Abner Harkness Family
Ancestor Story Submitted by Judith Harkness Dettre
First Families of Huron County Member #173
(Footnotes are marked *.)
Ancestor Story Submitted by Judith Harkness Dettre
First Families of Huron County Member #173
(Footnotes are marked *.)
ABNER HARKNESS spent his earliest days on the move. His father, James Harkness, had taken part in Shay’s Rebellion, and after the malcontents were dispersed, they were no longer welcome in Pelham, Massachusetts. James bundled up his wife, Betsy Edson Harkness, and their baby daughter Roxana and headed northwest. Abner was born 28 March 1786, during the family’s stopover in Stamford, Vermont. Their ultimate destination was a small town called Salem in Washington County, New York, where James’ twin brother, William Harkness, had moved his family previously.
Washington County, New York, would soon be home to a large clan of Harknesses, with Abner’s parents contributing more that their fair share. While the family lived in Salem, eight more children joined the James Harkness family: Anna, James, David, Elizabeth, Jacob, Edson, Daniel and Isaac.
Abner’s Uncle William became restless to find better land, and in 1804, joined his oldest brother, John Harkness, in Springfield Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Gradually, the whole Harkness tribe arrived at the new settlement, setting the stage for further migration into Ohio, Illinois, Kansas and all points west. James and Betsy Harkness with their nine surviving children –– Roxana died at age 12 and Jacob’s twin was stillborn –– arrived in Springfield township in 1806. Abner was twenty years old then and an accomplished farmer and stockman in his own right. His youngest sister, Chloe, was born in Springfield in 1808, thereby completing the James Harkness family. (1)*
Abner’s name appears on the Springfield tax lists of 1812 and 1814. (2)* In 1816 he bought a lot in New Haven, Huron County, Ohio. At the time, he was living in Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania –– about 30 miles northeast of Springfield. On 24 September 1817 (at age 29) he married NANCY GARRETT, age 21, and they set up housekeeping in Elmira Twp., Tioga County, New York. Nancy came from Auburn, New York, where Abner had Harkness cousins. The young couple continued to live in the extreme southern section of New York state near Elmira, according to the 1820 Federal Census which lists Abner (with wife and one female child).
In 1818, Abner had sold his 185-acre Pennsylvania farm to his brother, James Pelham Harkness, for the sum of $500. Four years later, Abner bought two lots in the new town of Paris (Plymouth), Richland County, for $100, and by 1825, the growing family had moved there. Eliza Nancy Harkness had arrived in 1818, Orange C. Harkness (a boy) in 1821, and Simeon Garrett Harkness in 1823. Lydia Elizabeth Harkness was the first of their children to be born in Ohio (1825).
The Abner Harknesses lived in a log cabin on one of the original sixteen town plots. Although billed as a town, Paris was largely uncleared, making it hard to raise crops and sheep. Wild animals were constantly making life difficult and despite precautions, youngsters as well as livestock were often in danger. In 1826, five-year-old Orange was trampled by a deer and died. Later, his remains were moved to the family plot in Woodlawn Cemetery, Norwalk, Ohio. In 1827, another son, James Whipple, was born.
Tragedy struck again with the death of baby James in November 1831; however, another son, Joseph L. Harkness, arrived just eleven days later. Henry Orville Harkness ("H.O.") was born in 1834, the last of the family to count Paris as his birthplace.
The Harkness family moved to Norwalk in the 1830's. Abner bought acreage and began a fine farm at what is now the northeast corner of Milan Avenue and Harkness Street. According to one source, he brought the first sheep to Huron County and his farm prospered. JOHN MITCHELL HARKNESS ("Mitch") born in 1837, and Lauren Andrews Harkness born in 1840 completed the family of five boys and two girls who all grew to adulthood.
Although Abner’s ancestors had been Presbyterian (probably deported Covenanters from Scotland), "The Great Awakening" changed all that. Abner and Nancy converted to Methodism and constantly strove to live temperate lives. In later years, their grandchildren would scurry to hide the cards and checkerboard when grandpa Abner and grandma Nancy were expected.
