Harshaw Family

West Pittston Photos

2011-09-13T16:02:00.004-04:00

Found this website with photos of West Pittston.

West Pittston Flooding

2011-09-11T14:16:00.001-04:00

Apparently West Pittston was flooded by tropical storm Lee. The parsonage was very close to the Susquehanna. [Updated: NYTimes article.]

Ralph in Foochow

2011-09-10T16:34:00.000-04:00

Inspired by word that Yale is digitizing mission records, I did a search for Foochow YMCA and got this hit, a picture showing the board of directors in 1920, with Ralph second from left in rear row. According to this, Ralph was also the photographer. There's also this picture of the building, with the note it was donated by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. And this photo of the YMCA Boy Scout troop (Ralph's not in the picture--he took it).

And this story has no connection with the Golds, but I can't resist it:

"The congregation in a small rural Fujian country church decided to repaint the church, but only had enough money for about ten gallons of paint. They did it anyway, in faith, praying that the paint would not run out, even as the oil did not run out in the Old Testament story of Elijah and the widow. When the paint ran low, they added paint thinner, but managed to complete the entire wooden church with just ten gallons of paint!

But no sooner had they finished, a very untimely (for that season) thunderstorm broke upon the church, washing off much of the paint that had been thinned. And a voice from heaven said, "Repaint, and thin no more!"

The Harshaw Diaries

2011-08-24T13:22:00.004-04:00

As of now the diaries of James Harshaw are not accessible on the Internet. I expect that to change, but until they do this Newry Journal piece provides some highlights which may be of interest.

Stewarts and Lower Chanceford in the Civil War?

2011-08-15T14:32:00.001-04:00

York county is the next county east of Adams county, the county seat of which is Gettysburg. It's near enough it had a fair amount of Civil War action. The York blogs have mentioned some of this. This post at Universal York has a list of names from Lower Chanceford township which were in a hastily-alerted unit mustered during July 1863. I see several Stewarts, who might descend from Capt. John and Mary Orson. I also note some surnames which are familiar in NY: Grove, Fulton, Boyd, Smith--I often wonder whether the migration to Geneva, NY accounts for some of the overlap in names between the two areas.

With this number of men from Lower Chanceford, I also wonder how many were away fighting?

More on Rippey/Ripy

2011-08-04T15:55:00.000-04:00

The Ulster Scot now has their June 2011 issue online for downloading. Page 14 has an article on Dr. William Rippy, linking the lineage to Ripy Whiskey in Kentucky. Note that I've linked to the page from which you can download the publication. When I did so, it opened in Adobe Flash, but my Firefox 3.6 browser bogged down later. The Adobe Flash plug-in apparently started using all the memory I had. I ended up uninstalling Adobe Flash from Firefox.

Dr. William Reppe/Rippy/Rippey

2011-07-07T12:53:00.000-04:00

Genealogy boards have reported that the Rippey family originated when a Dr. William R.. emigrated to the UK. Marjorie passes on information from an UlsterScots newspaper article, which also stimulated bit more research.

Dr. William Reppe had a flourishing medical practice in Paris. He fled Paris probably after August 24, 1572, the date of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of Protestants. While most Huguenot refugees who came to Britain settled in England, the good doctor went to Scotland.

There he apparently became friends with the Hamiltons, because in 1610 he moves to Ulster (County Tyrone) as part of the Hamilton/Montgomery settlement. (That's the settlement in which a Harshaw also took part.)

There's a commune (town) called "Reppe" on the eastern border of France, about 30 miles north of Basel Switzerland, which might possibly be an ancestral home.

View Reppe/Rippy in a larger map

A House Captain John Saw

2011-05-14T12:38:00.000-04:00

We don't know what the house of Captain Rippey and Mary Orson looked like, but here's the York Town Square blog post on the Willis house, which dates to that time.

1905 Report from West Pittston

2011-04-24T14:34:00.000-04:00

Frpm The Westminister, a new series of The Presbyterian Journal

The First Presbyterian Church, West Pittston, Rev. W. R. Harshaw, D.D., pastor, has closed a prosperous year. An accession of fifty-two members, and a total of 580 of a membership reported to the General Assembly this year. The congregation has given this year a little over $19,000 for various purposes, about $14000 to missionary and general benevolence, and the remainder was spent on its own immediate field. The Italian mission which has been conducted by this church for a number of years is now under the superintendency of Rev. Jerome Vavolo. The work still prospers, and it is hoped in a short time to erect a building for this branch of the work.

I don't know whether the increase in membership means grandfather was an evangelist or was simply gaining by adding the children of his members. I suspect some of both. According to wikipedia, the population of Pittston increased by about 21 percent between 1890 and 1900.

Municipal Reform and Good Government

2011-04-14T12:50:00.001-04:00

Revs.A.H and W.R. Harshaw were among the signatories of this open letter in 1890: (The People's Municipal League was a Progressive organization, presumably a part of the National Municipal League which later became the National Civic League.)

MISRULE.

New York preachers have united in support of reform in city politics. Municipal misgovernment, a topic of constantly increasing importance, has not often been more trenchantly discussed than in the following address, signed, September 22, at a public meeting, by over one hundred representative ministers. We gladly make it a part of our record of current reform.

The undersigned are ministers of religion. As such, their office is to help their fellow-men to a righteous life. In so doing they must needs consider and advise touching the application of moral truth to political as well as personal and social questions. It is only when such advice meddles with indifferent subjects involving no moral issues and so assumes the form of mere partisanship that it can be justly condemned as inappropriate and pernicious. On all questions affecting the public morals it is the duty of those whose province it is to preach righteousness to warn the people against the dangers of a vicious solution and to urge them to a virtuous course.

It is for this reason that we address our fellow ministers of religion in the city of New York at this time, in relation to the moral wants and dangers of the metropolis that has been so highly favored of Providence, and ask them to join us in seeking to overthrow the rule of falsehood and fraud that now disgraces our city.

We make no charge against individuals, for we have confidence in many who are now in official places, but we distinctly impugn the methods and habits that have for a long time prevailed in almost every department of our city government. Men are placed in important posts of honor and trust who are notoriously of depraved life, the frequenters of liquor saloons and houses of vice, and educationally unfitted for any municipal duties. They manage their official influence solely for their personal profit, or for the furtherance of the party that gave them their places. All public interests under such control either languish or are directly injured. The immense income of the city is fearfully squandered, and under pretense of urban improvement jobs are created which never realize the improvements, but put thousands of dollars in plunder into the pockets of contractors and their governmental allies. It is estimated that the city of New York could be maintained in all its present condition for three quarters of the sum annually expended, and this estimate is made by comparison of the cost of maintaining the other great cities of the world, and with due regard to the difference in values of labor and products in the different countries. According to this estimate, twenty-five per cent. (i. e. $8,000,000) is wasted annually, and so much added unnecessarily to the taxes of the people.

But this waste of money is the least evil. Loose views and practices are popularized. Dishonesty in many forms pervades the community and loses its disgraceful stigma. The police who should be the picked men of character in the community are notoriously in the pay of the law-breakers, the high officials and the courts of this department being thoroughly tainted with public suspicion. The Excise Board make it easy for the disturbers of the peace to ply their vocation, and protect them against the complaints of outraged citizens. Money is found to be the key to open any difficulty and to shut off the efforts of justice. The poor are therefore oppressed and have no resource of relief. Every place, however humble, under the government must be bought. The poor man, who cannot obtain the hundred or the thousand dollars necessary, has no chance. Fitness for the place is of no account. Money and party are the only watchwords that gain an entrance. The effect of such an administration on public morals cannot be overestimated. In commercial circles the young men are tempted to follow the example of the officials who flourish by fraud, and as a consequence we have constant robberies by trusted clerks and defalcations by esteemed bank officers, so that public confidence is shaken in the institutions erected for public security. The whole tone of intercourse between man and man, as seen from the records in the daily papers, is lowered, and false dealing is looked upon as a trifle.

Now is this all? The debauched life of many public officials leads the young to the lowest forms of vice, as they learn to couple success with debauchery. A drunken police captain will be the model of a hundred youths in his precinct, and a high official frequenting a house of ill-fame will have a thousand follow in his wake. Vice is made a prize instead of a disgrace to young men by the vicious conduct of men whom they see to be in authority, and whom they regard as samples of success.

That these causes act directly and powerfully to increase crime cannot be doubted. The very government that is constituted to suppress crime and prevent it becomes the minister of corruption and multiplies the sources of criminal life.

There is another aspect of the problem of municipal reform intimately connected with that which has been presented above. A city government exists to order the conditions of life favorably for the mass of the citizens. As far as may be practicable, it must seek, if it be a true government, to lighten the burdens of the wage-workers, to ease the strain under which the poor earn their bread, to broaden the way to success for the average man, to promote the health and happiness and welfare of the mass of the people. It must concern itself with securing equitable taxation, with enforcing just legislation in behalf of labor, and with guarding public franchises. It must provide clean streets, healthful homes, ample school accommodations, and the best possible system of education ; rapid transit facilities, whereby families of modest means may make their homes in the suburbs; public baths, museums, libraries, etc., — in short, all that makes for manhood, physical, mental, and moral. This problem of good government is the problem of philanthropy. Therefore it is the problem of religion. But every religious endeavor is handicapped by our inefficient and corrupt administration. The money which might be spent on public improvements is largely wasted. We could not intrust such schemes of public improvement as other cities have carried out to brilliant success to any but capable, honest, and public spirited rulers. To aid in obtaining such rulers is the urgent duty of all religious men, in the interest of humanity. We ministers of religion, whose duties lead us to face sadly the wretchedness of our great metropolis, call upon our fellow ministers, as well as on all religious people, to put into this practical form that religion which teaches that the love of God is the love of man.

