Profile Text
Birth Name: Elizabeth Anne Harris
Place of Birth: West Marin, California, U.S. ( evidently )
Date of Birth: July 15, 1980
Ethnicity: English, one quarter Polish, Scottish, German, Welsh, Swedish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, distant Dutch, Danish, and Wampanoag Native American
Elizabeth Harris is an American singer, songwriter, musician, artist, and producer. She is known for her solo music project Grouper.
Grouper was raised around the San Francisco Bay area, and grew up in a Fourth Way commune, in a community known as “The Group.”
Her sister-in-law is Canadian-American pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris, who was Surgeon General of California, from February 11, 2019 to February 11, 2022; Nadine is married to Grouper’s brother.
Grouper’s paternal grandfather was Charles Foster Harris (the son of Arno Lyman Harris and Gertrude Mabel Church). Charles was born in Augusta, Kennebec, Maine, and died aboard the SS Dorchester in 1943. He was of predominantly English descent, with some Northern Irish and distant Scottish. Arno was born in Augusta, the son of Benjamin Foster Harris and Elizabeth Eddy Hanscom. Grouper’s great-grandmother Gertrude was born in Augusta, the daughter of Charles F. Church and Annie J. Miller.
Grouper’s paternal grandmother was Lora E. Nicolson (the daughter of Matthew Nicolson and Mabel Gertrude Dew). Lora was born in Augusta, Maine. Matthew was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Alexander Nicolson and Frances Brown. Mabel was born in Hallowell, Kennebec, Maine, the daughter of Walter Scott Dow and Martha Jane Hinkley. She was said to have had distant Wampanoag Native American ancestry.
Grouper’s maternal grandfather was Charles Daniel O’Brien Jackson (the son of Charles Richard Jackson and Rosa Dallas Perkins). Grouper’s grandfather Charles was born in Russell, Virginia. Grouper’s great-grandfather Charles was born in Russell, the son of Andrew Lynam Jackson and Malinda Katherine Slaughter. Grouper’s great-grandmother Rosa was born in Virginia, the daughter of Harvey M. Perkins and Lucinda Pritchett.
Grouper’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Beatrice Berek (the daughter of John Joseph Berek and Anna Emily Kurek). Elizabeth was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Polish parents, from Kamienica. John was the son of Josephus Berek and Francisca Mroczek. Anna was the daughter of Michael Kurek and Catharina Dziedzic.
Sources: Headstone of Grouper’s maternal grandparents, Charles Daniel O’Brien Jackson and Elizabeth Beatrice (Berek) Jackson – https://billiongraves.com
Obituary of Grouper’s maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Beatrice (Berek) Jackson – https://www.eastbaytimes.com