Simon Harris

Simon Harris was born in 1851 in Wisconsin, the oldest of six children of English immigrants. He worked from a young age in the lead mines near there and emigrated to Idaho in 1872 to work on War Eagle Mountain. The 1898 Owyhee County Blue Book reports he worked in the Golden Chariot mine in 1873-74 when it was a great producer, paying quartz miners good money when “the old mountain was booming.” He was elected president of the Fairview Miners’ union in 1875 and six months later that organization boosted 1,500 members in good standing.

He married Bertha Lewis in Silver City in 1880. Bertha was a young widow from New Jersey who came to Silver as part of traveling troupe of actors performing as Little Eva in the stage production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. She went to work for a local family after the production and met Simon. She was a well-regarded woman of the town, often leading choirs and organizing children’s programs. She took the town's student exhibits to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair where they won a bronze prize.  

Shortly after 1880 Simon took charge of the Blackjack Mine and then was foreman of the Trade Dollar Mine. In 1896 he was elected Justice of the Peace of Silver City. He died June 28, 1920 at the age of 69.

His gravemarker is native stone and according to "Tales of Silver City" by Alta Chadwick, it was a rock that Simon had used in drilling contests. Simon Harris was one of the best drillers in town and often won the drilling contests at the Fourth of July or Labor Day celebrations. Mrs. Harris tried to have the huge rock taken to the cemetery, but with only horses to do the work they got stuck on the rough road and the rock had to be cut to lighten the load.