Jeff’s Ancestors – Page 5 – Colleen & Jeff's Roots

#52Ancestors: Rebecca “Becky” Haley (1916-1991)

Rebecca Haley, 1944 — Becky in 1944, after their family had already moved to California.

My 37th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

My 37th ancestor is my husband’s grandmother, Rebecca “Becky” Haley (1916-1991).

Becky was born on 25 August 1916, I think in McRae (White County) Arkansas. I don’t have any primary first-hand documentation supporting her birth date or location, but the U.S. Censuses and Social Security Death Index do identify the date and state. I find it unusual that Becky was born in Arkansas, since both parents and all of her siblings were from Tennessee. She was the second youngest of ten children born to Hallie “Hal” Corder Haley (1878-1942) and Gedie Webster (b. 1881).

By the age of four, according to the 1920 U.S. Census, Becky and her family were living in Nashville, Tennessee. The family was enumerated there again on the 1930 Census, and — according to the 1940 Census — Becky was still living in Nashville as of 1 April 1935.

Rebecca Haley and Siblings — Five of the six youngest of the Haley siblings. Left to Right: Eleanor, Norman, Rebecca, Frances, and Comer. Based on Becky’s age in this photo, it was probably taken around 1918 or 1919. Youngest sister Nana was born in 1922.

Somewhere along the way Becky met and married Roy Delmar Pace (b. 1914), from Texas and New Mexico. The married couple were living in Lordsburg (Hidalgo County), New Mexico, when recorded 07 May 1940 on the U.S. Census, along with their six month old son and an adult lodger. Roy worked as a miner, Becky as a nurse at the hospital. A daughter joined the family the following year. In 1943, A second daughter — my mother-in-law Betty Pace — was born, but by this time the family had moved to California.

Rebecca and Roy raised their children in Kern County, California, where they spent the rest of their lives. Becky died on 27 April 1991.

Rebecca Haley and Jeff Greene — Becky with her grandson (my husband), Jeff.

[contentblock id=19 img=html.png]

#52Ancestors: Hanging Out in Jamestown Settlement with 11th Great Grandfather Richard Pace

Plaque honoring Chanco and Richard Pace.

My 35th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

I have fallen way behind in this challenge again due to continued health issues the last few months, but I am trying to catch up by the end of the year.

My 35th ancestor is my husband’s 11th great grandfather, Richard Pace (1583-1627), who is credited with saving the colonial settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. I discovered and started investigating this Richard Pace back in April 2012, when I first wrote about a new research lead. Since that first post, I have done more research, and have spoken with several cousins of Jeff who already knew this family connection and have researched it themselves.

Back during those initial investigations, I found out that there is a plaque dedicated to Richard Pace in the church on the National Park’s Jamestown settlement site.

Visiting Jamestown

Well, last month, Jeff and I finally got to visit the historic Jamestown, Virginia colonial settlement site as part of a 10 day Virginia and Washington, DC vacation with my parents. Early this year, my parents invited us to stay a week with them in their Shenandoah Valley timeshare. Jeff and I jumped at the offer for free lodging, scheduled a few extra days on the trip for all of us to visit DC, and started scouting out day trip options from the timeshare. We realized getting out to Jamestown would be quite the long drive (it turned into a 16-hour day!), but we also recognized that this might be our best chance at visiting Jamestown anytime in the near future. We just couldn’t pass up soaking in the history of that area, and we especially could not pass up getting to walk where Jeff’s ancestor walked, viewing the famous river he crossed to warn and save the town, and getting a first hand look at the dedicated plaque.

Jeff posing next to the plaque honoring Chanco and Jeff's 11th great grandfather Richard Pace. — Jeff posing next to the plaque that honors his 11th great grandfather.

Richard Pace is credited with saving Jamestown from a 1622 Indian massacre. After learning from his Indian servant Chanco about the plot, Pace rowed across the James River to warn the settlement.

The plaque is primarily a tribute to Chanco, with Pace mentioned in a much less prominent placement and font size. I, of course, had to tease Jeff about this. Jealousy. My ancestors were peasants. We saw evidence of his prominent ancestors throughout the entire vacation.

A view inside the church. Jeff is on the left, reading the plaque honoring his ancestor.

This is not the same church (constructed in 1617) that Jeff’s ancestors would have attended. However, this “newer” church (partially built in 1639) is on the site of that original church. So even though Richard Pace and his family never walked or worshiped in this building, it was still pretty cool to go inside one of the oldest European structures in the United States.