We are perfectly certain that the vast majority of voters in our city desire an honest and clean government, but they are ever failing to obtain it. And why? Simply because the great political parties of the' country manage our local politics, keeping up their political divisions to the ruin of the city, that the parties may be continued compact for the national contests. This is the excuse which sends men by the thousands like sheep to follow their leader and vote for the "regular candidate," be he ever so mean or corrupt. It is this party spell that must be broken in the city of New York, if we are to have a good and permanently good government. Good citizens must work together and vote together for good men, utterly ignoring party lines. To this end there must be organization. The People's Municipal League is instituted to divorce our city government from state and national politics, to nominate candidates for ability and integrity, independent of parties, halls, bosses, and factions, and to place the government on a foundation of righteous business principle, and by these means purify the moral atmosphere of our metropolis. We look upon this as a religious duty, and are not to be deterred by any fear that the organization may be used by adroit politicians, for we trust in the righteousness of the cause and in the high moral sense of the great majority of the community. We therefore invite all ministers of religion to unite in this movement, and to put before their congregations the importance of using the elective franchise for the purpose of a pure government, as against the demands of corrupt party organizations. We ask no one to leave his party on any state or national issue, but we ask the members of all parties to unite on a moral and not a party basis in the direction of our municipal affairs. Thus with a clear conscience and in the honest pride of citizenship the good people of New York will use their power, and the day of deals and bosses will be over. Fitness and faithfulness will be the ruling condition of office, and the public morality will be guarded by the public administration.

We put before the people the names of those who are perfecting the organization of the citizens, as a guarantee that no party end or personal advantage is sought, and that but one aim actuates the movement, the purity of our city government.

The address was signed by the following ministers : — Bishop Potter, R. Heber Newton, Howard Crosby, Morgan Dix, Gustav Gottheil, De Sola Mendes, Charles H. Parkhurst, James O. S. Huntington, David H. Greer, Felix Adler, Charles F. Deems, Benjamin B. Tyler, Robert S. MacArthur, Ensign McChesney, Abbott E. Kittredge, William T. Sabine, G. Frederick Krotel, Robert M. Sommerville, William Lloyd, George James Mingius, Carl Erixon, Samuel S. Seward, Amadous A. Reinke, Alexander Walters, Edward B. Coe, Wellesley W. Bowdish, Theodore C. Williams, Conrad E. Lindberg, Charles C. Goss, Homer H. Wallace, George Shipman Payson, George S. Baker, Waldo Messaros, Conrad Emil Sindberg, S. B. Rossiter, J. W. Brinckerhoff, George E. Strobridge, A. H. Harshaw, Benjamin Brewster, C. E. Bolles, Charles E. Bolton, A. P. Ekman, James M. Whiton, L. H. Schwab, W. J. Macdowell, George D. Dowkoutt, Henry Wilson, Paul Quattlandery, Charles J. Holt, R. E. Wilson, J. G. Scharf, Thomas Dixon, Jr., D. M. Hodge, W. Warren Giles, Thomas Douglass, William Huckel, James M. Philputt, Charles B. Smyth, John Parker, Madison C. Peters, H. Weinchel, Jesse W. Brooks, H. Olsen, George G. Carter, Robert Mason, Frederick Glenk, James Chambers, John Sutton, William H. Lawrence, B. Hopkins, J. Warden, A. B. Lilja, Walter M. Walker, A. H. Burlingham, George M. Mead, George H. Mayer, P. Watters, Edward D. Flagg, Henry M. MacCracken, Aaron Wise, Thomas Drummer, James H. Cook, Peter Stryker, George H. Simons, Isaac McGuire, W. R. Harshaw, J. W. Foster, Hayman Bradsky, .William Musgrave, Joseph Saxton, William Westerfleld, Clifton H. Levy, Theodore A. H. Meissner, Ellsworth Bonfils, Charles L. Thompson, W. C. Bitting, Thomas J. Ducey, Walter B. Floyd, Newton Perkins, Jacob Freshman, Charles B. Smith, G. Edwin Talmage, Henry Morton Reed, Joseph Baird, Frederick N. Rutan, John Henry Hopkins, James H. Headley, William A. Layton, Joachim Elmendorf, F. Hamlin, J. S. Stone, Gottfried Hammaskold, Arthur Brooks, J. G. Bates, Joseph Reynolds, Jr., S. De Lancey Townseud, S. D. Burchard, C. C. Goss, Philip Schaff, J. F. Busche, Spencer H. Bray, James A. Reed, A. F. Schauffler, R. N. Kidd, Samuel Buel and I. Ansonelliz.

In spite of the citizens' and the preachers' organized activity, corrupt politics triumphed in New York city in the November elections. This fact makes the foregoing address all the more significant and memorable.

Golds in Minneapolis 1922

2011-04-13T17:37:00.000-04:00

Ralph Gold and Disarmament

2011-04-12T17:21:00.000-04:00

This bit surprised me.

From this This wikipedia article provides a bit of background. I'm not sure what interest the YMCA would have had.

The Coal Strike of 1902

2011-04-05T16:48:00.000-04:00

I posted here the article Rev. William Harshaw published in Christian Work and Endeavor on the anthracite strike. Here's an editorial piece in the same issue. (The thrust is the "Church" should bear the burden of educating the immigrant children, not the state.)

A Lesson of the Strike.

The weighty article which we publish elsewhere in this issue throws a ray of light on the dark question of the present difficulties in the coal regions. A disease must be diagnosed before it can be cured, and the author of this article, a young minister living in the mining region and making it his business to know the people and their problems, brings an important contribution not only to the diagnosis but to the cure of the frightful malady from which not that district only but the whole country is suffering.

That the miners are mainly foreigners is well known, and was cogently shown in these pages a few weeks ago. But the profound significance of the fact that right in the heart of our country a great body of 150,000 people, upon whom the nation depends for the fundamental necessary of life and of business activity, are absolutely incapable of becoming a part of our social fabric, and under existing conditions must remain an alien mass in the body politic, undigested and indigestible, has not been made clear until now. These people do not speak English and are not learning to speak it. Their children do not go to school because there are no teachers who can understand the languages they speak—Lithuanian. Hungarian, Polish and the like. And as the children never come in touch with English-speaking children they cannot absorb the language as foreign children in our cities do by contact. So they go on from father to son living in filth and squalor, in intemperance and lawlessness. However inadequate the miners' wage may be to provide the necessary means of decent living it is more than sufficient for these people because they do not know how to live decently and have no example of decent living before them. Hence intemperance and lawlessness in the highest degree.

It is therefore Mr. Harshaw's conviction that even before the ministries of religion these people must have education, must be taught to speak English; and he is doubtless right. Nevertheless it appears to us that the situation is one rather for the Church than for the Government to deal with in its initial stage. Just as the first Sunday-schools, with their primers and spellers, were the entering wedge for the common-school and universal compulsory education, so it would appear that in the present situation it is the Church, with its voluntary teachers and its genius for self-abnegation, that must pioneer the way for a practical system of public education among these foreigners. The local churches are beginning to recognize this need, and Mr. Harshaw is only one of several ministers who are manfully doing their part in humanizing these people and making them otherwise capable of citizenship than by mere residence in the country. A movement for educating as well as evangelizing the Poles, started three or four years ago in Pittsburg, is spreading eastward through the State and westward into Ohio and further. The Presbytery of Lackawanna, in the heart of the mining district, has taken up the matter, and is making at least preliminary arrangements toward effective action. Among the Magyar population is one minister, possibly there are more, endeavoring to educate and enlighten the people of that speech. But individual action, however intelligent and and devoted, will not meet the need; the disease is too violent and too contagious for any but large and comprehensive measures. Not even a single denomination may be able to cope with the situation. The imminent and urgent call is to all denominations represented in the coal regions, acting in concert, and strongly backed up by their national bodies, to undertake the eminently religious work of making English-speaking Americans of such isolated and alien populations as are found in our mining districts. If the strike shall so call attention to these populations as to bring about such action it will not have been an unmixed evil.

I liked the "young minister" reference--W.R. was 47.

The 1902 Coal Strike, Rev. W. R. Harshaw's Views

2011-04-03T16:08:00.000-04:00

In 1902 there was a strike called by the United Mineworkers among the anthracite miners in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre/Pittston area. See this wikipedia article. In the aftermath of the strike, Rev. William Harshaw published this article.

By Rev. W. R. Harshaw.

Good comes out of evil. The great strike of the anthracite region is calling the attention of the public to the masses of foreigners that make this serious problem. The philanthropic and Christian public need to know of it. Ignorance has allowed it to lie almost untouched and it has festered and become a running sore that is dangerously contagious. When it has been mentioned those outside the valleys in which it lies have been accustomed to look upon it as a local condition, furnishing a local problem, which the Christian and patriotic public immediately in touch with it, ought to be able to solve without much difficulty. That it rises above the local in importance the strike has demonstrated. Vast industries far beyond the anthracite region have been partially paralyzed and millions of people have been forced to suffer in pocket and person. Those who live in these regions understand very clearly that the magnitude of the problem puts it beyond their power to handle unless they can count on sympathy and active cooperation from the outside.

What are some of the facts that are familiar to those who live in this region infested by this foreign mass?

There are one hundred and fifty thousand people in the Wyoming and Lackawanna valleys alone who can neither speak nor understand the English tongue. Along with these may be put a vast number of others, who in a feeble way, are able to speak English and yet at no other point are the superiors of their fellows. Cut off from contact with Americans, through inability to communicate with them, they live by themselves. They have their own merchants, their own priests, their own teachers in the parochial school. In no way do they become identified with the life of the community in which they live. Indeed, they have no community interest. They are here because the opportunity to make a better living is afforded them, but to all intents and purposes they live the life of Hungary, or Poland, or Italy on this soil. They are the undigested and the undigestible element in every community. No intelligent man needs to be told that the presence of such a mass is a menace to the best life of every community where it may chance to be.

Now, when you put alongside of the number of these people the conditions under which the larger portion of them live you have made the question more startling. They live either in little villages of their own, outside the towns and cities, or else on the outskirts of the cities. They herd together in huts and hovels that are largely unfit for human habitation. And this sort of habitation is not the result of the "grinding greed" of the coal

operator, but it is the result of choice. They choose to live under these conditions. These people make fair wages. Most of them have bank accounts. They prefer to live as they do. Living under such conditions, it is not strange that the type of morality is of the lowest sort. It would be strange were it otherwise. The crowding together under these conditions brings with it a morality that degrades manhood and womanhood and brings a multitude of children into the world by birth and heredity bent in the wrong direction. Then, too, all sanitary regulations are thrown to the wind. Last year when the smallpox prevailed it was very largely centered in these foreign communities, and it was almost impossible to stamp it out, because it was impossible, even by the stern pressure of the police authorities, to force the observance of the regulations necessary for its destruction. Petty thievery is almost characteristic of this element. The fruit trees and gardens of the community are never safe. The farms of the neighborhood are considered a legitimate field for their operations. The criminal court is the evidence that more than threefourths of the crime is committed by these men, who have no conception of what law means; who have no higher conception of right and wrong than personal wish and will.

