Priscilla Jennings Harriss Cabell

1932 - 2025

Priscilla Jennings Harriss Cabell

July 8, 1932 - June 26, 2025

Priscilla Jennings Harriss Cabell died on June 26, 2025 in Richmond, Va.

Priscilla was born on July 8, 1932, in Wilmington, N.C., as the daughter of Meares Harriss and Laura MacNair Weddell Harriss. She was the widow of Robert Gamble Cabell, V, who died in 1995. She is survived by her children, Mark Harriss Cabell, Elizabeth Bell Cabell Jennings, and John Branch Cabell as well as her grandchildren, MacNair Weddell Jennings Cox, Grace Cabell Jennings Lajoie, William Grandy Cabell, Nicholas Bell Cabell, Anne Gamble Jennings, and John Woodward Cabell.

Priscilla attended college at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and trained as an accountant. She worked for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the North Carolina State Ports Authority, and Coca Cola, Inc. where she was manager for the international accounts receivable department in Atlanta, Ga. She also pursued accounting with American Motors in Denver Colo., as City Clerk for Warner Robins, Ga., and later Atlantic Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Savannah, Ga. She moved to Virginia in 1963 where she and her husband Robert lived on a Hereford beef cattle farm in Cumberland County with their children, where she developed an interest in colonial land patents.

She was a noted Virginia author, historian, and cartographer. Author of Turff and Twigg, she completed the extensive research, colonial cartography, and summary of the land granted to French Huguenot refugees arriving in Virginia in 1700 near Powhatan County. The landowner-centric format has allowed for generations of French descendants to learn in detail about their family origins. As a result of her pioneering work, she was an honorary member of the National French Huguenot Society, the Manakin Society, and the Chapitre Rochambeau of the Alliance Francaise in Richmond, Va. She was also a board member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Virginia Genealogical Society, and prominent member of the Virginia Historical Society, and Virginia State Archives Board.

Priscilla was a volunteer and supporter of many non-profit organizations. Over the years, she volunteered with the Atlanta School for Children's Hearing and Speech, Aidemore Children's Hospital, Saint Mary's Church in Oxfordshire, England, Saint James Episcopal Church in Cartersville, Va., Saint James's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Va., Habitat for Humanity, and UNOS. She was also a member of The Woman's Club in Richmond and the Carolina Yacht Club in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.

Throughout her life, Priscilla was active and cared deeply for her family. She was generous and present in supporting family and friends at events large and small, everything from music recitals to sporting events. She is remembered fondly for her love and attention.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 26th, at 11 a.m., at St. James's Episcopal Church in Richmond, with interment at a later date at Greenwich Cemetery in Savannah, Ga. In lieu of flowers, if desired, please send any memorial funds to The Salvation Army or St. James's Children Center in Richmond.