National Historic Site plaque on the exterior of the church. — National Historic Site marker on the church.

Jamestown was founded on 4 May 1607, and was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. The Jamestown obelisk was built in 1907, as a tercentennial monument to the founding of Jamestown.

One of the inscribed sides of the obelisk.

Our awesomely funny, entertaining, and knowledgeable docent tells us the history of Jamestown settlement. — Our awesomely funny, entertaining, and knowledgeable park ranger guide.

After the guided talk was done, Jeff and I had to take the opportunity to ask our ranger about Jeff’s ancestor. The ranger was thrilled to tell us that Richard Pace is one of her very favorite people from Jamestown history. But, it quickly became clear that she is an even bigger fan of Chanco, Pace’s Indian servant, and wants to write a book aobut Chanco when retired.

Site of the old fort, which until recently was though to be lost under the river.

Archaeological dig site. — Constant reminders that Jamestown is an active archaeological site. It sent chills up our spines to think that these archaeologists might be unearthing items that Jeff’s ancestors touched.

Pace’s Paines Plantation

Richard Pace, wife Isabella Smyth (1589-1637), and their son George Pace (1609-1655) immigrated from England sometime before 1618. Pace was not among the original settlers of Jamestown, but was among the earliest.

Pace and Smyth received one of the first land grants in the Colony of Virginia, as part of the headright system implemented in 1618, which granted lands to settlers who migrated from England and remained in the colony for at least three years. Recipients of these early land grants were referred to as Ancient Planters. Pace and Smyth — each granted 100 acres — registered a patent on 5 December 1620 for 200 acres located across the James River from the settlement, founding their “Pace’s Paines” plantation, now part of Mount Pleasant Plantation, a private non-profit-owned property (not open for public tours) in Spring Grove, Virginia.

Our family planned to drive by Mount Pleasant Plantation (and get a photograph with that sign, too) after a lunch stop at Cape Henry and Virginia Beach, but it was getting late, and there is no quick route to that area across the river. And we still had to hit Yorktown battlefield. So Jeff and I will have to visit the site of Pace’s Paines on another trip to the beautiful state of Virgnia.

Looking across the James River. Richard Pace's "Pace's Paines" lands were located on the far bank. — Looking across the James River. Pace’s Paines was located on the far bank.

Paces Paines sign — Historic marker designating the location of Pace’s Paines, the lands Richard Pace registered in 1620. Public Domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

Historical Perspective

To put Pace’s Jamestown life and properties in historical perspective, he and Smyth arrived around the time that famous Pocahontas died (1617) while she and her husband John Rolfe and son were living in England. Rolfe died in 1622, two years after Pace and Smyth registered their land patent. Rolfe and Pocahontas, and later Rolfe and his second wife, also owned lands across the James River from the Jamestown settlement.

Richard Pace died in 1625.

Public domain 1850s painting of John Rolfe and Pocahontas, from Wikimedia Commons.

No, not Jeff’s 11th great grandfather Richard Pace. The famous John Smith. Incorrectly portrayed as the object of Pocahontas’s love in the Disney movie, instead of her real husband John Rolfe.

[contentblock id=12 img=html.png]

#52 Ancestors: Jean Alice Harless, Ditches Nursing School Graduation to Get Hitched

My 27th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

The flapper hairstyle dates this in the 1920s.

My 27th ancestor is my husband’s grandmother Jean Alice HARLESS (1912-2011). We just took a vacation to visit some of her family history spots, so I thought it appropriate to profile a bit more of Grandmother’s life.

Birth

Jean was born to Leonard William HARLESS (1890-1957) and Hester Kathleen McNAMARA (1887-1987) on 25 June 1912 in the tiny community of Le Grand, Merced County, California. Le Grand is now just a 1.140 square mile census-designated place 14 miles from Merced. According to Wikipedia, the first post office in Le Grand was opened just 12 years before Grandmother’s birth. I have been unable to locate a birth record for Jean, despite days pouring through vital record books at the Family History Library in February.

Former Santa Fe station in Le Grand, CA was built by San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley Railroad in 1896. Other than for some roof tiles this old wooden station seems to be pretty much unrestored and is now used for non-railroad storage. Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr user Ron Reiring.

When we met Jean’s daughter for lunch a few months ago (I will refer to her as Aunt Greene, for privacy reasons, since she is still living), Aunt Greene told us about a trip she took years back with Grandmother to Le Grand to find the house where Grandmother was born. It was a long ways out in the middle of nowhere, on a tiny narrow country road that barely warrants being called a road. But the house was still there, and was occupied. Grandmother marched up to the house wanting to see it, explaining who she was, but the current lady of the house wasn’t keen on letting strangers inside.