These people live in the saloon. You have only need to look as you pass through one of these foreign communities to be convinced of this. Every other door is a saloon. The patronage must include almost the whole population in order that the number of saloons should be legion. Then when you add to this the almost unnumbered groggeries that are hidden away out of sight in order to escape the license fee, one is amazed at the amount of drink that must be stowed away in these men and women.

Among a people born as these people are born and living as they do, the seeds of anarchy are sown and readily received. The utmost efforts of labor leaders, under the strong pressure of public opinion, have been brought to bear upon them during this strike to keep them within bounds and prevent outbreak, and yet it has only been partially successful. Again and again the pressure of lawlessness has been too strong and they have broken out in defiance of law to beat and dynamite and kill and destroy. Of course, in the presentation of this dark picture of the present conditions I have not overlooked the fact that there are exceptional cases where these peoples have furnished to the community intelligent, upright, useful, patriotic citizens. But. making all possible allowance for these, one is forced to admit that they are the exceptions, and that these exceptions are few and far between.

Thus far practically very little has been done to better the conditions. An occasional mission has been established, an occasional missionary has been set to work and these men have done efficient service, so far as the limits of time and ability have gone, but nothing adequate to the conditions has been attempted either by the Church or State. Certainly, something ought to be done. Every intelligent and patriotic citizen is asking in these days with emphasis, "What can be done?"

The first thing is to get the younger generation to speak the English tongue. The sending of missionaries who speak to them in their own tongue may accomplish something for the older ones, but it will never meet the conditions. The thing that is needed is to get them to the point where they will throw away the old speech and begin to talk the tongue of the new land and the new civilization in the midst of which they live. One of the serious facts that faces the philanthropist is that great numbers of the children are not in the public school. They cannot be received. They do not talk English. The teacher does not talk Italian, or Hungarian, or Polish or Lithuanian. There is no point of contact between them. They cannot communicate with each other. Hence they have been allowed to run the streets. Perhaps the most effective work that has yet been attempted lias been the kindergarten work attempted in some parts of these valleys. These kindergartens have gathered the younger children in, given them enough of English, then turned them over to the public schools. Perhaps this may surprise a good many people when they are told that in many cases these "selfish coal barons," about which we have heard so much in recent days, have furnished the money and expressed themselves as glad to furnish it, in order that this kindergarten work might be carried on. Does that seem as though these operators were the incarnation of selfishness? But the little that has been attempted along this line is only a drop in the bucket. Whether the State ought to undertake this work or the Church assume the support and control of it or private philanthropy be expected to furnish the funds, one thing is certain, there is no more needy field to-day, and no other field will furnish richer results, than the work of teaching these children enough English so that they can get into the public schools and enjoy the intellectual training there afforded, and in addition to that, come into contact with American children imbued with American ideas, and in their way, loyal to American ideals.

But there is a vast generation of young people, especially young men, that are gone beyond the possibility of the public school. For these scarcely nothing has been done. What they need is an institution patterned after the Young Men's Christian Association. I am not sure but that the association itself might profitably undertake the work. It might attach it to the associations that already exist in the region or it might_ establish new institutions to meet the need of this class. They need the educational class. They need to learn English. They need to be taught to read. They need to be furnished something to read. They need to be taught how to care for their bodies. They need some place of comfort beside the saloon. They have no homes. They have nothing to-day but the saloon. For tens of thousands of these young men the only open door that will furnish them light and heat is the saloon. Of course, association buildings exists in these towns and cities, but they are located for the American young men and are inaccessible by distance or for various other reasons for any great number of these foreign young men. Would they avail themselves if the opportunity were furnished? Yes. They are anxious to learn English. The few small attempts that have been made are a sufficient indication of their readiness to seize the opportunity with eagerness and use it for all there is in it.

It is a question in my mind as to whether it is wise to send these people the gospel first. Send the missionary to them, if with his preaching of the gospel, he is fitted to establish a night school and speaks English well enough to teach them. But my experience is that the first thing to do, the place to lay the stress to-day, is upon their education, and then, along with the education, give them the gospel as rapidly as they are able to receive and assimilate it.

This question is not simply one in which the Church is interested. It is not a question in which the only issue involved is the personal salvation of the individual. In their present condition the presence of these multitudes is a menace to our social and industrial and commercial life. In a thousand ways it affects and affects seriously.

The peril of their presence is recognized in political life. Many of these men are citizens. The balance of power in many of these counties lies with these men. Under the skilful leadership of some ambitious demagogue it is possible for these men, ignorant of what American principle is and ignorant of what American citizenship means, it is yet possible for them to determine the political life of the countv. I am no alarmist. Neither am I a pessimist. But it seems to me that the general public, outside the anthracite region, ought to understand the serious problem with which we are wrestling and they ought to give us their sympathy if they have nothing more tangible to give.

West Pittston, Pa., Oct. 1, 1902.

From Christian Work and the Endeavor

On Horseback Through Palestine

2011-04-01T16:58:00.000-04:00

Apparently my grandfather, William R Harshaw, developed his cruise into a presentation. See this

This is from the Christian Work and the Evangelist,

Also

The Rev. W. R. Harshaw, D.D., whose recent article on the strike must have awakened many of our readers to a sense of personal responsibility, takes advantage of the prevailing fondness for clubs by founding in his congregation a Bible Study Club. Why not the Bible, indeed, as well as Persian or Hindoo literature or oriental art?

The inauguration of Woodrow Wilson at Princeton is in the line of a movement to make laymen university presidents. Perhaps this is an experiment worth trying. It is pleasant to call Dr. Patton still president of Princeton, because the seminary is his charge and the great new endowment fund will give scope for enlargement and progress. Such as Dr. Patton never step down; to the last, they go ever upward.

Orson and the Quakers

2011-03-14T17:14:00.000-04:00

It seems Mary Orson's family were Quakers. It's possible then that her meetinghouse still survives in York County. See this Yorktown Square post., though this post on the divisions of York county (among Quakers, Germans, and Scots-Irish.) suggets maybe the Orsons lived away from the bulk of the Quakers.

Helen's Housemate in Foochow

2011-02-27T15:35:00.001-05:00

From this(using the plain text):

"Grace Steinbeck, f l of A A A, is the Student Secretary of the Y. W. C. A. for Fukien Province, China, supported by the colleges of Ohio and West Virginia. She is a graduate of Leland Stanford University about I91Q, She was local Y. W. C. A. secretary at San Jose Normal School where she proved a great inspiration to the girls and they were loath to give her up. She was sent to China in 1916 by the girls in the colleges of Ohio and West Virginia to bring to Chinese women students the opportunities of an abundant life through the Christian Student Association. What has she accomplished?
(1 ) In the three years she has been in Foochow she has acquired a fair knowledge of the Chinese language and customs.
(2) Has taught Bible classes at a number of student conferences where there were gathered a large number of non-Christian women students, many of whom have since become conscientious students of the Christian faith.
(3) She has visited many government and mission schools in Fukien Province in the interest of Student Christian Association.
Miss Steinbeck lives with other missionaries in a cozy home on Black Rock Hill, Foochow City, Fukien Province, China. Any work addressed to her by any individual students or Associations would be greatly appreciated. She would be very happy to send any Chinese curious or helps for meetings upon personal request. A few cents usually covers cost and postage. Last spring the Foochow City Y. W. C. A. was organized and the students in the schools in Foochow have much contact with the City Association secretaries.
Miss Steinbeck has been in this country this winter and has been studying at the National Training School, of the Y. W. C. A., in New York. She has just attended the National Y. W. C. A. Convention at Hot Springs. Arkansas.
She is returning to China this fall to resume her work there, and will continue to be supported by the students of the Ohio and West Virginia Field of the Y. W. C. A."

Found another source which says Grace was John Steinbeck's aunt, apparently not her favorite nephew.

600 Added Members, Not Bad, Granddad

2011-02-26T11:25:00.001-05:00

Forgive the irreverence. The Library of Congress has some newish software for their Chronicling America resources. Searched for William R Harshaw and got a notice of his departure from NYC to West Pittston. It notes he had added 600 members to the First Union church during his pastorate. Apparently the strain of the East Side was too much. You can read the article, paragraph rather, which is in the second column middle of the page by drawing the "zoom box" around it. Haven't seen a way to link to the zoomed text directly.

The Old Hometown

2011-02-20T16:07:00.000-05:00

Rev. William's church used to be at 86th and Lexington, but the neighborhood has changed and the church is long gone. The NYTimes article at the link gives some background on the immediate past of the area.

Loughgilly in 1825

2011-02-20T16:05:00.000-05:00

The following is from Google Books,, published 1837. For readability I've introduced paragraphs.

A topographical dictionary of Ireland:

LOUGHGILLY, a parish, partly in the barony of Lower Fews, and partly in that of Upper Fews, but chiefly in the barony of Lower Orior, county of Armagh, and province of Ulster, 4 miles (E. S. E.) from Market-Hill, on the road from Armagh to Newry; containing, with the district parish of Baleek and the village of Mountnorris (which see), 10,198 inhabitants. This parish, which takes its name from the lake on which it is situated, comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, 16,029| statute acres, including 80| of water: of these, 5299 are in Lower Fews, 2289^ in Upper Fews, and 8441^ in Lower Orior. The lake extended several miles in length from Pointz-Pass to Mountnorris, forming a continued morass and fortified by a military post at the former, and at the latter by another erected by Gen. Norris, from whom that station had its name ; but with the exception of about 5 acres of water near the glebe-house, the whole has been drained and brought into cultivation.