In the early days of Huron and Richland Counties, Methodist circuit-riding preachers were the only clergy available. Abner and Nancy idolized the circuit riders and provided them with free room and board when they came to town. The last three Harkness sons were named after the circuit riders: Henry Orville, John Mitchell, and Lauren Andrews.
When the canal was opened in Milan, the road through the Harkness farm (Milan Ave.) became a well-traveled thoroughfare. Abner decided to make the most of the situation, so he established an inn and stable across the street from the family home. All the boys worked on the farm and in the stables –– Mitch, in particular, became very adept with the horses. Eliza and Lydia, under mother Nancy’s direction, cooked, served meals, made beds, and did laundry. Industry was the word of the day.
Abner and Nancy appreciated schooling –– both could read and write –– and they saw to it that all their children received at least a grammar school education. Even Eliza and Lydia attended a progressive school for girls in Paris/Plymouth. In addition, H.O. studied to become a machinist. Mitch and Lauren learned the tile-making trade, and Lydia taught school before her marriage at age 29. Mitch was a bit of a problem child in school and, upon at least one occasion, barely escaped the rod. (3)*
As the children grew to adulthood, the Milan Canal ceased to prosper, and there was less business for the inn. Like most large families in the mid 1800's, the adult children tended to move West for more land and opportunities. Eliza married Lauren Avery in 1839 and left Norwalk. In 1857, Simeon took his wife, Mary Bradley, and their two young children to Illinois –– there to start his own farm. Soon after, Joe and his wife, Jane Densen, went even further -- to Iowa. It wasn’t long before H.O. gave in to the wanderlust and joined Simeon in Illinois. After the Civil War, Lauren followed H.O. all the way to the Montana/Idaho Territory. Lydia, forever restless, moved to Cleveland to serve as a nanny for a Methodist minister’s children. (4)*
That left Mitch to carry on the family farm and inn. In 1857, he married a farm girl, JULIA BOUGHTON, from Norwich Twp., the daughter of GUY AND HARRIET (SPRAGUE) BOUGHTON. Perhaps she didn’t want to leave the area. I can think of no other reason for Mitch to stay home. Of all Abner's and Nancy’s children, he would seem to be the one most likely to be in constant conflict with his parents. There was nothing pious about Mitch. He swore, gambled, and loved heated arguments. There must have been some hot times in the old house on Harkness Street!
Lydia (29) married Charles H. Brewster, by whom she had four children. Brewster was killed at the second Battle of Bull Run, and Lydia left her children with various friends and relatives while she tried her hand at nursing in the field. Abner and Nancy wound up with young James Brewster who stayed with them until he was a teenager. Lydia had remarried by then but was apparently in no hurry to collect her children.
Joe, H.O., Mitch, and Lauren all fought in the Civil War. Joe was taken prisoner and spent much of the war in a Confederate prison camp. H.O. was promoted to Captain and was wounded during one of the last battles of the war. Mitch and Lauren were in the Ohio Volunteer Calvary and were with Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea." By some miracle, all returned home safely.
Mitch established the J. M. Harkness & Sons Livery Stable and Transfer Service (moving company) in Norwalk. This business, on East Main Street across from the old Elks Club and more recent movie theater, became a center for men in the area -- particularly Civil War veterans -- to meet and discuss politics and anything else that would trigger a heated argument. Mitch and Julia, sons George, Jay and Will, and daughter Kitty all lived in a large apartment over the livery stable.
In his later years, Abner sold tinware for John Cline & Son, and his wagon was a familiar sight around the county. Nancy went a great deal farther than the county when she visited her sons, H.O. and Lauren in Idaho Territory. At the time Nancy was a robust 76 years old who traveled the last 300 miles alone in a stagecoach. She died in 1878 at 82, outliving Abner by eight years. According to the short biography of son H.O., Abner had been in ill health for 40 years, suffering from asthma and related complaints. Abner, Nancy, Mitch and Lauren are all buried in Woodlawn Cemetery -- the only spot in Norwalk still occupied by the Harknesses.
Note: Judith Harkness Dettre is the granddaughter of Mitch, and only child of Guy Harkness and his wife, Eva Howard. Guy worked many years for the postal service in Norwalk and his wife, Eva was Art Teacher in the Norwalk Public Schools. Judy now lives with her husband, Jack Dettre, in Sparks, Nevada.
