Margaret Ada Harris on wedding day, June 15, 1926. Courtesy of Grier Harris.
Margaret Ada Harris Quay (center) with daughter Bonnie Quay Howie (left) and granddaughter, Leslie Harris Quay (right) at a Harris family reunion, Aug 2003. Courtesy of Grier Harris.
Class of 1924
Graduation Essay: “The South’s Artists”
Birth: 21 Oct 1905, Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Death: 15 May 2006, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Parents:
William Edney Harris (1862-1932)
Minnie Ada Cope (1872-1965)
Siblings:
Sarah Myrtle Harris (1885-1942)
James Newton Harris (1886-1965)
Robert Alexander Harris (1898-1986)
Mary Jane Harris Stratton (1900-2000)
Josie Bell Harris Woody (1903-2001)
William Edney Harris III (1908-1990)
Victor Flournoy Harris (1910-1999)
Kathryn Wilson Harris Blume (1913-2002)
Spouse: Henry Corum Quay Sr. (1897-1952)
Marriage: 26 Jun 1895
Children:
Bonnie Quay Howie (b. 1927)
Henry Corum Quay Jr. (b. 1930)
Margaret Anne Quay Gardner (b. 1932)
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From Ancestors and Descendants of Robert Harris, Sr., 1702-1788, by Mary Harris Stratton, 1967, p. 70
Margaret Ada Harris, 5th child of William Edney Harris, and his second wife, Minnie Ada Cope Harris, was born near Harrisburg, N. C. on 10/25/1905 [North Carolina Birth Index lists her birth as 21 Oct 1905]. She was baptized by The Rev. R. J. Hunter, pastor of Rocky River and Harrisburg Presbyterian Church.
She attended the public school at Harrisburg ans also Mont Amoena Seminary, a Junior Lutheran College, at Mt. Pleasant, N. C. from which she was graduated in May 1924. After graduating she taught school two winters near her home.
At the Harrisburg Presbyterian Church on 6/15/1926 she was married to Mr. Henry Corum Quay. The marriage took place at 7:30 P. M. and was performed by the Pastor, The Rev. T. H. Spence.
Henry Corum Quay was born 4/1/1897, near Harrisburg, N. C. and the son of Lester Howie Quay and wife, Cora Query Quay. He served in the armed forces during World War I. He was also a member of the Harrisburg Presbyterian Church. He operated a farm and dairy and after their marriage they lived on their farm several miles from Harrisburg.
Henry Corum Quay died suddenly 10/23/1952, and is buried in the Harrisburg Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
Since his death, Margaret Harris Quay has continued to live in their same home. Through the years she has been very active in all phases of work of the Harrisburg Church, a Sunday School teacher, and member of the church choir. In recent years she has been an assistant to the postmaster at Harrisburg.
In 1964 the Stephen Cabarrus Junior Historical Association dedicated their State Winning booklet – “Harrisburg’s Footprints on the Sands of Time,” to Mrs. Margaret Ada Harris Quay, because she had helped them gather materials and encouraged their endeavor.
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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), June 28, 1926, p. 10
MISS MARGARET A HARRIS BRIDE OF HENRY C. QUAY
Popular Couple Married at Harrisburg Church in Cabarrus County Tuesday Evening
Harrisburg Presbyterian church at Harrisburg, Cabarrus county, was the scene of a pretty and impressive wedding Tuesday evening at 7:30 o’clock when Miss Margaret Ada Harris became the bride of Mr. Henry Corum Quay.
Rev. T. H. Spence, pastor of the church, officiated using the ring ceremony.
The vows were spoken before a background of massive cedars and a trellis with climbing ivy. On either side tall floor baskets held larkspur and white candlesticks held lighted tapers.
The wedding music was rendered by Miss Mattie Blume, of Concord, who played prior to the entry of the wedding party “A Venetian Love Song” and Schubert’s “Serenade,” and during the service MacDowell’s “To a Wild Rose” was rendered. The wedding march from Lohengrin was used as a processional and at the conclusion Mendelssohn’s march.
