Duval County FlArchives Biographies.....Harkisheimer, William J. January 11, 1838 - February 1899
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Nancy Rayburn http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00025.html#0006128 August 21, 2015, 4:25 am

Source: Vol. II  pg.56  The Lewis Publishing Co. 1923
Author: History of Florida, Past and Present 

        WILLIAM JOHN HARKISHEIMER. Although more than twenty-three years have
passed since the death of WILLIAM JOHN HARKISHEIMER, he is still remembered by
the old the residents of Jacksonville as a valiant soldier during times of war,
a public spirited citizen during days of peace, a business man of integrity and
probity and a capable financier who gave his ability to the founding and
development of several large enterprises.
	Mr. HARKISHEIMER was born January 11, 1838, at Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, a son of WILLIAM and MARGARET DOUGLAS (McLEAN) HARKISHEIMER, the 
former of German and the latter of Scotch ancestry. He was the second in a 
family of five children, and after attending the public schools of Philadelphia 
until reaching the age of sixteen years was apprenticed to his uncle, DANIEL J. 
McLEAN, to learn the trade of making watch cases. That he mastered this 
difficult occupation is found in the fact that at the age of eighteen years he 
made a watch case that took the first prize at the Franklin Institute Fair, 
held at Philadelphia, and which was for many years carried by its maker with 
much pride. The panic of 1857 threw the young man out of employment, but after 
a few months of idleness he was offered and accepted a position as clerk under 
the commissioner of public highways. He took an active part in the first 
Lincoln presidential campaign, being secretary of one of the Philadelphia 
executive committees. At the outbreak of the Civil war Mr. Harkisheimer entered 
the 20th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, as a private soldier; in 
June was promoted corporal, in July was made a sergeant, and at the end of his 
three months of enlistment was mustered out of the service. He reentered the 
service in September, 1861, as second lieutenant in the Eighty-eighth Regiment, 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, in June, 1862, was promoted to a first lieutenancy, 
and in November, 1863, was made a captain. In March, 1865, he was brevetted 
major for faithful and meritorious service. During this time he saw much hard 
service in the Shenandoah Valley and with the Army of the Potomac, being badly 
wounded at Fredericksburg in December, 1862, and receiving honorable mention 
for gallant conduct in that battle. After two years of service as aide-de-camp
and assistant adjutant general on the staff of Gen. W. R. MONTGOMERY, U. S. A.,
Gen. JOHN MANSFIELD, U. S. V., and Gen. J. P. SLOUGH, U. S. V., he was ordered
to duty in 1866 to Columbia, South Carolina, where he remained until his
retirement from the army in 1869. His position under General Montgomery
deserves special mention as it involved a particularly important and onerous
trust for one so young. From October, 1861, until April, 1862, while the Army
of the Potomac was being organized, he, stationed at Alexandria, Virginia, had
entire charge of the business and traffic carried on with that army south of
the Potomac, all goods, stores or travelers being allowed to enter were passed
through the Army only upon his official orders. The business involved in these
proceedings amounted to thousands of dollars daily, thus showing the honor and
responsibility of the office.
	On leaving the service Major Harkisheimer began a seven-year residence
at Philadelphia, at the end of which time he removed to Jacksonville, Florida,
where he established himself in business as a wholesale and retail grocer. He
met with immediate and signal success, largely due to his introduction of the
best modern methods. Always active in public affairs, he soon associated
himself with the best interest of his adopted city. The Duval Building and the 
Loan Association of Jacksonville was established by him in 1882, and he was its 
president from its beginning up to the time of his death. Mr. Harkisheimer
early became interested in banking, and when he died was vice president of the
Commercial Bank and a director in the National Bank of Jacksonville, both of
this city; a director in both the Putnam National Bank of Palatka and the First
National Bank of Fernandina, and was connected otherwise. He was a charter
member of the Jacksonville Board of Trade; a member of the Seminole Club and
Pennsylvania Commandery of the Loyal Legion; a charter member of O. M. Mitchell
Post, Grand Army of the Republic; and a member of the Masonic fraternity.
	In September, 1867, Major Harkisheimer was united in marriage with
JENNIE E. CRANE, daughter of Judge W. E. CRANE, of Yonkers, New York. When he
died, in February, 1899, Major Harkisheimer was survived by his widow and two
children: Mrs. GEORGE H. RICHARDS and HOWARD E., both of Jacksonville.


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