On our recent vacation to the Central Valley, Jeff and I considered driving out to Le Grand during our visit to nearby Maricopa County. But Aunt Greene was worried that our RV rental wouldn’t be able to handle the narrow country road out to the house where Grandmother was born, and frankly, without a photo or address or general location, Jeff and I acknowledged that — unless we ran into someone who knew where the old Harless home was located — it would be a wild goose chase. We would not even be able to identify the right home. So we’ll save this adventure for another time, after more research.

Childhood

Despite being born in the sticks, Jean’s parents hightailed it out of Le Grand for life in the big city of San Francisco, where Jean and her brother Jack grew up.

I find Jean, at 7 years old, living with her parents, brother, uncle, and a couple of lodgers in San Francisco for the 1920 U.S. Census. She is again counted on the 1930 Census, at 17 years old, still living with her family in San Francisco.

Nursing School and Practice

Jean attended Stanford Nursing School, from which she graduated in 1933. She met her future husband William Wallace Greene (1908-2003), a Stanford medical student, during Wallace’s internship at Lane-Stanford Hospital in San Francisco between 1932-1933.

Grandmother Jean did not attender her nursing school graduation, and she is missing from the Stanford School of Nursing Class of 1933 photo. Her daughter says it is because Jean ditched her graduation to run off and secretly get married, since nursing students (and we think possibly medical students, such as her future husband) were not allowed to be married.

I think it’s really cute and romantic that they snuck off to get married, and couldn’t hold off on marriage until Wallace finished medical school. For proprietary sake, I will say that it was not THAT kind of a rushed wedding :-). Both were proper young adults.

Jean’s graduating nursing school class, from the Stanford School of Nursing. She is listed as part of the graduating class, but is not present in the photo. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com

Grandmother Jean practiced nursing throughout her life — often alongside her doctor husband — until she and Wallace retired and settled in Oregon.

My husband thinks this photo is from when his grandparents were practicing medicine in Hawaii.

Marriage and Family

Jean married William Wallace Greene (1908-2003) on 18 May 1933 in Maricopa County, Arizona, where her husband’s family lived. This was the same year that Wallace was awarded his M.D., and Jean graduated from nursing school.

Aunt Greene tells us that the young couple didn’t have any money since they were both still in college. So they drove to Arizona for a weekend with Jean’s parents, got married, stayed with Wallace’s parents, and then drove back home in time for Wallace to make his shift. Not exactly an ideal honeymoon!

Aunt Greene says this photo is from her parents’ “honeymoon” in Arizona.

Wallace and Jean had two children together, who shall remain unidentified by name for privacy reasons. They also have five grandchildren, and eight grandchildren.

Jean and her son, my father-in-law.

Jean (pink dress) and Wallace with their five grandchildren. I am not sure of the identify of the other woman.

Later Years and Death

After Jean’s husband passed away in 2003, she continued to live in Oregon near her daughter.

I was fortunate to have met Grandmother Greene once, during our first summer vacation together as a new family in June 2010. Jeff, the kids, our beagle Holly, and I took a big road trip up the Sierras and across Oregon to visit Grandmother for her 98th birthday. I am so glad we did this, because Jean passed away that next year, one month shy of her 99th birthday.

Jean certainly led a very full long life. She was a spitfire to the very end! I love listening to my husband, his cousins, his dad, and his aunt laugh and share stories about this strong feisty woman who was still capable of outsmarting them all at 98 years old.

Grandmother with her grandchildren, grandchildren-in-law, and her great grandchildren. June 2010, celebrating her 98th birthday with the quilt that my stepdaughter Kellie (1st row, third from the left) and I (just behind Kellie) made.

Census Sunday: William Wallace Greene Jr Counted Twice on 1930 Census

William Wallace Greene, 1929 — The Stanford Quad yearbook, Stanford University, 1929. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

One little census oddity in our family history involves my husband’s grandfather, William Wallace GREENE, Jr. (1908-2003).

Wallace — his preferred name — was counted twice on the U.S. Census in 1930. He was enumerated on April 4th with his parents in Phoenix, Arizona and again on April 8th in San Francisco, California.

