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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Mathias Harman: Too Soon Gone


Just a few more notes on Henry Harman, Sr., “Old Skygusty,” before I go on to the next generation.  Henry and Nancy, his wife, had nine children:

·      1) Daniel Conrad, born 26 June or January 1760, Abbot’s Creek in Rowan County NC.
·      2) Henry, Jr., born 5 August 1763, New River, Giles County, Virginia.
·      3) Adam, born 3 January 1765.
·      4) George, born 25 January 1767.
·      5) Mathias, born 9 February 1769.
·      6) Hezekiah, born 30 October 1771.
·      7) Elias, born 1780.
·      8) Rhoda, birth date unknown, married William Neel, 1794.
·      9) Louisa, born 1780 (same year as Elias?), married James Davis in 1799.[1]

Henry was described by contemporaries as “very tall, of massive frame and very strongly built.” Apparently, he dressed in the fashion of the day in short pants with silver knee buckles.[2] His wife Nancy must have been a very brave and patient woman to have raised a family in a place where uncertainty for their safety was often the norm. She died in 1808[3] at age 70. After a long life, Henry died in 1822[4] at age 95. They were both buried in the Harman cemetery near their home at Hollybrook, Bland County, Virginia, but Nancy’s grave is not marked. In Henry’s will, he named all his sons and his two sons-in-law.[5]

Mathias Harman, the fifth son of Henry, Sr., and Nancy (Wilburn) Harman, was my fourth great-grandfather. All indications point to the fact that Mathias lived an active and adventurous life, too, but a much shorter life than his father’s.  He and his brother George were the two sons described in an earlier blog as fighting alongside their father against seven Shawnee at Tug River. Mathias was 19 years old at the time. (This is not the same Mathias Harman who led the settlers in a search for Jenny Wiley and established Harman Station near Paintsville, Kentucky. That Mathias was Henry, Sr.’s brother.)

On 25 January 1791, at about age 22, our Mathias married Mary Polly Dunn,[6] daughter of Revolutionary War veteran,  Thomas Dunn[7] and his wife Mary (Tickle) Dunn.[8] Mathias and Mary had five children:
·      1) Daniel, born 4 February 1793.[9]
·      2) Jezareel, born 3 February 1795.[10]
·      3) Henry J., born 22 February 1797,[11] Mary Waggoner Troutman's ancestor.
·      4) Nancy, born 5 October 1801.[12]
·      5) Mary (Polly), birth date unknown.[13]

Through a Virginia land grant, Mathias owned a farm in Smyth County.[14] Tragically, he died in 1802 at age 33 in an accident while riding his horse when the horse ran “between two trees.”[15] At his death, his children ranged in age from about 3 through 10. His third son, Henry, my third great-grandfather, was only five years old. Mathias’ wife, Mary, must have been able to manage the farm fairly well, as it was still in the hands of her descendants in 1924.[16] In 1850, Mary was living with her son, Henry and his children in Smyth County, Virginia. She was 75 years old.[17] She died there in March 1858 at age 83.[17]



[1] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy (Southern Branch) with Biographical Sketches and Historical Notes, 1700-1924 (Radford, Virginia: Commonwealth Press, Incorporated, 1925), p. 71. The births of Daniel, George, Mathias, Henry, Jr., and two others whose names are illegible, were also recorded in the Harman Bible, pages of which the author has copies. This Bible is stored at The Historical Society of Virginia, Richmond.
[2] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 70.
[3] U. S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, about Nancy Wilburn; digital image, Ancesty.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 28 April 2014); Vol. 322, SAR membership number 64369.
[4] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 71.
[5] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 71. An abstract of the will is also included on page 336.
[6] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 158.
[7] U. S. Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783, database Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 April 2014), Thos Dunn, Virginia.
[8] U. S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900, database Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 April 2014), Thomas Dunn and Mary Fickle [Tickle], 1772.
[8] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 158.
[10] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 159.
[11] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 159.
[12] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 162.
[13] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 162.
[14] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 158.
[15] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 158.
[16] John Newton Harman, Sr., Harman Genealogy, p. 158.
[17] 1850 U.S. census, Smyth County, Virginia, 60th district, p. 237 (stamped), dwelling 1108, family 1117, Henry Harman family; digital image, Ancesty.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 28 April 2014); citing NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 976.
[18] Virginia Deaths and Burials Index, 1853-1917, database Ancesty.com (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 28 April 2014); Mary Harmon.

© 2014, Z. T. Noble.

8 comments:

  1. It's me again, so sorry to bother you again, but I just realized that "my" Mathias is the Harman Station Mathias...

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    1. Not a problem. So many Harmans share the same names that it's easy to get them mixed up. Have you done much research on Mathias, Sr.?

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    2. Mathias Harman who was married to Lydia Skaggs is my 5th Great Grand Uncle

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    3. Your Mathias, doodad 3366, is the same one Okie Fields refers to in the comment above. He was "my" Mathias' uncle (Henry, Sr.'s brother). So he was my 5th great grand uncle, too, I think--if I figured that correctly.

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  2. I am 56 years old. My grandfather was Fred K Harman,of Rush Tower Missouri. His Father (my great grandfather) James Henry Harman, and his father was Winfield Scott Harman. I've been told that we were Pennsylvania Dutch, moved to Virginia then migrated to Kentucky,then Southern Illinois and later Missouri. They settled in Missouri prior to WW1. It's been told that an ancestor served in the revolutionary war. Winfield Scott fought for the Confederacy. James Henry blew up his right hand firing his father's black powder Confederate revolver as a young man. All cylinders discharged at once and his right hand had to later be amputated due to infection. My grandfather Fred Kuhlmann Harman was killed in WW11. They were woodsman and sharecroppers. It's told that they were also good with horses and mules. It's also said that they were bootleggers. They lived very modestly and were not too educated. All of Grandfather Harman's family have long passed on. My father Marvin Scott Harman,(also deceased) talked about his "Kentucky Cousins" whom they visited years ago. He also told that we were related to Fred Harman, Disney animator and Cowboy artist. Supposedly sum how Debbie Reynolds is also a long lost relative. Our Harman's never met a stranger, tend to die young and would rather hunt,play music and tell stories than earn money. They love family, Country living,guns, hunting and good hunting dogs. Liver problems seem to be herititary. Is our bunch possibly decendents of Hienrich or Mathias? Mathew is a common family name. So is Phillip, Fredrick, Martin,Scott and Henry

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    1. What interesting family stories you've collected. I don't know exactly how you're related, but you are most likely a descendant of Heinrich Adam Hermann/Adam Harman. And I don't know whether Fred Harman, the Disney animator is a relative, but Debbie Reynolds can be traced to a brother of Heinrich Adam Hermann's named Phillip. Adam Harman's sons Henry and Mathias were definitely in the Revolutionary War. Their service has been verified by Daughters of the American Revolution.

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  3. I forgot to mention, our Harman's traditionally (though I was raised Catholic from my mother's side) are Methodist. Great Aunt "Pete" or Amanda Ellen (Harman)Etherton said that it's told we were once Morivians in Pennsylvania... whatever that means. I think it's like a Quaker maybe.

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  4. The Moravian tradition is true also. The Moravian missionaries kept wonderful records, which named people they visited. The Harman names can be found among their jottings. The missionaries were told by one of the Harman's that his father or grandfather (can't remember which) was a Moravian. Here is a link that explains Moravian beliefs: https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/moravians-protestant-beliefs-christians/2015/04/02/id/636022/

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