Thomas Harmon (aft. 1750)

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Biography

HARMON (1) 1. John Harmon, b. abt. 1730, Holland; d. after 1790, Orangeburg Dist., S. C; m. abt. 1750, Saxe-Gotha Settlement, Province of S. C, Anna Shirer, b. abt. 1733, The Palatinate, Germany; d. abt. 1795, Orangeburg Dist., S. C (1) JOHN HARMON, OF CHILDREN OF: (2) 1. John Harmon. (2) 2. Thomas Harmon. (2) 3. William Harmon. (2) 4« Jacob Harmon. (2) 5. Maria Harmon. (2) 6. Elizabeth Harmon. (2) 7. Martha Emeline Harmon. (2) 8. Anne Syrene Harmon, b. 8 Feb., 1767, Saxe-Gotha Settlement, Province of S. C; d. 9 June, 1837, Tuscaloosa Co., Ala.; burled same co. and state; m. 26 Jan., 1781, Orangeburg Dist., S. C, Val-entine Gable (2) (the Gable family), b. 15 Aug., 1759, Saxe-Gotha Settlement, Province of S. C.J d. 9 April, 18)41, Tuscaloosa Co., Ala.; buried same co. and state. (1) John Harmon (2) ANNE SYRENE (HARMON) GABLE, OP CHILDREN OF: (3) See (2) Valentine Gable, Of children of (the Gable famlTyT^ 129T John Harmon (1) came to America about 1748. He was a Colo-nial soldier of the Province of S. C, in the Cherokee Expe-dition, 1759-60, under Col. John Chevilette. A copy of the muster and payroll for this service is in the hands of this compiler. (Also see Andrea, p. 17) He also rendered Revolutionary service in furnishing supplies to the Continentals in 1782. (Stub Ent., Bk. 0-Q, p. 287) (FOR JOHN HARMON (1) ) 1790 census, Orangeburg Dist., North Part, S. C: JOHN HARMON: 1 male; 1 female Abraham Harmon, a brother of John Harmon (1), also rendered Revolutionary service in furnishing supplies to the Continen-tals in 1783. (Stub Ent., Bk. U-W, p. 96) John Harmon (2) was a Revolutionary soldier, it being shown that he rendered Militia Duty in I78I and 1782. (Stub Ent., Bk. L-N, p. 15) FOR JOHN HARMON (2) 1790 census, 96 Dist., Newberry County, S. C: 1 male over 16; 6 males under 16; 4 females. HARMON NOTES: (From HARD LABOR, p. 54, SS, 56.) "Harmon, John L., lived at Winterseat from about 1852 to May, I876. That was an important place in the history of that early period. It served as a post office, inn, store and a place for auctioning off property. Travellers with droves of animals - hogs, horses, mules and cattle, also found ac-commodations there. A tornado in the fifties threw fish out of the Savannah River as it passed into Abbeville District, and when it came headlong straight to John G. Thornton's home, twisting off giant oaks as if they were mere reeds, it turned sharply to the left just in time, and just as If it intended to spare it. It passed on by the old school house near the Zaner place straight to Winterseat and car-ried off the house so effectually that its pieces were not found. Fortunately no life was lost In that terrible wild orgy of the winds. It passed near by a house full of school children and left them unharmed, in the momentary stillness and darkness which ensued. Mr. Harmon lost all his children when young, but had in his family W. A. Benson, a stepson, who had been a valliant soldier in Co. C, 7th S. C Regi-ment. On the night of the 26th of May, I876, the Negroes, as their custom was, came into the house and engaged in con-versation. At a given signal, Mr. Harmon, who was writing at the time, was knocked senseless with a cudgel and the throat of Mrs. Harmon was cut. Robbery, it was said at the time, was the motive of the murder. The leader wanted money to go to a Seminary where he could learn to preach. *Mr. Orlando Sheppard of Edgefield, who was present at the trial, has furnished this account of it, when asked for in-formation: " * I did not preside at the inquest on this occasion, but I acted as the Solicitor, representing the State. John A. Barker, a radical Trial justice, held the inquest, and J. A. Richardson, radical sheriff, was present. When I got to the Harmon place I found at least a thousand men there, and I knew that there was going to be trouble, and as a law-abiding citizen I was anxious to have everything done that could be done to give the parties charged with the murder as fair a trial as possible. I, therefore, advised Barker to have jury of inquest organized, composed of the best men in that country, and that all of the testimony bearing on the case should be taken, and he adopted my advice. There never was a better jury organized for the trial of any case than was done in that case, and our old friend, James Callison, was the Foreman of this jury of Inquest. Por two days we took testimony, and at the end of the trial the jury fixed the crime upon the five Negroes named, and they were at once seized by the crowd and taken off and shot. I did not see the shooting, as I knew that our Radical Judge Carpenter would have the case Investigated, and I wanted to be in a position to appear before the Grand Jury of the county, which I did, and upon my testimony the Grand Jury returned a Bill stating that Mr. and Mrs. Harmon had come to their death by the hands of parties unknown, which ended the case. " ' This tragic affair was the feather that broke the radical camel's back. W. A. Benson was not present when the murder took place, but on the day of election, he was reported as starting early in the morning on horseback and hastening all day long from one precinct to another in order to overthrow the incubus of radical rule. Late at night up in Greenville, when multitudes of blacks and whites were anxiously waiting around the Court House to learn how the election went, a tel-egram from Columbia enlivened the gloomy time: "Edgefield reports 12,000 votes ahead, and Inquires whether more are needed".

Sources

OF WHOM I CAME; FROM WHENCE I CAME WELLS-WISE, RISH-WISE AND OTHERWISE BY ZELMA WELLS PRICE PUBLISHED 1959 VOL. 2 PGS. 129-131