The land is fertile; about three-fourths are under tillage and in a very high state of cultivation ; the remainder, though in some parts rocky, affords good pasture. Slate is found in the parish, but the quarries are not at present worked. There are several substantial and some handsome houses, of which the principal are Glenaune, the elegant residence of W. Atkinson, Esq.; and the glebe-house, of the Rev. Dr. Stuart. In the southern part of the parish is a small lake, called Loughshaws, from which a small stream flowing through Glenaune affords a convenient site for some extensive mills that have been established here for spinning cotton and weaving calico, in which are 1*0 power-looms, affording employment to nearly 300 persons; and also for bleach-greens and other mills, in which the manufactured goods are finished for the English markets. Since the establishment of these works, the proprietor has planted a great portion of mountainous and rocky land, introduced a good practical system of agriculture, and greatly improved the entire neighbourhood.

A manorial court for the district of Baleek is held here every month, in which debts to the amount of 40s. are recoverable. The district of Baleek was separated from this parish in 1826, and erected into a perpetual curacy. The living of Loughgilly is a rectory, in the diocese of Armagh, and in the patronage of the Lord-Primate; the tithes amount to £926. 18. 4. The glebe-house was built in 1782, at an expense of £923. 1. 65., and subsequently enlarged and improved at a cost of £1819 ; the glebe comprises 500 statute acres, valued at £585. 11. 8. per annum. The church is a spacious and handsome edifice with a tower, originally built at an expense of £1384. 12. 3$., a loan from the late Board of First Fruits, and rebuilt in 1828 by aid of a gift of £830. 15. from the same Board. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising also the parishes of Ballymoyer and Baleek, in each of which is a chapel. There are places of worship for Presbyterians in connection with the Synod of Ulster and the Seceding

Synod, also for Covenanters. [That's my people.]

About 350 children are taught in four public schools, of which the male and female parochial schools are supported by the trustees of Erasmus Smith's fund, and one by Lord Gosford, who has endowed it with an acre of land. The parochial school-house was built on the glebe in 1813, at an expense of £250. There are also a private school, in which are about 60 children, and seven Sunday schools. A school-house is being built at Killycarran by the Education Society, who intend endowing it with £30 per annum from the surplus funds of the collegiate school at Armagh, which latter was founded by Chas. I., who granted seven townlands in this parish for the foundation of a school at Mountnorris, but which was some years afterwards established at Armagh. Four unendowed almshouses were built by Dean Dawson, in 1811, for four aged women ; and the late Lord Gosford bequeathed a sum of money, of which the interest is annually distributed among the poor.

During the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrone, the garrison of this place was put to the sword by the O'Donells; it also suffered greatly in the war of 1641, when a dreadful carnage took place. There are several remains of fortifications iu the neighbourhood ; the " Tyrone Ditches " are near the junction of the parish with those of Killevy and Ballymore ; but of the extensive fortress of Port-Norris, or Mount-Norris, not a vestige can be traced.

Street View of Cutler Cemetery

2011-02-12T09:39:00.001-05:00

Here's a link to a Google Maps street view of Cutler, IL cemetery.

And here is a link to a Google Earth view of Cutler, together with some Harshaw landmarks.

A FAmily Visit

2011-01-25T18:13:00.001-05:00

From Rootsweb:

I think this is from August 6, 1890, judging by the URL [corrected]
"CUYLERVILLE

Several cars of a north bound freight train were wrecked here Monday morning, caused by the breaking of an axle tearing up several rods of track and blockading the road all day Monday.

The Rev. Mr. HARSHA and family of New York and Mrs. Joseph RIPPEY of Nebraska are visiting with the family of Rev. John RIPPEY, Mrs. Joseph leaving for the west this morning.

Miss Stacia O'KEEFE returning Saturday after several months' sojourn in Rochester.

Quite a drought prevails in this neighborhood at present, especially in the hills, where pastures have dried up and beans and potatoes will not be much more than half a crop. The threshing of wheat is in progress, which will yield from fifteen to twenty-five bushels per acre, for which 90c is being paid."
*

House for Sale

2010-12-16T10:24:00.002-05:00

Here

Rev. Andrew Harshaw

2010-12-05T15:54:00.000-05:00

Rev. Andrew announces a new paper in January 1884, from St. Louis. It apparently didn't last long.

Helen Harshaw Gold in China

2010-12-05T15:53:00.000-05:00

LIsted in this 1916 publication:

cr. Y. W. C. A., Canton 
Helen Bond Crane, 
Helen Harshaw,

Ada Rippey's Schooling

2010-10-11T17:56:00.000-04:00

Jean points out Ada Rippey graduated from Geneseo, before moving on to Monmouth. This link is to the act of the legislature changing the name from the Wadsworth Normal and Training School to Geneseo Normal and Training School in 1871. William J. Milne was the head of the college during Ada's time, a Presbyterian elder in Geneseo who had a Ph.D by 1874.

Mac's WWI Training Camp

2010-10-11T17:02:00.000-04:00

It appears Mac Harshaw had basic training at Camp Sherman,Ohio. That's based on the imprint on a photo of him in uniform, marking the photo as having been taken in Chillicothe, Ohio.

Did Captain John and Mary Go to the Fair?

2010-09-17T14:13:00.000-04:00

No, not the Ontario county fair, whenever it was founded, but to the York fair, chartered by the Penns in 1767. See this blog post from 2006. Apparently York County likes to claim the title of oldest continual fair, but that's a bit iffy. But the 1767 charter is real.

From General Catalogue of Union Theological Seminary

2010-08-22T18:18:00.000-04:00

The link

HAESHAW, William Rosborough; b, Cutler, 111, Oc 11, 1856; WestmC, 83;
UTS, 83-6; ord (U Presb, NY), Nv 20, 85; pas (119th st), NYCity, 85-7;
pas, Steubenville, O, 87-9; pas (First Union Presb), NYCity, 89-97;
pas, West-Pittston, Pa, 98—. DD, Grove City Col, 96.

Did Captain John Rippey Hear This?

2010-07-01T16:01:00.000-04:00

Jim McClure has a post at York Town Square on the reading of the Declaration of Independence:

"Four militia companies and 300 to 400 old men, women and boys joined Smith for a public reading..."

In our dream world, Captain John would have been there at the head of his company and James Smith, the York signer of the Declaration, would have been related to the William Smith who became connected to the family in Ontario county, NY. But in reality there's nothing to indicate the two Smiths are related and there were several companies from the York area, and Captain John's was one of the later ones. But the post is an interesting sidelight on how politics worked in 1776

Was Rev. Cathcart Related?

2010-05-09T13:16:00.000-04:00

The Universal York blog has a nice post on the Rev. Cathcart and his garden. He was a Presbyterian minister in York at the end of the eighteenth century into the nineteenth who kept a diary, mostly on his garden. "Cathcart" must be a relatively common name, but there was a Cathcart in northwest PA who married a Harshaw. Too lazy to doublecheck the data.

Anyway, all gardeners will recognize this sort of thing:

In late winter he planted lettuce and radishes, and triumphed March 12, 1803 that his peas had come up in 12 days. The Cathcarts feasted on asparagus each spring. In May 1821 he wrote: "Vegetation rapid--one stalk of asparagus grew in 35 hours 16 inches and at 48 hours was 19 inches.' On April 26, 1822, Cathcart cut 162 stalks of asparagus and 111 stalks on the 30th. It is hoped that the Cathcart children shared their father's enthusiasm for asparagus.

My wife exults when she can have her peas up by mid March.

Where Did the Harshaws Arrive?

2010-04-13T15:57:00.000-04:00

Marjorie said this morning they arrived at Castle Garden, on the southern tip of Manhattan which preceded Ellis Island. This may not be true--from what I can see by Google it wasn't an official entry station until 1855. But here's its web site and here's Wikipedia.

And you can search the site for immigration entries going back to 1820. Unfortunately, the first Harshaws included in the database didn't arrive until 1848 (Samuel), with a large group on July 2, 1849. (A "James Harshow" did arrive in 1834.)

Here's a list of pictures of the potato famine and emigration, including Castle Garden ones.

Harshaws in Ireland

2010-04-11T17:31:00.001-04:00

I realize I've failed to post a link to my Google map of Harshaws in Ireland. So here it is. You need to zoom in, using either the slider on the left side or the command when you right click on a flag.

View Harshaw Irish Map in a larger map

Superfund and Harshaw

2010-03-31T17:34:00.000-04:00

A blog in Cleveland explains the aftermath of the Manhattan project for Harshaw Chemical. DOD ref here

Detention of Enemy Combatants--an Earlier War

2010-03-26T19:24:00.001-04:00

Captain John Rippey's service in the Pennsylvania militia is a little fuzzy to me. I've seen claims he served with Washington at Valley Forge, claims which I don't think are true. I've run across, and promptly lost track of, references to his involvement in logistics and possibly to his involvement with guarding prisoners. What prisoners you ask? First the Battle of Saratoga, where General Burgoyne surrendered (the "Convention Army") and later from the Battle of Yorktown where General Cornwallis was commander.

Anyhow in 1781 the Convention Army was marched from Albemarle, VA to the York area. The local militia would have been involved in guard duty and management of the prisoners.

June Lloyd at Universal York has posted in the past on Camp Security and now has another post on it. She's done work in the Archives and found an interesting record from one of the guards. (Not Capt. Rippey.) Here's a site devoted to it.

Shame on Robert Harshaw

2010-03-02T12:29:00.000-05:00

From an archived Australian newspaper, Sydney, Dec. 17, 1857.

"Robert Harshaw, for having made use of obscene language in a public place, was sentenced to pay 20s, or to be imprisoned seven days."

At least, if he didn't have the money to pay the fine, he'd be out of jail by Christmas.

Crooked Lake Review

2010-01-24T17:23:00.000-05:00

Stumbled on this blog, which replaces a magazine, doing searching for my cousin.

The Crooked Lake Review is a local history magazine for
the Conhocton, Canisteo, Tioga, Chemung and Genesee river valleys,
and for the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario regions of New York State.

I wonder, looking at the serialization of this old novel, whether the Miss Elliotts of Geneva were based on any of the Rippeys. From the 1992 preface:

The Misses Elliot of Geneva was written as a humorous tribute to the eccentric characters who flourished in Geneva, N.Y., at the beginning of this century. The two characters who are featured in the title were based on an actual pair, but anecdotes about other bygone Genevans are often interwoven with the originals, so that to some extent they are composites. The original pair were more polite, and their utterances more circuitous than those of 'Miss Primrose' and 'Miss Candida,' whose tongues have been greatly sharpened, though I have not exaggerated their underlying prejudices. One of the pair, I am told, actually left money in her will to the City of Geneva, and had taught a Sunday-School class in her younger days.
The other characters are also somewhat exaggerated, but together they present a picture of a small-town society.
When the book first appeared, there was some indignation among older Genevans, but one of them admitted that "after all, I wouldn't mind being remembered for my witty remarks."