____________________
Footnotes:
(1) Dates of marriages, births and deaths from the Abner Harkness Bible
(2) Tax lists from Annuals Bradford Co. Historical Society, #7 and #8 (Towanda Pennsylvania) 1912, p 31; 1913-14, p 67
(3) Anecdote from Firelands Pioneer
(4) 1850 Census
Washington County, New York, would soon be home to a large clan of Harknesses, with Abner’s parents contributing more that their fair share. While the family lived in Salem, eight more children joined the James Harkness family: Anna, James, David, Elizabeth, Jacob, Edson, Daniel and Isaac.
Abner’s Uncle William became restless to find better land, and in 1804, joined his oldest brother, John Harkness, in Springfield Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania. Gradually, the whole Harkness tribe arrived at the new settlement, setting the stage for further migration into Ohio, Illinois, Kansas and all points west. James and Betsy Harkness with their nine surviving children –– Roxana died at age 12 and Jacob’s twin was stillborn –– arrived in Springfield township in 1806. Abner was twenty years old then and an accomplished farmer and stockman in his own right. His youngest sister, Chloe, was born in Springfield in 1808, thereby completing the James Harkness family. (1)*
Abner’s name appears on the Springfield tax lists of 1812 and 1814. (2)* In 1816 he bought a lot in New Haven, Huron County, Ohio. At the time, he was living in Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania –– about 30 miles northeast of Springfield. On 24 September 1817 (at age 29) he married NANCY GARRETT, age 21, and they set up housekeeping in Elmira Twp., Tioga County, New York. Nancy came from Auburn, New York, where Abner had Harkness cousins. The young couple continued to live in the extreme southern section of New York state near Elmira, according to the 1820 Federal Census which lists Abner (with wife and one female child).
In 1818, Abner had sold his 185-acre Pennsylvania farm to his brother, James Pelham Harkness, for the sum of $500. Four years later, Abner bought two lots in the new town of Paris (Plymouth), Richland County, for $100, and by 1825, the growing family had moved there. Eliza Nancy Harkness had arrived in 1818, Orange C. Harkness (a boy) in 1821, and Simeon Garrett Harkness in 1823. Lydia Elizabeth Harkness was the first of their children to be born in Ohio (1825).
The Abner Harknesses lived in a log cabin on one of the original sixteen town plots. Although billed as a town, Paris was largely uncleared, making it hard to raise crops and sheep. Wild animals were constantly making life difficult and despite precautions, youngsters as well as livestock were often in danger. In 1826, five-year-old Orange was trampled by a deer and died. Later, his remains were moved to the family plot in Woodlawn Cemetery, Norwalk, Ohio. In 1827, another son, James Whipple, was born.
Tragedy struck again with the death of baby James in November 1831; however, another son, Joseph L. Harkness, arrived just eleven days later. Henry Orville Harkness ("H.O.") was born in 1834, the last of the family to count Paris as his birthplace.
The Harkness family moved to Norwalk in the 1830's. Abner bought acreage and began a fine farm at what is now the northeast corner of Milan Avenue and Harkness Street. According to one source, he brought the first sheep to Huron County and his farm prospered. JOHN MITCHELL HARKNESS ("Mitch") born in 1837, and Lauren Andrews Harkness born in 1840 completed the family of five boys and two girls who all grew to adulthood.
Although Abner’s ancestors had been Presbyterian (probably deported Covenanters from Scotland), "The Great Awakening" changed all that. Abner and Nancy converted to Methodism and constantly strove to live temperate lives. In later years, their grandchildren would scurry to hide the cards and checkerboard when grandpa Abner and grandma Nancy were expected.
In the early days of Huron and Richland Counties, Methodist circuit-riding preachers were the only clergy available. Abner and Nancy idolized the circuit riders and provided them with free room and board when they came to town. The last three Harkness sons were named after the circuit riders: Henry Orville, John Mitchell, and Lauren Andrews.
When the canal was opened in Milan, the road through the Harkness farm (Milan Ave.) became a well-traveled thoroughfare. Abner decided to make the most of the situation, so he established an inn and stable across the street from the family home. All the boys worked on the farm and in the stables –– Mitch, in particular, became very adept with the horses. Eliza and Lydia, under mother Nancy’s direction, cooked, served meals, made beds, and did laundry. Industry was the word of the day.
