Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Harshbarger, George H 1829 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com May 5, 2007, 10:42 am

Author: Portraits & Bio Sketches, 1890

GEORGE H. HARSHBARGER is classed among the leading agriculturists of 
Plainfield Township, and there is no finer or better improved farm in all the 
county than his. He was born in Penn's Valley, Center County, Pa., January 27, 
1829. His father, John Harshbarger, was of German descent. The grandfather of 
our subject was a native of that country, and was there reared and married, 
and subsequently came to America and settled in Pennsylvania, and there passed 
the remainder of his life on his farm in Penn's Valley. The father of our 
subject was bred to agricultural pursuits, and followed farming profitably for 
many years, until his life was brought to a close in his comfortable home in 
Penn's Valley, at the age of sixty-three years. The maiden name of his wife 
was Mary Rishel, and she was a native of Pennsylvania. After the death of her 
husband she went to live in Hublersburgh, Center County, and there passed away 
in February, 1890, at the venerable age of eighty-five years. She reared six 
sons and four daughters to good and useful lives. The son of whom we write 
received his education in the district school, and was early set to work on 
the farm and obtained a practical knowledge of agriculture, continuing to live 
with his parents until 1844. In that year he commenced to learn the trade of a 
carpenter, which he followed in Pennsylvania until 1847, when he concluded to 
come West to try life on the prairies of Illinois. He took the most 
expeditious route at the time, and by foot and stage made his way to Erie, 
Pa., and from there by the Lakes to Chicago, where he embarked on the canal 
for Lockport, and from that place he went to Morris, Grundy County. There he 
found employment at his trade the ensuing three months, and then he took up 
his residence in Plainfield, continuing here as a carpenter and builder until 
1878. He had previously bought his present farm, and he then decided to devote 
himself entirely to its management. It is pleasantly located on section 8, one 
mile west of Plainfield, and contains one hundred and twenty acres of finely-
tilled land. It is exceptionally well improved, having upwards of five miles 
of tile, and is amply provided with neat and commodious buildings, and ranks 
as one of the finest pieces of property in this section of the country. Mr. 
Harshbarger has been twice married, his first marriage, which occurred in 
Plainfield, being to Miss Harriet Baker, a native of Ohio. Her death in 1862 
deprived him of a true and faithful wife, and their four children—Tacy, Frank, 
Seldon and Anna—of a good mother. Our subject was again married, taking as a 
helpmate Mrs. Sophia Hoay, nee Barney, a native of New York State, and to them 
have come two children—Mabel and John. Mr. Harshbarger's daughter, Tacy, 
married Thomas Hayes and resides in Plainfield. His daughter, Anna, married 
Wilson Davis, and also lives in Plainfield. Mabel is the wife of Frank G. 
Gaskin, of Plainfield. Frank resides in Somonauk, this State, and Seldon, in 
Kendall County, Ill. Mr. Harshbarger is endowed with a sound understanding, 
decision of character, and other traits that have enabled him to make his own 
way in the world without the adventitious aids of fortune and birth to an 
independent position among his fellow-townsmen. He and his wife are highly 
regarded in this community, where they have lived for many years, and have the 
warm friendship of many of their fellow-citizens, as they are social, 
hospitable people, making their home attractive to all who cross its 
threshhold. They are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and do 
all they can for the good work in which it is engaged.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page 
Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens 
of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 
 


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