Welcome Cousins

2010-01-19T18:50:00.000-05:00

Through ancestry.com I've heard from several cousins (very remote). I've been sporadically working on a Harshaw/Rippey site, using Google's wikipedia-type software. At least in theory anyone who wants can add pages, changes the existing pages, and so forth. I write "in theory", because I'm still trying to understand the software and how best to organize the material. My ultimate goal is to use it to replace the Harshaw Family site linked to on this blog. Anyway, any newcomers are welcome to this blog and to the site, and feel free to make changes to the site. Each page has a "revision history" so a mistaken change can always be undone. Unlike the real wikipedia though, there seems not to be a discussion page linked to each site page.

WR Harshaw

2009-12-25T14:23:00.000-05:00

My grandfather was ordained in 1885, when he was 30:

The same page of the General Assembly minutes of 1886 shows him (and his brother Andrew) as being installed.

But this listing refers to a different location:

H.M. Harshaw's Career and Research

2009-11-23T15:41:00.000-05:00

Graduated from West High School in 1914. link

Graduated from University of Nebraska (doctorate) in 1929. link.
Co-author (4 others) of paper on feeding B-12 to calves at U of Minn, dated 1924. See abstract.

Co-author (2 others) of paper on effects of heat and light on antiscorbutic vitamine, in 1921. See paper.

Lead author of a 1941 paper on quality of frozen poultry as affected by various conditions. See reference.

Other papers from a google search for "H.M.Harshaw", including a couple translated into German.

H. Mac Harshaw

2009-11-22T17:06:00.000-05:00

Had a BS by 1921 at University of Minnesota:

Mac's Doctorate Thesis

2009-11-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

Mac (Harold McCloskey Harshaw) got his doctorate from the University of Missouri with the thesis listed here by the National Research Council in 1925-6. (I'm not sure it was awarded in 1926, because the listing may cover degrees from 1920):

Blue Plaque at Dromalane House

2009-09-19T17:07:00.001-04:00

This site has photos and a description of the recent ceremony. There's also pieces here and here.

Grace Rippey

2009-08-24T17:38:00.002-04:00

Turns out there are two Grace Rippeys, one is the daughter of Joseph Rippey, son of Rev. John Rippey, born 1882. The other is the daughter of John Black Rippey, born 1887. She is the one who married Burt Easton and had a son, Eugene Easton, and is buried in the New No. 9 Cemetery.

What happened to Joseph's Grace? An unsolved mystery.

Cruise of the Celtic

2009-08-23T17:45:00.003-04:00

I stumbled on this during the last week. William and Ada Harshaw were part of a cruise to the Mediterranean and the Holy Land in 1902. There were about 800 people, many ministers included including Josiah Strong, an early Social Gospel leader, on board the Celtic, which seems to have been one of the newest and best steamships afloat at that time. As a souvenir, different people (mostly ministers) did pieces describing their visits to the various ports and points of interest (Gibraltar, Algiers, Athens, Constantionople, Haifa (Holy Land), Egypt, Luxor, Rome, Florence and London among them). This was assembled into a souvenir volume, which is now on Google Books: The cruise of the Celtic around the Mediterranean, 1902: Souvenir volume

The Crawfords and Google

2009-08-23T16:18:00.003-04:00

Cousin Marjorie bugged me about blanks in our genealogy. I wasn't optimistic because I thought I'd done a good job researching in the past. But grandmother Ada Rippey's sister Mary had married a Frederick Swartz Crawford (a Presbyterian minister, of course) and I hadn't found any descendants. So, rather idly, I Googled him, and got a hit because he was one of the descendants of Michael Sprenkel, for whom there is a big family tree. He was an immigrant from Germany who ended up in York county, PA, dying in 1748. I gather the Germans were in the northern part of York, with the Scotch-Irish in the townships near the Maryland line, although they tended to move out, to the south, the west, or the north like the Rippeys before and after the Revolution.

The hit provided me with information for four children, Ada Vere, Elizabeth, Carl, and Frederick, from which I was able to tie Ada Vere to her husband, Claude Pomeroy, by whom she had 6 children, 2 girls, 4 boys. Also got some information for the others. Fortunately there were other family trees available to help, as well as to offer the hope of communicating with fellow researchers, when I get to it.

Stimulated by that success, I went back to Ada's brother, Joseph, and his two girls: Grace and Josephine. Made a little progress, though I may have turned up two Graces.

All in all, a productive weekend

Two Views of North Fenton

2009-08-11T19:12:00.000-04:00

Going through old photographs I found two photographs looking northeast from our farm past North Fenton up the Page Brook valley. The first is in color, taken about 1974, from Richards Road at the south boundary of the farm. The pasture is the hillside which is invisible. It wasn't picturesque because it hadn't been used for a few years and had not been clipped, so it had started the process of growing brush and small trees. It's fall and the far off trees have changed color more than the nearby ones.

From Bill's Miscellaneous Photos

This photograph was taken from approximately the same point and the same angle, except this time you can see the pasture. You can also see there's many fewer trees visible. There's a handful in the fencerows on the farm, which by 1974 have become a full line of trees. I think the general impression in the 1974 photo is of a farm surrounded by woods, not so in the 1910's photo.

Class and Crime in 19th Century UK

2009-07-30T19:06:00.003-04:00

I've mentioned John Martin, the Young Irish leader of whom Marjorie is writing a bio. His diary of the trip to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) after his conviction by the Brits is interesting. What I find particularly fascinating is his treatment. As a gentleman, even though a felon, he and his fellow traveler seem to have lived in comfort and style, as well as could be expected on a 19th century sailing ship. Daily wine and brandy, a cabin which could hold five but only had the two, books.

William R. Harshaw and Family

2009-07-20T13:03:00.003-04:00

This is William R. Harshaw, his children and their spouses. Probably between 1928 and 1935 (when the Golds returned from China and Ada's death.) Grandfather has his pocket watch open (wore it on a gold chain). Margaret [corrected name--had a senior moment] Harshaw is hiding behind her mother-in-law, Mac is holding his pipe and wearing reasonably new overalls, dad is at the end.

For Rippey and Orson Campers

2009-06-12T16:31:00.002-04:00

It seems our Rippey and Orson ancestors lived in an area that's now attractive to campers and wildlife enthusiasts. Here's a map of the area with links and here's an overview. The Holtwood Dam is lower on the Susquehanna, and it backs water up to this area. The power company bought land in the area in connection with the dam which is now preserved from development.

As I posted yesterday, George Orson (Mary's brother) may have operated the Shenk's Ferry, presumably from the Orson land on the west bank. Googling "Shenk's Ferry" gave some interesting results. The Shenk's Ferry Wildflower Preserve is on the east side of the Susquehanna. The Urey overlook on the west side of the Susquehanna is near, and possibly on, the Orson land. The Otter Creek area possibly contains old growth forest (i.e., never logged). Follow this link. Finally, "Shenks Ferry" designates a culture of the Woodland Indians, based excavations done in Conestoga Township (east bank).

I've added a line indicating the probable Shenks Ferry route to this
View Chanceford (Rippey/Orson/Stewart) Map in a larger map

Chanceford Township

2009-06-11T18:42:00.002-04:00

Bought "A History of Chanceford Township, York County, Pennsylvania, 1747-1997, issued by the Brogue Community Lions Club, November 1997, June R. Grove and Richard Konkel, Esq., editors.

It's well done, with lots of information, but Capt. Rippey doesn't star. There is a mention of an "Orson Mill" and a ferry which George Orson operated in 1783. Captain Reed operated after the Revolution. Doing an Internet search finds a reference to Captain Reed's operating the Orson Mill and having "river rights" and operating a ferry which became known as "Shenk's Ferry".

At the rear there's a section of local genealogies. The one for the Stewarts adds some information for them, including the fact Ernest Stewart wrote a "Stewart Genealogy".

An Update

2009-05-19T19:40:00.003-04:00

I've been remiss in working on this blog. Maybe I'll do better, but here's a brief update.

Cousin Marjorie has been to Ireland, delivered her talk on John Martin, MP, renewed old friendships, done further research on Martin, found the Newry exhibit on Martin is now scheduled for 2011, and successfully returned home.

I've done little research, but thanks to a cousin who contacted another cousin I now have the 1900 census data for my Hoeppner family in NYC. The index had read "Hoeffner" instead of "Hoeppner". The census data overturns a family story that grandfather had planned a trip with a groupto Alaska as part of the Alaskan gold rush, which plan was disrupted by my grandmother's pregnancy with my mother. As a result, grandfather supposedly swapped his place in the expedition for the farm in Broome County. But 2 years after mom was born they were still living in New York City.

A Rippey To Get to Know

2009-01-11T16:37:00.001-05:00

According to this article, Dennis Rippey is planning to produce 3 million gallons of wine a year. No, I can't connect Dennis to Captain John.

John Martin's Brother in Law

2008-12-30T08:33:00.002-05:00

John Martin is the subject of Marjorie's first book (at least one-third) and she's working on the second. The link below is to the Google Books search for his brother-in-law, Maxwell Simpson, who was in Paris in the 1850's,. The search found Simpson's obituary. (Google makes it easy to select a portion of a page and post it to your blog, but not so easy when there are multiple pages. To read the whole obituary, you'll have to scroll back the pages (and tolerate a lot of discussion of chemistry).

Proceedings of the Royal Society of London By Royal Society (Great Britain):
""

Michael Harshaw's Labors

2008-12-29T20:08:00.003-05:00

I stumbled across this while wasting time doing Google searches. And what it mean, I wonder:

A document dated January 10, 1848, in the pos-
session of Miss Clara Mathews of Marissa, is of inter-
est. It reads as follows:

"We. the undersigners promise to pay the sums
next to our names for the ministerial labors of the Rev.
Mr. Harshaw at the Salem Meeting House on Mud
Creek: John R. Lyons $5.00; Henry L. McGuire $8.00;
Thomas Gillespie $5.00: a man named East. $3.00;
Arch McFie $3.00; James Mclntire $5.00; Anny Mc-
Guire $1.50: John Craig $2.00; William McKee $2.00,
H. L. McGuire for 1849, $5.50."

