Harshbarger line: George Harter 1801-1854

George Harter was a bit of a traveling man, it seems.  And he has confused various researchers, including yours truly.  There seem to be two George Harters, each purported to be a son of Gearge and Mary Magdalena Miller Harter.  They have two different birthdates.  One is September 22, 1795 and the other is September 22, 1801.  The later date is supported by the 1850 census, when he was 48 years old.  Both birth locations are given as Rockingham County, Virginia, where George and Mary are known to have lived.  So, either one birth date, and potentially set of parents, is incorrect, or they had two children named George.  This would not be totally unusual.  Possibly the first son died but perhaps they gave two children the name of George and used a nickname for one of them.  Or perhaps he was born in 1795 but not christened until 1801.

At any rate, George would have been a youth in his teens, possibly as much as 20 years of age when his parents moved from Rockingham County to Licking County, Ohio.  The family was there as early as 1817, and George probably helped his father get his land cleared and planted, and the homestead built.  But by 1825 he was ready to marry.  He chose Elizabeth Geiger, daughter of Anthony and Mark Kirk Geiger, as his bride, and they married on September 8, 1825.  (I did find an 1820 census form for a George in Licking County, showing a woman and a child but I am not sure whether this was our George or not.  If it was, then his first wife and child must have died before the 1825 marriage.Or perhaps this was the 1795 George who had married by then).

We're not sure exactly when George and Elizabeth moved to Whitley County, Indiana.  They were there by 1840. George was taxed on land there in 1838, although that is not necessarily proof that he was living there then.   (His land was valued at $98 in Smith Township, and his total state and county tax was $2.38. Elizabeth's father, Anthony, died in Whitley County in 1836, so it is very possible that they had traveled together to their new home.  George and Elizabeth had at least six children together, with John being the oldest.

We often forget what it was like for the first settlers of a region.  They had to live off the land and from what they brought with them to their new home, while acquiring land, clearing it, planting crops, building shelter and then a home, hunting wolves and whatever other predator animals could threaten his family, while his wife had babies, kept the family fed, cooking and did laundry and took care of the animals, made soap and candles, and did all the things that were necessary to keep a household fed and clothed.

 As a further example of life in pioneer days, I found this in the 1907 edition of "History of Whitley County" by Kalin and Maring: (in an 1841 perjury trial related to counterfeiting)..."The jury adjourned to a big black walnut stump to deliberate.  Every man in those days was more or less a hunter of wild game and the barking of squirrels and the gobble of wild turkeys caused the bailiff a great deal of trouble in keeping the jury together and attentive to business."  George was one of the men on this jury, the first "big" trial in Whitley County.

The 1850 census shows that George was farming a tract of land worth about $2700, and sons John and Henry were also noted as farmers.  He had acquired at least 360 acres of land in two separate transactions in 1837 and 1838, in each of which the patent says he is of Licking County, Ohio.  It is likely that he purchased the land, cleared it and planted crops, and then went back to Licking County for his family.  The land he purchased is on the east edge of Whitley County in Smith township, some of it north of Churubusco and some just south of Churubusco.

The next we hear of George is his death, noted as being March 9, 1854 in Whitley County.  We don't know his cause of death, but since he was likely in his early 50s, it wasn't old age.  The time of year suggests that it could have been pneumonia, ague, or one of the fevers that early ended the lives of many Whitley County pioneers.  I have not found a will or an inventory for him.

George's life doesn't seem to have been impacted by national events, except to the extent that he was looking for land to purchase.  He was too young to have been part of the war of 1812, and it's thought that his parents didn't leave Rockingham County until that war was settled.  The native Americans had pretty much left the area when the Harters moved on to Whitley County, although of course a few stayed behind.  Kilsoquah, the daughter of Chief Little Turtle, was just a few years younger than George and would have likely been known to him, for instance.  Even though he didn't serve in the military, as far as we know, he was one of those quiet American heroes, who worked and worshiped
 and raised children who would do the same.

The line of descent is:

George Harter-Elizabeth Geiger
John Harter-Mary Bennett
Clara Harter-Emanuel Harshbarger
Grover Harshbarger-Goldie Withers
Cleveland Harshbarger-Mary Beeks
Their descendants 

Update 7/31/2021.  I think I've located the right Harter family in Licking County, Ohio and back to Rockingham County, Virginia.  I am planning to write another blog post about George's parents.