the young–and most of all bargaining for black market tires so we could push on to the next spot. Terry was born in Santa Barbara and Bill soon after we landed back in Pittsburgh and established ourselves in Edgewood–we now run the Fay Motel tor Elinor’s and the boys\u2019 friends from all the various schools and colleges they have attended–just a spot to hang their hats while passing through Pittsburg. The Welcome Mat is always down and the invitation always stands to friends of the parents as well!<\/p>\n

Through Miss Bell\u2019s kind invitation, I accepted the job of representing Bradford at the inauguration of Milton Eisenhower as President of Penn State. I became so enamoured with the Eisenhower Clan I came home and joined the Citizens for Eisenhower group. Elinor and I took over Edgewood and worked like dogs to convince the die-hard Taftites that only Eisenhower could win the nomination–Results were very gratifying.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Death<\/h2>\n

Katharine died on May 16, 1990, in Greenville, PA.<\/p>\n

\"1990-05-17<\/a>
1990-05-17 Katharine Harris Fay Obit, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Thu, p9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FAY<\/p>\n

Katharine Harris, died Wednesday, May 16, 1990 in Greenville, PA. Formerly of 424 Maple Ave., Pittsburgh, PA. Moved to Greenville in 1964. Widow of Attorney Wells Fay. Surviving one daughter, Mrs. Elinor Furst of Wallingford, PA; five sons, Jon Wells Fay, Wallingford, PA, James Harris Fay, Pittsburgh, Michael Fay, Laguna Nigel, CA, Frank W. (Terry) Fay, and William L. Fay, both of Greenville; two sisters, Mrs. Dorothy Ripley, Cohasset, MA, and Mrs. Elinor Lord, Milton, MA; 17 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Memorial service 10am Saturday, May 19 at the Westminster Chapel of the First Presbyterian Church in Greenville, with Rev. Dr. Robert E. Funk officiating. Burial in Shenango Valley Cemetery, Greenville. If so desired, contributions may be made to the Greenville Public Library, Greenville, PA 16125. Arrangements by Loutzen-Hiser-Jordan Funeral Home, 366-386 S. Main St., Greenville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Katharine Harris was the daughter of Ralph Bertram Harris and Rose Loring Lee. She married Wells Fay, son of Frank L. Fay, my husband’s great-grandfather. Birth 12 Jan 1908 in Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, USA. Education Katharine attended Bradford Academy. Personal Life The newspaper clipping is entitled “Casino Starring Kathy Harris” and reads, “Kathy Harris, billed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1205,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1229","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3viLY-jP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8625,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":0},"title":"Home","author":"Karen","date":"September 9, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Explore Popular Pages Research by Surname What's New August 2021 Updated the Farquhar pages November 2020 Updated the Harris pages June 2019 Added some LeBlond ovals July 2018 Updated the Jordan pages and added some Tennessee related posts Featured Book Around Chadds Ford Explore Chadds Ford through nearly 200 historic\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Around Chadds Ford book","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/bookcover.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1312,"url":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/genealogy\/surnames\/wells\/franklin-parker-wells\/","url_meta":{"origin":1229,"position":1},"title":"Franklin Parker Wells (1836-1913)","author":"Karen","date":"June 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Franklin Parker Wells (1836\u20131913) was an enterprising businessman whose life carried him from his birthplace in Wellsburg, Pennsylvania, to Michigan, Arkansas, New York, and eventually California. He built a successful business manufacturing oars, boat hooks, pike poles, and other wooden products, with markets extending overseas, and later became involved in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"0302 Franklin P. Wells Home in California","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0302-Franklin-P.-Wells-Home-in-California.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0302-Franklin-P.-Wells-Home-in-California.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0302-Franklin-P.-Wells-Home-in-California.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0302-Franklin-P.-Wells-Home-in-California.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/0302-Franklin-P.-Wells-Home-in-California.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1229"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8164,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1229\/revisions\/8164"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karenfurst.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}