Both censuses identify Wallace as a single 21 year old college student. According to the autobiography he wrote for his family, Wallace would have been a medical student at Stanford at this time. This appears to be the period between receiving his A.B. in Pre-Clinical Sciences in 1929, and his internship in 1932-33 at Lane-Stanford Hospital in San Francisco.

While it is possible that Wallace was in Phoenix the day the census enumerator visited his family, and then was back in his college boarding home in San Francisco four days later, my hunch is that he was not actually living (and was not visiting) his family home at this time. I think Wallace’s parents (it was most likely his Mom who would’ve been home to talk to the census taker ) did not yet consider their son permanently moved away from home and a California resident. They might have still expected him to return to Phoenix to live. When I went away to college, I was never really sure where I should be registered to vote (my college county, or my family home county) or which place to list as my official residence. I am sure my parents still considered their home my official residence, and would have responded as such if visited by a census taker. I think the same thing happened to Wallace. There is nobody left alive from this period to confirm my hunch.

So, I just have to note this hunch in my residence and census records for Wallace.

At least the details on each census match. There are no discrepancies.

Wallace on the 1930 U.S. Census in Phoenix, Arizona. Enumerated with his parents, sister Nelle, and two lodgers at 517 N. 2nd Street. Wallace is highlighted in yellow. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

1930 US Census, San Francisco, California. — Wallace on the 1930 U.S. Census in San Francisco, California. Enumerated with his fellow “roomers” in a boarding house. at 2321 Sacramento Street. Wallace is highlighted in yellow. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com.

[contentblock id=54 img=html.png]

#52Ancestors: John Philip Harless, 1738 German Palatine Immigrant to America

My 26th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Headstone erected posthumously for John Philip Harless and wife Margaret Price.

My 26th ancestor is my husband’s 7th great grandfather John Philip Harless (1716-1772). John Philip is our first Harless ancestor to immigrate to America, specifically, to the American colonies. John Philip Harless is of course the American spelling and pronunciation of his name. Some documents spell his first name “Johan” and his last name “Harlas”, “Harlash”, “Harlos”, “Harlosh”, “Horlas”, and “Horlash”. Sometimes he is referred to as “Philip”, instead of John Philip or Johan Philip.

Harless is the husband of Anna Margaretha “Margaret” PREISS [Price], the grandfather of Ferdinand HARLESS (1755-1853), the 2nd great grandfather of Miles (Myles) Washington HARLESS (1826-1891), the 3rd great grandfather of Leonard Jackson HARLESS (1858-1946), and the 5th great grandfather of Jean Alice HARLESS (1912-2011).

John Philip was born in 1716 in Germersheim, a town in the present day southern German state of Rhindeland-Palatinate. He married Anna Margaretha “Margaret” Preiss (1718-1784) — whom I profiled earlier in my first #52Ancestors post — on 17 February 1738 in Offenbach, Germany.

The new couple celebrated their honeymoon on board the ship the Winter Galley, in the last wave of the Palatine migration. It appears that they boarded the Winter Galley in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with a stop in Deal, England, which is near Dover.

View John Philip Harless : Old World in a larger map

Harless, his wife, and a handful of other family members (no children yet), arrived at the Port of Philadelphia on 5 September 1738, and Harless took the required oath of allegiance (to the British king!) that same day.

Ralph Beaver Strassburger and William John Hinke compiled, transcribed, and published (in 1934) the available Palatine immigration ships’ lists for Philadelphia arrivals from 1727-1808. Our John Philip Harless is included, in three different types of lists produced from the Winter Galley. Volume 1 of the Strassburger and Hinke publication includes type transcribed lists. But Volume 2 includes copies of the actual signatures!

Transcribed list in the Strassburger and Beaver publication, V 1, page 199.
“[List 52 A] A List of all the mens names and ages from sixteen years and upwards Passengers on b y Winter Gally, Edward Paynter, Commander. [Qualified September 5, 1738.]”
252 passengers total. 139 Palatines who took the oath. 113 women and children.
(Misspellings and punctuations copied from text.)

Transcribed list in the Strassburger and Beaver publication, V 1, page 201.
“[List 52 B] Palatines imported in the Ship the Winter Galley, Edward Paynter, Com, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal. Qualified 5th Sept, 1738.”
(Misspellings and punctuations copied from text.)

Transcribed list in the Strassburger and Beaver publication, V 1, page 203.
“[List 52 C] At the Court House of Philadelphia, September 5th, 1738.
Present
Anthony Palmer, Clement Plumsted, Ralph Asheton, Wiliam Allen, Esq.
The Palatinates whose Names are underwritten, imported in the Ship the Winter Galley, Edward Paynter, M, a Rotterdam, did this day take and subscribe the Oaths to the Government.”
(Misspellings and punctuations copied from text.)