Washington county is north of Perry County, so my guess is Michael was acting as a temporary pastor for a congregation. (Marissa is a town in ST. Clair county, just north of Randolph and west of Washington, about 24 miles by road from Cutler. Mud Creek is close to the Perry/Washington boundary but I don't see the church location in Google maps.) William in "A Romance..." mentions his father's labors in establishing churches in southern Illinois, so this may be a bit of evidence of it.

What Could Michael Buy

2008-12-17T13:49:00.002-05:00

Ran across this interesting page describing the wares of a country store in Illinois in 1846. Probably a good representation of what Michael Harshaw could have bought from a store in Sparta. Among the wares:

coffee and tea
whiskey
candy
ginseng (an aphrodisiac)
cloth
dye

William Harshaw's Second Church

2008-12-03T19:54:00.003-05:00

From the Jefferson County Ohio Genealogical Site:

First United Presbyterian Church – Steubenville, Ohio – The church was organized in 1810 as a Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church. On March 7, 1811, a call was extended to Mr. George Buchanan to serve a three-point charge of Yellow Creek, Steubenville, and Harman’s Creek. He was installed June 4, 1811. About 1817 the first building was erected on the site of the present building. In 1837 the second was erected. In 1838 Rev. Buchanan served only in Steubenville. In January of 1857, Rev. J.K. Andrews became pastor. Mr. Andrews became chaplain of the 136th Ohio Regiment in the Civil War. By September of 1864, Mr. J.W. Clokey was installed. His family was very important in the history of the United Presbyterian Church in North America. His wife raised millions of dollars for missionary causes. His daughter, Mary Clokey Porter was the secretary of the Women’s Missionary Society. Rev. T.J. Kennedy was pastor form 1869-1873. In late 1873, Rev.S.J.Stewart became pastor. He resigned in 1877 and later practiced law. Rev. William S. Owens became pastor in 1877 and the old building was razed and a new building was erected. It was dedicated on January 1, 1884. Rev. William Harshaw served from 1887 to 1889. He was followed by Rev. E.M. Milligan who served until 1895...

And from this on Muskingum College:

The alumni of this college comprise men who are prominent to-day in the ministry, in the field of letters, and among the professions and business men in various sections of the Union. The following are the members of the present board of trustees: Term expires 1891--Rev. W. H. McFarland. Cambridge, Ohio; Rev. J. T. Campbell, Kimbolton, Ohio; Rev. J. J. Madge, Dalton, Ohio; Rev. J. W. Martin, Mt. Perry, Ohio; Rev. W. H. Vincent, Mansfield, Ohio; Rev. J. G. Kennedy, Wellsville, Ohio; Henry McCreary, M. D., New Concord, Ohio. Term expires in 1892--Rev. J. P. Lytle, D. D., Sago, Ohio; D. E. Ralston, Esq., New Concord, Ohio; Rev. C. E. White, Galligher, Ohio; Rev. W. R. Harshaw, Steubenville, Ohio; Samuel Harper, Esq., New Concord, Ohio; Samuel Smiley, Esq., Sago, Ohio; John E. Sankey, Esq., Cambridge, Ohio.

Trip, Day 12 and 13 [Updated]

2008-12-01T19:15:00.000-05:00

Days 12 and 13, DC

We missed the Harshaw cousin Thursday night, but had a fine day for touring DC on Friday, including several war memorials. Met a cousin of Marjorie's late husband for lunch at the American Indian museum's cafeteria and heard fascinating talk on his genealogical researches (an incredible number of people in his database) and the issue of reunions, both of families and of military vets. After a short time touring the museum on to an Irish pub to meet with a McCauley cousin. He's more conscious of privacy concerns on the Internet than I am so I'll try to restrain my impulses to put everything on the net :-), when it comes to him and his branch of the family. We shared results--he's a very good photographer and has better pictures of the Number 9 new cemetery gravestones than I did. Talked of having summertimes in Canandaigua and the large number of cousins he had.

Then home to Reston for supper, taking Marjorie back to her hotel from whence she will leave Saturday for home.

[Updated--see post in Faceless.]

To and From York, PA

2008-11-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

June Lloyd at Universal York has a post on the railroad age in York, which permitted people and goods easy access to many places.

One little appreciated vehicle of transportation for the York area was the Susquehanna River. I bought, skimmed, and almost immediately misplaced a book on working lives in the Broome County, NY area. Apparently for many years lumbering was the big industry there, beginning in the 1790's and going on until about the 1850's. Men would fell the trees, particularly during the winter, skid them to the river(s), and in the spring float them down the Susquehanna to market. Then the raftmen would travel back to Broome county.

My guess is the river path was probably the way the Rippeys, McCauley's, Blacks, and McIntyres traveled from York and Lancaster Counties to Ontario County, NY

John Harshaw of Bangor

2008-11-07T15:23:00.003-05:00

Marjorie and I were discussing our early ancestors--there's a John Harshaw of Bangor (not Maine, Ulster) recorded in the 1630's or so--and when they might have entered Ireland. Glancing at the wikipedia.com entry for the Ulster Plantation corrected some of my misimpressions, and suggested John might have been part of the Hamilton settlement.

Googling brings us to this interesting website on Hamilton/Montgomery. The website even includes a map with "Bangor" at the top (on the Belfast Lough). Unfortunately, the website apparently was put up in connection with the 400th anniversary of the settlement (in 1606) and hasn't been added to since.

Trip, Day 4 [Updated]

2008-10-23T19:32:00.000-04:00

Was yesterday, Wednesday, but I was too pooped to post. Briefly we drove from outside Lexington directly to Cutler, changing our plans so we could catch Jackie Carrothers in the Cutler Library. (This was after realizing we gained an hour by moving to the CDT zone.) We ended with Erjuanna Hartman (cemetery) and her husband, Robert, Jackie's husband Melvin, Jim Richmond (descended from one of the original families of the area), and Pat, the treasurer. We shared information and good feelings, learned a bunch of things which we'll try to assimilate and disseminate, toured the Presbyterian church with Jim, ate lunch with Jim, then visited the cemetery and saw the family graves (and also the work Jim and Melvin are doing in fixing problems with the gravestones). Drove to Du Quoin to pick up information on data in the library for planning today's trip. Went on to Sparta for a 2-night stay.

Trip, Day 3 [Updated]

2008-10-23T16:00:00.000-04:00

An all-driving day--leaving Breezewood in the morning (I'm sure someone has written extensively on Breezewood as a phenomena, I may return to it later), driving through Columbus, Cincinnati, and past Louisville, missing some turns (through failure to plan and organize sufficiently and senior lapses :-).

This is all McCain-Palin territory, as is most of the American landscape. A good reminder to us Eastern liberals of the extent of the country and its sentiments. "Hell is Real" as one sign read. And everyone said "hello", including the guy who noticed my VA plates and asked--which county--he was from Prince William.

We ended up just northwest of Louisville, KY where Marjorie had a long conversation with a woman who told her her life story.

(Since my photos for today ended up in the same slide show as tomorrow, see Day 4 for photos.)

DNA and Ancestry

2008-10-23T15:24:00.002-04:00

Have I said I had my DNA tested, through Ancestry.com? (Not necessarily a plug for ancestry, by the way.) Anyhow, I did and the results came through just before Marjorie and I left for our trip.

Of course, the paternal DNA test would work to identify Harshaw males--the son, of a son of a son, etc. The maternal works the mother's side, so that's a Hoeppner. I'm still struggling with the Ancestry software on the DNA side, but I've made connections with a (third???) cousin in England, trying to figure out the intermediate linkages.

If any one is interested, here's the link for the discussion group on ancestry which contains our back and forth. Right now it's public, and hopefully can remain so.

Trip, Day 1

2008-10-20T16:00:00.004-04:00

Our trip starts with cousin Marjorie taking a Jet Blue flight from Boston to Dulles International. This is the first involvement with air travel I've had since retiring, over 10 years ago. Furthermore, hurricane Kyle has rushed north and is shown off the Massachusetts coast. So, to be sure I meet her timely, I log onto Jet Blue's website. I find not only does it show the status of the flight (on time), but after take-off it shows where in the air the flight is. She's shown over New York, which must be the result of the hurricane, because I'm sure the normal routing is straighter, down the coast.

I used to fly regularly out of Dulles, which is just a few miles west of Reston. But in the years since, they've spent billions on adding parking and parking garages, new concourses, extending the terminal. The terminal is one of my favorite buildings--"modern architecture" mostly doesn't have good connotations for me, but Saarinen's building is always a pleasure to look at. Today, though, I'm too panicked to enjoy the flight, trying to be sure I navigate the changes. The traffic layout is less changed than the building entrance, though, still the loop around the daily parking lot and the terminal building, but the entrance allows for an underground walkway to the baggage claim level. The weather's humid and threatening, but no rain at the moment.

Marjorie comes through (her trip was rerouted over Syracuse, she napped because it was cloudy all the way down), and it's back to Reston. I point out the skyline, Reston actually has a skyline, and we're back home to pick up Lisa. The three of us drive to a Panera, which we discover also has outlets in the Boston area, and have a light lunch. Lisa will stay on, meeting some fellow knitters for the afternoon while Marjorie and I start traveling back into the past. Lisa gives me strict orders on when to put the chicken in the over, which sets an outer limit on the extent of our travel.

[Preceding typed early 29th, rest in evening, at the end of a tiring day]
We go down the toll road, and around the Beltway (inside which all that's important happens), with me providing bits of information as we go. We find Marjorie's old home in University Park, and she gets to go inside and find out what happened there since she left 55 years ago. [Teaser:--much.]

Get back in car, find the old church, drive though Bladensburg (site of battle) and see Celtic cross, drive through DC and out TR bridge, onto Rte 66 and Dulles Toll road and so to home, pop chicken in over, pick up Lisa, she finishes preparing dinner, we talk, Marjorie describes her father's work on chicken (need to tie this into a post on food) and her honeymoon in Naples when no one knew where she was. After take her to her hotel , come back and pack.