The bride was lovely in an afternoon dress of blonde georgette trimmed with lace. She wore a rose-colored hat and carried an arm bouquet of premier roses and lillies of the valley, and was given in marriage by her father, Mr. William E. Harris. She was attended by her two sisters, Miss Mary Harris, of Charlotte, as maid of honor and Mrs. M. E. Woody, of Concord, as dame of honor. They wore dresses of rose and poudre [sic] blue georgette with hats to match and carried arm bouquets of premier and butterfly roses with ferns. The flower girls were Misses Sarah Harris and Dorothy Alexander, the former a niece of the bride and the latter daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R. L. Alexander of Sharon. Master William Lewis Woody, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. E. Woody, was the ring bearer and carried the ring in a rose. Mr. F. P. Quay, brother of the groom, was his best man, and Dr. N. E. Lubchenke and Mr. F. L. Quay were ushers.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William E. Harris of Harrisburg. She was graduated from Mont Amoena seminary, Mt. Pleasant, in 1924, and since that time has been a teacher in the Cabarrus county schools. Several parties and showers have recently been given in her honor.
The groom is the youngest son of the late L. H. Quay and Mrs. Cora Query Quay. After a wedding trip in the mountains of western North Carolina, Mr. and Mrs. Quay will be at home at Harrisburg, where they will begin housekeeping in a short time.
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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), May 17, 2006
Margaret Ada Harris Quay
Mrs. Quay died May 15, 2006 at Presbyterian Hospital, Main, Charlotte, NC. She was born October 25, 1905 in Harrisburg, NC, daughter of the late Minnie Ada Cope Harris and William Edney Harris, Sr. Margaret attended Harrisburg School, a three-room school; Mont Amoena Seminary, a boarding school in Mount Pleasant, NC; and summer sessions at Duke University, receiving her teaching certificate in 1924. During the school years of 1924-1925 and 1925-1926, she taught in a one-room school, grades 1-7 at Allison Grove in the Poplar Tent neighborhood and Golden Grove in the Robinson Community.
She was a very active member of Harrisburg Presbyterian Church, serving as Sunday school teacher, choir member, Circle Chairman and President of the Women’s Auxiliary (now Presbyterian Women).
Margaret was presented an Honorary Life Membership by Presbyterian Women, Harrisburg Presbyterian Church. On the occasion of her 100th birthday, she was honored by Presbyterian Women with the renaming of the Ola Query Scholarship Fund to the Presbyterian Women Centenarian Scholarship Fund.
She is preceded in death by her late husband, Henry Corum Quay, Sr.; brothers, James Newton Harris, Robert Alexander Harris, William Edney Harris, III, and Victor Flourney Harris; sisters, Sarah Myrtle Harris, Mary Harris Stratton, Josie Harris Woody, and Kathryn Harris Blume; and son-in-law, James Gourley Howie.
She is survived by a son, Henry Corum Quay, Jr. and wife, Sue, of Peachtree City, GA; daughters, Bonnie Quay Howie of Harrisburg, NC and Margaret Anne Quay Gardner and husband, Walter, of Hiltons, VA; grandchildren, James Michael Howie, Leslie Howie McCorkle and husband, Gary, Anna Howie Radford and husband, Dwight, Cornelia Howie Auten and husband, Alan, Michael Henry Quay and wife, Nell, James Timothy Quay, Brian Raleigh Gardner and wife, Carol, Craig Walter Gardner and wife, Alison, and Margaret Amy Griffin and husband, Neil; and great grandchildren, Jonathan Howie Auten, Evan Reid McCorkle, Madison Elizabeth Gardner, Alexandria Morgan Gardner, Grant Kirkpatrick Gardner, Tyler Craig Gardner, Margaret Alice Gardner, Julia Quay Griffin, and Benjamin Styers Griffin, and James M. Howie.
Visitation will be at Hartsell Funeral Home, Concord, from 7-8:30 PM Thursday. Service will be Friday at 2 PM at Harrisburg Presbyterian Church, with the Rev. Dr. Warren Nance officiating. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
Pallbearers are George Stratton, Jr., Jesse Harris Cofer, Dr. Sidney Lane Woody, Lloyd Lester Quay, Jr., Dr. Thomas Frederick Blume, and Thomas Grier Harris, Jr.
Memorials may be made to the Presbyterian Women Centenarian Scholarship Fund, Harrisburg Presbyterian Church, PO Box 310, Harrisburg, NC 28075.
Hartsell Funeral Home, Concord, is serving the family. Online condolences and obits at http://www.hartsellfh.com.
Memories of Mont Amoena 