On the photocopied signatures included in the Strassburger and Beaver publications, I had a very difficult time trying to identify the signature of Johan “John” Philip Harless. I knew it had to be included, because I find a ton of family historians claiming this publication displays the Harless signature (of course, they could all be wrong!). It doesn’t help that so many of these Palatine immigrants have names starting with “Johann”. It’s like looking for a Jose on my side of the family! So, after an hour of my vision going cross-eyed from staring at these signatures, I enlisted the help of an <ahem> expert — my husband Jeff, who studied German way back in high school.

Jeff felt confident in identifying his ancestor’s signature pretty quickly. That last name didn’t look anything like Harless to me. But as Jeff pointed out, the first letter of the surname looks just like the “h” that appears in Johan and Philip. He also explained to me how the German double S consonant is written and pronounced, like a capital B (note the end of the surname, which would jive with Harless). The middle name, to me, looks like it ends with a “b” instead of a “p”, making it more like Philib instead of Philip. But as the Palatine Project points out, “Fileb” was a common old world German spelling for the name Philip. So, are we 100% positive we have identified the correct signature for Jeff’s ancestor John Philip Harless? No. But, it is a confident guess. Hopefully I will be able to verify it against other documents he signed while living in the Colonies. If some other Harless historian can verify or refute this signature, please contact me.

Signature fascimile list in the Strassburger and Beaver publication, V 2, page 207.
[List 52 B] Palatines imported in the Ship the Winter Galley, Edward Paynter, Com, from Rotterdam, but last from Deal. Qualified 5th Sept, 1738.
(Misspellings and punctuations copied from text.)

I will blog more about the family and their descendants. But, if you are impatient, the U.S. era of their family history has been extensively covered in the Pritchard publication noted below, which is available to read for free on HathiTrust.

Sources Used

Pritchard, J. L. R. (1962). Harless genealogy, John Philip and Anna Margaretha (Preiss) Harless;pioneers in western Virginia and some of their descendents, ([2d ed.].). Cupertino? Calif.]. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/wu.89066181694

Strassburger, R. B., & Hinke, W. J. (1934). Pennsylvania German pioneers;a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, (Vols. 1-3, Vol. 1). Norristown,. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.49015000086612

Strassburger, R. B., & Hinke, W. J. (1934). Pennsylvania German pioneers;a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808, (Vols. 1-3, Vol. 2). Norristown,. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.49015002215748

Census Sunday: Ferdinand Harless In the 1850 U.S. Census

I blogged recently about my husband’s 5th great grandfather Ferdinand HARLESS (1755-1853) and his Revolutionary War service. In this post, I take a look at Harless in the 1850 U.S. Census, the final Census he was enumerated in since he died three years later.

Ferdinand is the grandson of Anna Margaretha “Margaret” PREISS [Price], the grandfather of Miles (Myles) Washington HARLESS (1826-1891), the great grandfather of Leonard Jackson HARLESS (1858-1946), and the third great grandfather of Jean Alice HARLESS (1912-2011).

1850 U.S. Census, Giles County, Virginia. Source: Ancestry.com.

Harless and his household were enumerated in the 1850 U.S. Census on 31 July 1850. No specific town or locality is referenced, just District 20 in Giles County, Virginia. His was the 214th home and family visited by the Census worker. The family is identified as “free inhabitants” of the district. Census details for the household:

(Line 2) Harless, Ferdinand:

Age: 97
Sex: Male
Profession: Farmer
Place of Birth: Virginia.

(Line 3) Harless, Elizabeth B. (not stated, but Ferdinand’s daughter):

Age: 67
Sex: Female
Profession: None stated
Place of Birth: Virginia

(Line 4) Harless, Margaret

Age: 46
Sex: Female
Profession: None stated
Place of Birth: Virginia
Unable to read or write.
A pauper

(Line 4) Harless, Valana

Age: 5
Sex: Male
Profession: Farmer (identified as such as 5 years old)
Place of Birth: Virginia
A pauper

I am not sure who Margaret and Valana are; since they are not in my direct ancestral line, I haven’t done research on Ferdinand’s daughter Elizabeth. Unfortunately, in 1850, the U.S. Census did not yet identify household relationships. But perhaps Margaret and Valana are Elizabeth’s daughter and grandson. I find it interesting that 46 year old Margaret and 5 year old Valana are identified as paupers, and that Margaret cannot read or write.