Abner and Nancy appreciated schooling –– both could read and write –– and they saw to it that all their children received at least a grammar school education. Even Eliza and Lydia attended a progressive school for girls in Paris/Plymouth. In addition, H.O. studied to become a machinist. Mitch and Lauren learned the tile-making trade, and Lydia taught school before her marriage at age 29. Mitch was a bit of a problem child in school and, upon at least one occasion, barely escaped the rod. (3)*
As the children grew to adulthood, the Milan Canal ceased to prosper, and there was less business for the inn. Like most large families in the mid 1800's, the adult children tended to move West for more land and opportunities. Eliza married Lauren Avery in 1839 and left Norwalk. In 1857, Simeon took his wife, Mary Bradley, and their two young children to Illinois –– there to start his own farm. Soon after, Joe and his wife, Jane Densen, went even further -- to Iowa. It wasn’t long before H.O. gave in to the wanderlust and joined Simeon in Illinois. After the Civil War, Lauren followed H.O. all the way to the Montana/Idaho Territory. Lydia, forever restless, moved to Cleveland to serve as a nanny for a Methodist minister’s children. (4)*
That left Mitch to carry on the family farm and inn. In 1857, he married a farm girl, JULIA BOUGHTON, from Norwich Twp., the daughter of GUY AND HARRIET (SPRAGUE) BOUGHTON. Perhaps she didn’t want to leave the area. I can think of no other reason for Mitch to stay home. Of all Abner's and Nancy’s children, he would seem to be the one most likely to be in constant conflict with his parents. There was nothing pious about Mitch. He swore, gambled, and loved heated arguments. There must have been some hot times in the old house on Harkness Street!
Lydia (29) married Charles H. Brewster, by whom she had four children. Brewster was killed at the second Battle of Bull Run, and Lydia left her children with various friends and relatives while she tried her hand at nursing in the field. Abner and Nancy wound up with young James Brewster who stayed with them until he was a teenager. Lydia had remarried by then but was apparently in no hurry to collect her children.
Joe, H.O., Mitch, and Lauren all fought in the Civil War. Joe was taken prisoner and spent much of the war in a Confederate prison camp. H.O. was promoted to Captain and was wounded during one of the last battles of the war. Mitch and Lauren were in the Ohio Volunteer Calvary and were with Sherman on his famous "March to the Sea." By some miracle, all returned home safely.
Mitch established the J. M. Harkness & Sons Livery Stable and Transfer Service (moving company) in Norwalk. This business, on East Main Street across from the old Elks Club and more recent movie theater, became a center for men in the area -- particularly Civil War veterans -- to meet and discuss politics and anything else that would trigger a heated argument. Mitch and Julia, sons George, Jay and Will, and daughter Kitty all lived in a large apartment over the livery stable.
In his later years, Abner sold tinware for John Cline & Son, and his wagon was a familiar sight around the county. Nancy went a great deal farther than the county when she visited her sons, H.O. and Lauren in Idaho Territory. At the time Nancy was a robust 76 years old who traveled the last 300 miles alone in a stagecoach. She died in 1878 at 82, outliving Abner by eight years. According to the short biography of son H.O., Abner had been in ill health for 40 years, suffering from asthma and related complaints. Abner, Nancy, Mitch and Lauren are all buried in Woodlawn Cemetery -- the only spot in Norwalk still occupied by the Harknesses.
Note: Judith Harkness Dettre is the granddaughter of Mitch, and only child of Guy Harkness and his wife, Eva Howard. Guy worked many years for the postal service in Norwalk and his wife, Eva was Art Teacher in the Norwalk Public Schools. Judy now lives with her husband, Jack Dettre, in Sparks, Nevada.
____________________
Footnotes:
(1) Dates of marriages, births and deaths from the Abner Harkness Bible
(2) Tax lists from Annuals Bradford Co. Historical Society, #7 and #8 (Towanda Pennsylvania) 1912, p 31; 1913-14, p 67
(3) Anecdote from Firelands Pioneer
(4) 1850 Census
