Heinrich Adam Harmon (abt. 1700 - 1767)

Born about Aug 1700 in Manheim, Wurttemberg, Germany

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 24 Jan 1767 at about age 66 in New River, Pulaski Township, Giles, Colonial Virginia

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Biography

Heinrich Adam (known as Adam) was born about 1700 in the Valley of the Rhine^[1]. This location is stated to be Mannheim, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, German. He was the son of Johan Michael Harman (1670 - ) and Kristina Kundigunda Regis (1675–1749).

Siblings

1. Kristena Harman (1694 - ____)
2. Catherine Herrman (1696 - ____)
3. Philipina Herrman (1698 - ____)
4. Valentine Harmon (1703 - 1757)
5. Johann Jacob Harmon (1705 - 1756)
6. Mathias Harmon (1707 - 1735)
7. George Adam Harmon (1710 - 1789)
8. Daniel Harmon (1712 - 1758)
9. John Harmon (1714 - 1793)

Marriage and Children

He married Louisa Katrina Mathias on 8 October 1723 at Mannheim, Germany^[2]. They had eleven children^[1].

1. Adam (1724 - 1800), who resided in North Carolina and was a member of the party which aided in founding HARMAN Station in Kentucky;
2. Heinrich (Henry) (1726 - 1822)
3. George (1727 - 1749)
4. Daniel (1729 - 1820)
5. Christina (1733 - 1815), who married Jeremiah Pate of Giles County;
6. Mathias Cutlif (1736 - 1832)
7. Catherine (1737 - 1800), who married Ulrich RIichards of North Carolina;
8. Jacob (1738 - ), who settled in Tazewell County and later moved away.
9. Philipina (1740 - 1751)
10. a daughter who married a Looney
11. Valentine (1744 - ), who settled in Tazewell County in 1771 and moved to Kentucky;

Adam, his wife and his son Adam emigrated from their home near the Rhine to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in about 1726 or 1727^[1]. His son Heinrich (Henry) was born en route at the Isle of Man.

Adam bought land in Philadelphia Country, Pennsylvania in 1734. Family information says when his son Henry was eleven years old, they came to the New River. Adam and family were among the first white settlers on the New River. Drapers Meadow was located at the present day Blacksburg, Virginia and the VPI campus. Adam was established there by March 1745, because the "Indian Road" ended at his ford on New River according to an Orange County road order. This is the first documentary evidence of white men settling in that Territory.

He was a farmer and a trapper and about the time he had a fur cache wrecked, his wife died in childbirth, on 18 March 1749. He became a large land owner.

Adam died on 24 January 1767 at New River, Pulaski Township, Giles, Colony of Virginia. He was buried in Toms Creek, Augusta County, Virginia^[3].

THE HARMAN HISTORY

"Heinrich Adam HARMAN, HERMANN, was among the early HARMANs who emigrated from Germany early in the eighteenth century. He was born in Germany in about 1700, married Louisa Katrina 8 October 1723 and came with his family to Pennsylvania about 1726.

Heinrich Adam HARMAN, as shown by report of surveyors, PATTON and BUCHANAN, lived on the New River three years before the INGLES, DRAPERS and others came to that territory, thus the honor and distinction of having erected the first dwelling and making the first permanent settlement of English speaking people in the Mississippi Valley goes to him.

The early HARMANs were, presumably, Lutheran and associated themselves with the Moravian Settlement in North Carolina and many of their records can be found there. The great majority of the HARMANs of Southwest Virginia became Methodist and have remained Methodists to the present. Heinrich Adam figured prominently in the rescue of Mrs. Mary DRAPER INGLES, was qualified as 'Captain Troops of Horse' in 1752, was constable of New River and overseer of the road. As a pioneer he was the first among those who sought a home in this wilderness for himself and his family, and with his distinguished sons blazed a way for his descendants and others to enjoy the comforts and embellishments of civilized life in this country. He died on New River in 1767^[4].

Additional Notes

Also known as Adam Harman. Came to America with wife Louisa Katrina from the left side bank of the Rhine River in 1726. A river flowing from S.E. Switzerland through West Germany and the Netherlands into the North Sea. 2 miles long. Heinrich and his wife Louisa and sons arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in January 1726 on the ship "Charlotte."

He was said to have had six brothers, some of whom had come with him to America, and others followed later. It is believed his brothers George, Peter, John, and perhaps another, who came direct from Germany to North Carolina, were also his brothers. It is believed that Adam Harman came to New River in the present Giles County, Virginia and established his permanent residence at Eggleston Springs, then called Gunpowder Spring, owing to its odor resembling that of gunpowder.

Adam Harman was the first pioneer to settle in the wilderness and blazed a way for others to follow. He and his sons were the founders of the first permanent English speaking settlement west of the Allegheny Mountains, and in the whole Mississippi Valley. They were Germans(Prussians) and spoke the German Language, but they also spoke the English language and were loyal subjects to the English crown in the Colony of Virginia.

All histories have fixed the first settlement at Drapers Meadows, at the present Blacksburg, in Montgomery County, Virginia, but in 1745 a county court road order entered in Orange County, Virginia, May 20,1745 , recites a road survey to "Adam Harmon's on New River".