[Updated--errors corrected]

Trip, Day 2

2008-10-20T16:00:00.003-04:00

Woke early and couldn't get back to sleep, so started the Trip Day 1 post. Picked Marjorie up at 7:45, drove through rush hour traffic that was less bad than I expected, from DC to Baltimore to Havre de Grace (pronounced "Grah", BTW.) Then off I95 to PA route 222 to the site of the Robert Fulton birthplace. Hugh Rippey's land, to the best of my belief, lies just across the Conowingo Creek from the Fulton place. My preparations throughout the day were disappointingly incomplete, but a rescuer appeared.

Just as we'd found the Fulton house and parked, a man and a woman pulled in by us and stopped by the garden. As it turned out, they were planning to weed in the garden, but the woman was [?head} of the Southern Lancaster Historical Society, whose building was just across the highway from the Fulton house. She kindly let us in the building, showed us the files, gave dirctions, and generally was of immense help. Bottomlines:

although the Blacks were big in the area, the local researcher had been able to trace back to a Thomas Black and son Robert born in 1770. They didn't seem to tie to our Moses and Aaron Blacks, but we shall see.
Mary Rippey was buried in the Morrison cemetary--she's 1747-17??, so likely was Captain John's older sister. To be researched.
Also the McIntires in the cemetery, though we've still not clarified the interrelationships with Rippeys, etc.

We were successful in finding the Hugh Rippey farm, I'm confident (though I've been overly confident before) and possibly a house location. The current house, a very nice one, seems likely to have been built on the same site as a prior one--a sort of knoll over the lower creek valley (reminds me of the farm in North Fenton, which may be why I'm so convinced it's Hugh's--verrry logical.]

We came upon a good country restaurant on route 272, just northeast of the area, where we had a good, cheap lunch.

I'm sure I can blame the meal for interfering with good thinking, because after eating we started being less successful. We were not successful in finding the Morrison cemetery--it's off the road in a farmer's field and all we could see was corn. (Amazing to think of corn being grown on the land for 265 years, not to mention the years Native Americans may have grown corn there before.) We may have found the Mathew Rippey land site, more difficult because there are multiple tributaries of Fishing Creek that could qualify as the straight line.

We found the current Chestnut Level church (twice, actually, we got lost a bit and Someone may have tried to give us a Message). Then we crossed the Susquehanna into York County where our luck ran out and no rescuing angel appeared. We did find the Hively road and corner where I've noted that Captain John Rippey had land. I need to doublecheck the basis for that conclusion. The land near the river is very rugged and broken up, so it's difficult to see it as good farmland, though the Hively place was nice.

We found the current Chanceford Presbyterian church, and its graveyard, though I don't know of any ancestors who may be buried there (possibly Stewart cousins later). We missed the original Chanceford cemetery, so we agreed it was time to head west. I can revisit York and/or Lancaster as a day trip in the future, when I've got a better grasp on the materials, topography, and history.

So we traveled through York to the PA Turnpike and out to the Breezewood interchange, where we're spending the night.

[Note: editorial changes on Oct. 20, plus embedding slide show]

Trip, Day 9, to B'Ville [Revised]

2008-10-11T14:05:00.005-04:00

Our Geneva stay was in a Ramada on the lake. Then off to the Geneva Historical society, where the archivist very kindly allowed us in, even thought the archives were officially closed. Marjorie found the microfilm of the No. 9 Session minutes fascinating and I had to bribe her away. (Capt John Rippey was the clerk of the session initially.) They had the record of William Smith's daughter marrying in 1825 from the Geneva Gazette. She recommended we go to the Ontario County Archives for further material. Unfortunately it meant going west and our stamina was flagging. So we headed east to the Seneca Falls National Women's Rights museum, which I had visited with my wife, but which Marjorie had never seen. Then on through Auburn (Seward mansion--who bought Alaska and gave us Sarah Palin, and Harriet Tubman's home, both closed on Oct. Mondays) and Skaneatles (the prettiest town on the Finger Lakes) and up to Baldwinsville where my sister Jean lives. Met her for supper. (See Day 10 report.)

Trip Day 10, B'ville [Revised]

2008-10-11T13:58:00.007-04:00

Spent the day in Baldwinsville, NY, resting a bit and visiting with sister Jean, who last saw Marjorie in 1970 (or before). Lots of talk, reestablishing relationships over Monday evening and Tuesday. A sharing of trip results, prior researches, and heirlooms. Perhaps the most significant may be a big old photo album containing unknown people. We're guessing it might be from when Rev. John Rippey was pastor in Kortright, NY (mid 1850's), because some photos are from nearby towns. But the provenance is lost in the mists of the past, so we'll have to research it. But it might, repeat might, show Rippeys from about the time of the Civil War. Nothing much earlier, I'm afraid.

Much amusement over old photos of Marjorie and her sister, much analysis of photos of my baptism (the chauvinism of W.R. Harshaw is unmistakable), and a number of other artifacts and photographs. Will try to post separately on them as I'm trying to catch up on a number of fronts.

Home Again (Trip Days 11 and 12) [Revised]

2008-10-09T12:14:00.007-04:00

Marjorie and I got back to Reston last night. We'd planned to stop in Greene, NY where our grandparents and my parents are buried, but decided to bypass it. Then I got so involved in talking that I missed the exit for West Pittston, where Rev. W.R. Harshaw was minister in the 1890's, so we skipped that as well.

Today is a day of recuperation, with a possible meeting with a Harshaw cousin tonight and a firm meeting with a Rippey (i.e., McCauley) cousin tomorrow.

I need to try to clean up my trip posts, and fill in the gap when the travel caught up to me. Then post some of the detailed stuff from our travels. (My New Year's resolution, I guess.)

Trip, Day 8

2008-10-05T21:27:00.004-04:00

Have about 2400 miles on the trip and both travelers are beat. But we end with a bang, traveling from Jamestown northeast (planning a surprise for one of Marjorie's sons but I'll let her tell him) and on to the grand finale of our genealogy--Seneca Presbyterian, or the Number 9 Church near Stanley, NY. Scads of John Rippeys (my father was John Rippey Harshaw) and other connections buried in the cemeteries, including the mother of us all, Mary Orson. Had a pleasant meeting with Bob Robson, a distant cousin descended from Isabella Rippey, and saw the church.

All in all, very good, though fatigue took the edge off for me.

Now we're in Geneva, NY for an early bedtime.

Trip, Day 6

2008-10-03T21:31:00.002-04:00

Friday. This was travel day, the longest one of the trip, from Sparta, IL to Brecksville, OH, where Marjorie's son lives. Except for the length, an easy trip.

Trip, Day 5, Perry County [Updated]

2008-10-02T19:40:00.003-04:00

Thursday. Got a good night's sleep. Drove to Cutler and took pictures of land the Harshaws owned, including where we then thought the White house might have been. Then on to the Perry county government office and had my first lesson in researching deeds and related documents. We found Michael's heirs had had a number of real estate transactions after his death (Jean had gotten some, but ran out of time in 1978.) Basically they were selling land, mostly as building plots. After the original plat of Cutler in 1873, there were three "Harshaw Additions" platted, and then three "White Additions". The plats just recorded surveys of building plots, which then were sold individually (in some cases not sold).

Eventually we figured out the key transactions were the last, so Marjorie found the 1923 transaction in which Sarah, Howard, and Thresa White sold a plot in Cutler which we could identify on the map as the southeast corner of Erwin and Mills streets. Drove to Du Quoin and got some obits of Michael and W.T.White, but not the missing page 2 of the most impressive obituary. Drove back to Cutler and photographed the vacant lot (looking as if a house had burned) where the White house stood. Also found the derelict house Jean Salger had identified as possibly the Whites. Then on to the Sparta library.

We were excited, briefly, by seeing a large book with the typed label "Family Bible and History of Michael Harshaw". But the bible was published in the late 1870's and had no records of family history. It did contain a typed, briefer and early version of William's "Romance of Old Home Missions." So our guess is it was a family bible, later given to the library, and the library prepared the slightly misleading label. But, we did find more obits and funerary tributes in the Sparta Plaindealer of 1874.

Looking forward to turning east.

Trip Plan

2008-09-21T19:32:00.004-04:00

My cousin, Marjorie Harshaw Robie, and I are taking a family history trip beginning in a week. The idea is to visit sites where our ancestors lived, in some cases doing a bit of research and meeting cousins of one degree or other. It will take most of 2 weeks. I'll try to post reports on the trips as we go along. (May take hints from her son's Olympics journal.)

2008-09-19T18:20:00.000-04:00

From a York history:

CHANCEFORD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH – This church is located a short distance southeast of the
village of Airville, and its early history was intimately connected with the Slate Ridge
Church, of Peach Bottom Township, the two congregations, being served by the same pastors for
many years.  The exact time of its organization could not be accurately ascertained, through
references are made to it in official records as early as 1760.  The first settlers of this
interesting section were a very worthy class of Scotch-Irish, many of whose descendants are now
members of this church.  The first house of worship was known as “the tent,” which was removed
and a substantial church built.  The present church was built in 1850.  This one is soon to
give place to a new one.

Captain John and the Continental Congress

2008-09-16T08:52:00.002-04:00

Granted, Chanceford is not York. And admittedly, I've been too lazy to compose a timeline for the Rippeys. But it's a fact the Continental Congress was in York for 8 months.

Rippey Genealogy--Future Attracttion

2008-09-15T17:33:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Bobbie Ernst, I have a copy of what I call the "Rippey Generalogy", though technically it's "Genealogy Tables of Some Rippey Families in the United States". W.H. Rippey built it based on foundations done by John Newton Rippey. I'm trying to retranscribe it, so it can be shared on the Internet.

As a note, the genealogy essentially ends with Captain John Rippey's birth in 1749. As a result of Jean's researches, it's reasonable to believe we have two more generations, Mathew and Hugh, identified. See the ancestry.com tree and here.

Seneca Township (3) East Southeast

2008-09-10T13:26:00.001-04:00

No. 9 Church in the center of this. Rippeys to the east and west off the Lake to Lake road.

Seneca Township (8) Northwest

2008-09-10T13:06:00.001-04:00

No relations I can find. Seneca Castle is, however, the most historically significant place in Seneca township if I remember correctly--being the location of an Native-American "castle".