According to FamilySearch, Giles County was created 16 January 1806 from Montgomery, Monroe County (West Virginia), Tazewell and Wythe Counties.

I am not sure where exactly in Giles County Ferdinand lived (the Census just states District 20), but from this video produced by the county, it looks like a gorgeous area in which my husband and I would greatly enjoy hiking and other outdoors activities while conducting a family history tour! Other family histories and record compilations claim that Ferdinand lived in the Clover Hallow area of Giles County, on land adjoining his father’s property on Sinking Creek. If you recall from his Revolutionary War activities, Ferdinand served at the garrison at Sinking Creek from 1 April 1 October 1779.

#52Ancestors: Ferdinand Harless On Indian Patrol During the Revolutionary War

My 25th entry in Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” family history blogging challenge.

The challenge: have one blog post each week devoted to a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, an outline of a research problem — anything that focuses on one ancestor.

Giles County, Virginia Revolutionary War Monument, on the grounds of the county courthouse.
Photo borrowed from Grandpa’s Footsteps blog.

My 25th ancestor is my husband’s 5th great grandfather Ferdinand HARLESS (1755-1853), who served in the Revolutionary War — in honor of the Fourth of July.

Ferdinand is the grandson of Anna Margaretha “Margaret” PREISS [Price], the grandfather of Miles (Myles) Washington HARLESS (1826-1891), the great grandfather of Leonard Jackson HARLESS (1858-1946), and the third great grandfather of Jean Alice HARLESS (1912-2011).

Harless was born in Virginia. Different sources give different locations. Some accounts say Frederick County, which was established in 1743 and includes parts of present-day Shenandoah County (established in 1772). Other accounts claim he was born in Shenandoah. It is not clear if that is the county or the town, but since the town was not founded until 1837 and does not reside within Shenandoah County, my hunch is that Harless was born in Frederick County, in an area that is now part of Shenandoah County. I need to dig through records myself to verify this.

Regardless of birth place, Ferdinand Harless lived the latter years of his life, and died in, Giles County, Virginia (established 1806). It is here, on the grounds of the county courthouse that Harless has been memorialized on a Revolutionary War monument.

The name of Ferdinand Harless is located in the bottom left section of the plaque.
Photo borrowed from Grandpa’s Footsteps blog.

On 7 June 1832, Congress passed an act allowing all Revolutionary War veterans, and their widows, to apply for pension benefits. Prior to this act, only those disabled in service had been eligible for pension benefits. It is through these records that we know about Harless’s Revolutionary War service. The pension files (application number R4612) are available on both Fold3 and Ancestry.com. It appears that Ferdinand’s application was initially rejected, but then eventually awarded. He applied for his pension at 79 years of age, in 1834.

First page of the sworn testimony submitted by Harless in his pension application. Written by the Justice of the Peace, not Harless. Source: Fold3.com.

Page 3 of the application includes Harless’s mark, indicating he could not sign his name. Source: Fold3.com.

Sadly, what looks like a digitized pension certificate is illegible.
Source: Ancestry.com

The handwritten testimony provides an account of Ferdinand’s service in the war. But the handwriting is a bit difficult to read. Fortunately, the Pritchard publication (cited below) on the Harless family history types out the details.

Ferdinand Harless volunteered in spring 1777 for the Virginia Militia in Botetourt County (in an area now part of Montgomery County, according to his brother’s pension application). Apparently residents of that area were having difficulties with the local Indian population. Harless spent his entire war service protecting the garrison (near Smithfield). “That the nature of his services was to remain in the Fort for its defense in case it were attacked by Indians, and to hold himself in readiness to go to the assistance of any other Fort that might be attacked.” He served in the Smithfield area from 1 April to 1 October 1777, and then again from 1 April to 1 October 1778. He provided similar service from 1 April to 1 October 1779 in the garrison at Sinking Creek, Virginia, and finally from 1 April to 1 October 1880 in the garrison at Stony Creek. Ferdinand didn’t just defend the garrisons, he also performed reconnaissance with spying parties to watch for approaching Indians.

Map courtesy of the Botetourt County Historical Society.

It appears that Harless was given this duty assignment because as one of the early settlers of Virginia, he had grown up accustomed to dealing with the hardships of Indian warfare.

In his application, Ferdinand Harless claims that he has no record of his birth, and never received any formal written discharge from service.

For Further Reading