Records also show that he was a road over seer there in 1746 and 1747; that he was also constable there all prior to 1748, the date of the Draper's Meadows Settlement. A dam qualified as 'Captain Troops Horse' in 1752. He, and presumably his two sons, Adam Jr., and Henry Sr., rescued Mrs Ingles, after her captivity by the indians, in 1755, at Eggleston Springs.

The Harmans had tracts of land on Pine River, Walker's Creek ,Bluestone, Sinking Creek, Tom's Creek,and the Horseshoe. Their selections were more than they could settle and improve. As a result, most of their claims were forfeited. Records from Augusta County in 1750 show 15,000 acres on Bluestone River belonging to Adam, Jacob, and Valentine. In 1742, Adam Harman received a land patent, but failed to cultivate the track or pay quit rents in Giles County near Tom's Creek. In 1752, William Thompson and John Buchan an petioned for that tract of land, claiming that the Harmans failed to make improvements. A judge ordered the land transferred to them for 50 shillings. Adam also originally owned the land where Virginia Tech and Radford Munitions Depot are located.

The Harmans were associated with the Morovian Church settlement in North Carolina and most of the Harmans in Southwest Virginia became Methodists. An entry in one of the diaries of the Morovian Church mentioned that Adam Harman was visiting and had his young son baptized. He said they would soon have to leave the Virginia settlements because the King had given the lands back to the Cherokees.

Adam Harman's German Lutheran family bible was presented years ago to the Virginia State Library and Archives. The following was translated from German: "I, Heinrich Adam Hermann, Married Louisa Katrina, October 8,1723, and have together eleven children, and have lived in matrimony as true married folks should, up to the year 1749, when my dear wife died March 18th and was buried the 21st,which fell on a Monday." "The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us of all our sins. Amen." " And my wife, Louisa Katrina, her last meditation (thought) was this: 'I know that my savior lives, and he will support me when leaving the earth, here after will surround me with his_______ and in my flesh will see God the same evening and my eyes will perceive him.' Died 9 o'clock, 25 minutes. Her last song: 'My earthly travels are over. I fought a good fight. All must die, and I must leave. Good night all my loved ones." " My son George died July___, 1749 at the age of 22 years.

1.HARMON, Johan Michael b: 1670 in Mittelfranken, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

+REGIS, Kundigunda b: 1675 in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany m: 1698 in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

2. Harmon, Heinrich Adam b: 1700 in Manheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: January 1767 in Giles County, Virginia

+MATHIAS, Louisa Katrina b: Abt. 1700 m: 08 October 1723 in Germany

2. Harmon, Jacob b: 1705 in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: 1757 in Neck Creek, Pulaski County, Virginia

+FRELEY, ? b: Abt. 1705

2. HARMAN, Valentine b: 1706 in Germany d: 1757 in Tazewell County, Virginia

2. HARMAN, Mathias b: 1707 in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: 1735 in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania

+?, Hanna Elizabeth b: Abt. 1708

2. Harmon, George Adam b: 1710 in Mittelfranken, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: 1789 in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina

+WYLIE, Mary Margaret b: 1720 in Frederick County, Maryland m: December 1744 in Frederick County, Maryland d: 1808 in Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina

2. Harmon, Daniel b: 1712 in Mittelfranken, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany d: 1758 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

+?, Mary b: Abt. 1712

2 .HARMAN, Christena b: Abt. 1714

2. HARMAN, John b: 1714 in Mittelfranken, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

2. HARMAN, Catherine b: Abt. 1716

+RICHARDS, Ulrich b: Abt. 1716 . 2 Harmon, Philipina b: Abt. 1718 d: 1751

Research Notes

No sources have been found for the birth dates for all the children. Note that the daughter who married a Looney added to some trees can not be correct as she is claimed to have been born in Colonial America well before the family emigrated.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Harman, John Newton Sr. Harman Genealogy (Southern Branch) with Biographical Sketches, 1700 - 1924. (Richmond, Virginia: W.C. Hill Printer Co., 1925). Accessed on Internet Archive See ChapterII, p. 49 and ff].
2. ↑ Yates Publishing. U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. "U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900". Source number: 52.000; Source type: Electronic Database; Number of Pages: 1; Submitter Code: EOP
   • View Ancestry Record 7836 #531289 (requires subscription)

   Name: Heinrich Adam Harmon; Gender: Male; Birth Place: Ge; Birth Year: 1700; Spouse Name: Katrina; Number Pages: 1.

3. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/60291020/heinrich-adam-harman: accessed 20 September 2022), memorial page for Heinrich Adam “Henry” Hermann Harman Sr. (Aug 1700–24 Jan 1767), Find A Grave: Memorial #60291020; Maintained by Daryl & Barbara (Biggs) Mallett (contributor 46984947) Burial Details Unknown.
4. ↑ History: "History of Bland County (Virginia)" by Bland County Centennial Corporation, 1992: p.139-144 (NOTE: FHL Microfilm # 6048187)

• Harman, John William, ed. Harman-Harmon Genealogy and Biography, with Historical Notes, 19 B.C. to 1928 A.D. (Parson, West Virginia: 1928). See the family group for Heinrich Harman at pp. 176-179. See also p. 219.

• Pratt, Floyd Thomas, ed. Stanley M. Harmon Research Compendium (Literary History Series, 2015), p. 270. Published at Archive.org under a 3.0 Creative Commons License)