Seneca Township (7) North Northwest

2008-09-10T13:04:00.001-04:00

Another Black.

Seneca Township (5) Southwest

2008-09-10T13:00:00.001-04:00

There's a C. Black in the upper left corner, but otherwise this isn't of much family interest.

Seneca Township (4) Southeast

2008-09-10T12:58:00.002-04:00

This doesn't show Rippeys, but others who married with them. In the upper right is "Black Hill", which may be the home of Elizabeth Black, my great grandmother (and the home to which she returned after the death of Rev. John Rippey, along with her unmarried brothers and sisters). Maybe.

There's also Crosiers, Robsons, Goundrys, and McIntyres (the last in the lower left corner).

Seneca Township (6) West Southeast

2008-09-10T12:53:00.001-04:00

Bingo!!

This is the most important one for Rippey's. In the top right corner you'll see one Rippey, and in the area under Stanley you'll see A.C.Rippey (Aaron Chamberlain). A W. Black is also in the right corner. If memory serves, and it may not, there was a Robson-Rippey marriage.

Seneca Township (2) East Northeast

2008-09-10T12:48:00.001-04:00

Don't really know how best to designate these. Again, this is not terribly interesting. (You'll note there's a good bit of overlap of images--Mrs. Reed appears on both the 1 and 2.) A Rippey married a Scoon (right center) and a Crosier, lower center. One thing to note in passing is the number of schoolhouses in a small area. Granted they were one-roomers, but with families of 6+ kids, you needed a lot.

Seneca Township, NE corner

2008-09-10T12:42:00.001-04:00

Not much of interest to Rippey descendants here. Note there's a Reed in the lower left and there's a W&TSmith Co. in upper right. One Rippey married a Reed (some day I'll insert who) and the Smiths are notorious on this blog. But I've no way of knowing whether there's any relationship between this company and the William Smith in my ancestry.

Stanley, NY

2008-09-09T17:05:00.000-04:00

See Seneca Township Introduction for background.

Like the Hall map, this is from the reverse side of the map showing the entire township. Had to scan twice and the scanning cut off the word "Stanley" in the upper left corner. (You may be able to note where I stitched two scans together.)

The "AC Rippey" is Aaron Chamberlain, son of Hamilton, grandson of George Orson and Marjorie Chamberlain.

There are also several McCauleys, who I've not tried to identify.

Hall's Corners

2008-09-09T16:55:00.000-04:00

See the Seneca Township Introduction for background.

Of interest for this blog are the Rippeys (G.O. and E.). The Rippey genealogy also has intermarriages with one or more Robsons, Crosiers, and Legerwoods.

Seneca Township and Its Towns--Introduction

2008-09-09T15:00:00.001-04:00

Through e-Bay (which I urge everyone to use--you can save a search and be notified anytime something comes up for sale that meets the terms, such as "Rippey"(warning, I own e-Bay stock)) I got a 1905 map of Seneca Township and its towns: Stanley, and Hall's Corners. I'll be scanning the images and putting on the Internet. The map is big, about the size of 6 letter-size pages laid out, so I couldn't get everything in one image. It shows the owners (or maybe occupants) of each house and farm in the township, including a Rippey, McCauley, McIntyre, and Black. The images themselves are now in my Picasa web album, which I haven't used in a year or so. If and when I include the image in a blog post, you can click on the small image to get a full page view.

The Pittsburgh Reformed Presbyterians

2008-08-10T19:00:00.000-04:00

Here's one page of an excerpt from a book, which gives a little perspective on the Rev. John Black, Michael Harshaw's mentor, and the Reformed Presbyterians.

A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People By John Newton Boucher: ""

1898 Presbyterian Directory==Harshaw Excerpt

2008-08-05T15:42:00.000-04:00

Ministerial Directory ... Of the Ministers in the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern), and in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (Northern), Together with a Statement of the Work of the Executive Committees and Boards of the Two Churches... By Edgar Sutton Robinson: ""

Obit of Rev; John Rippey, from General Assembly Minutes

2008-08-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

Minutes of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church of North America By United Presbyterian Church of North America General Assembly, General Assembly, United Presbyterian Church of North America:

"John Rippey DD age 67 Caledonia Presbytery son of Joseph and Eliza Smith Rippey was born Nov 24 1827 at Seneca NY and made a profession of faith in the AR congregation of Geneva NY about 1840 or 1847 was graduated from Union College in 1851 and studied theology at Newbnrg and Princeton was licensed Dec 14 1852 by Caledonia Presbytery and ordained Aug 6 1856 by the Presbytery of Saratoga pastor of West Kortright NY Aug 1856 Dec 1866 Cnylerville NY Dec 20 1800 until his death The degree DD was conferred by Westminster in 1884 He was married May 18 1853 to Elizabeth Black of Seneca NY who with one son and two daughters survives him He died at Cuylerville NY May 14 1894 of Bright's disease "

Michael Harshaw's Move to the United Presbyterians.

2008-08-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

This reports the movement by most of the Western Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church to the United Presbyterians. I apologize for the omission of a couple of sentences--I'm still learning how to handle the Google books excerpting.

The Reformed Presbyterian magazine. Jan. 1855-July 1858, 1862-76:
""

The Golds

2008-07-25T15:33:00.002-04:00

An interesting piece here on the decline of mainline Protestantism, but here's the bit that caught my attention:

Early in the twentieth century, a trend toward consolidation began to take hold. Several things facilitated the trend. Those years saw, for instance, the peak of a great missionary movement in which, for two or three generations, the Protestant churches creamed off their best and brightest young people and sent them off to convert the heathen. (It is said that, as late as the 1970s, the most commonly shared characteristic among Americans in Who’s Who was “child of missionaries to the Far East.”) And out in the mission fields, a kind of practical common cause was forced on the Christians, an “ecumenism of the trenches,” which—because of the prestige of the missionaries—increasingly influenced their home churches.

Caught my eye because my aunt, Helen Harshaw Gold, was a missionary in China up to 1927(?)

What'd He Do in the War?

2008-07-23T13:21:00.002-04:00

We know Captain John Rippey was in the Pennsylvania militia in the Revolution. But what did he do? I've never seen evidence of his participating in any battles. I think, though I'm relying on an increasingly unreliable memory, I saw some mention in the Pennsylvania archives of his possibly acting as a supply officer. (An unglamorous job, but someone has to do it. )

There's another possibility, maybe even more unglamorous but equally essential.

Prison guard.

See this post at Universal York for very good background on the prison camp in the York. The York militia definitely were guards for the camp, but no specific mention of one John Rippey.

Officers and Ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church

2008-07-19T18:08:00.000-04:00

Google Books enables one to look up a lot of 19th century publications. Here's one that lists the officers and ministers of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, with which Michael Harshaw was affiliated until 1870.
The Presbyterian Historical Almanac and Annual Remembrancer of the Church By Joseph M. Wilson: ""

Is This a Cousin?

2008-07-01T13:06:00.002-04:00

George Rippey Stewart, that is? See this Slate post rediscovering his book.

1898 Presbyterian Directory==Harshaw Excerpt

2008-05-12T18:57:00.001-04:00

Ministerial Directory ... By Edgar Sutton Robinson

Rippey

2008-05-09T16:34:00.002-04:00

For what it's worth, this DIRECTORY OF IRISH FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH shows these as research interests:

RIPPY/RIPPEY, family, (1600-1900), Ardstraw, Co. Tyr. from
1600 descs. Dr Wm. Ripy, Huguenot, Paris - Byturn,
Scarvagherin, D’clamph, Cappagh.

1058 ROS(S)BOROUGH, all names, all dates, Ahoghill, Co. Ant.
1058 ROSBOROUGH, Jas., (c.1778- ), B’mena area, Co. Ant. son of
Josh.

5845 McCAULEY, Arth./Dan., (1700s-1800s), Clare, Crosserlough,
Co. Cav.
2888 McCAULEY, Bernd./Jas., (1820- ), Co. Ferm.

No Harshaws or McCloskey's listed.

Contacts include:

9634 HARSHAW, Mr, James, 5132 Treesdale Ct, Sarasota, FL, USA,
34238, jwh@plesion.org

Harshaw and Rosborough?

2008-05-07T16:56:00.003-04:00

Got a book titled "Destiny of the Scotch-Irish: an Account of Presbyterian Migration, 1720-1853, by H. Leonard Porter III. I had high hopes for it (which I may discuss in another post). But a factoid from it:

In 1852 pastors and laymen associated with the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (not Michael's denomination) initiated work on establishing a Union Academy in Sparta, IL. By 1855 they'd progressed to having the Illinois General Assembly incorporate the academy, naming twelve people to the board, including "William Rosborough" and "M. Hardshaw". I think it's safe to assume the latter was Michael Harshaw and the former was the namesake of his son, and my grandfather. Unfortunately, the depression of 1857 meant the academy failed.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't provide any more information about the two.

A further note--at the same time the 2nd Associate Presbytery of Illinois was initiating Monmouth College as a coed school. This became the alma mater of my grandmother, Ada Rippey.

Jamestown, PA

2008-05-05T15:26:00.000-04:00

Sarah Harshaw and her sons were living near here. William has Michael finding an academy in "Jimtown" for his education. Here is an early 20th century postcard.

Here's a Google map of today's

View Larger Map

New Harshaw and Rippey Conjunction

2008-05-05T13:01:00.003-04:00

For those of us who descend from a Harshaw/Rippey union, these links may be of interest:

This article reports Andy Harshaw (of Canada): "Dofasco veteran Andy Harshaw has been named chief operating officer of ArcelorMittal's U.S. operations."

As such, he is sort of united with the head of Mittal's US : "Michael G. (Mike) Rippey has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Mittal Steel USA Inc., Operating Subsidiary of Mittal Steel Company N.V. since August 15, 2006. Mr. Rippey has two decades of industry experience and a diverse background experience, having previously held responsibility for finance, purchasing, and human resources. He served as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Mittal Steel USA Inc. since April 2005 until August 15, 2006, with ..."

Oregon Rippeys

2008-04-22T15:57:00.001-04:00

I discovered if you Google "Oregon University Rippey" you get hits on several apparently illustrious Rippeys--whether they're any relation to Captain John, I've not the foggiest.