~1810 - 1875
Pennsylvania
It is fairly certain that Susan is the granddaughter of Charles Harkless the Hessian soldier, but who her parents were is not so clear. Most people have made her the daughter of Jabes and Mary (last name unknown) Harkless - but I have no idea what they base that conclusion on.
Her grandfather, Charles, was born in about 1761 and came to America as one of the Hessian mercenaries. He and 10 others deserted, and he and some of the others fought in the ranks of the Americans until the end of the war. He then married Eliza Hopewell Aber, who had been born in New Jersey, and their first several children, including Susan’s supposed father Jabes, were born in that state.
In about 1784, Charles and family moved to western Pennsylvania - although the first trace I have found of him (actually another researcher found it - I just copied it from the Harkless genforum site) is an indenture (for what I don’t know) dated 1809. In it Charles is described as being of Franklin Twp, Westmoreland County, PA. I haven’t found him on any census, in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, until 1810, when he is on the Westmoreland census - at which time Jabes would have been about 28, and should have been on his own.
And as a matter of fact, Jabes does appear in the 1810 census - he possibly even appears twice:
1810 Pennsylvania Westmoreland Franklin p. 214
Jeb (indexed Job) Harkless 00100 00100
1m, 1f 16-26 b. 1784-94
1810 Pennsylvania Allegheny Plumb 170 (4) (332)
Jabes Harklis 00100 00100
1m, 1f 16-26 b. 1784-94 Jabes b. 1782
Usually when you find a listing like this, for 1m, 1f 16-26, it means that a young couple have just recently gotten married and the babies haven’t started arriving yet. Susan, whose age on other censuses gives her a birthdate of about 1810, would therefore probably have been the oldest child.
There is another Harklis in Allegheny County in 1810 - William, probably the brother of Jabes. He has a wife and a small daughter at the time:
1810 Pennsylvania Allegheny Plumb 170 (4) (332) (same page as Jabes)
William Harklis 00010 10010
1m, 1f 26-45 b. 1766-1784 William b. 1789
1f under 10 b. 1800-10
But he is never mentioned as a candidate for Susan’s father - possibly because, like many other Harklesses of his generation, he moved on to Ohio - and Susan married in Allegheny County, so she presumably stayed there.
Jabes and Mary had another probable daughter, Margaret - who married Moses Brown’s brother, Thomas Jefferson Brown. Margaret named one of her sons Job Harkless Brown, so the connection between her and Jabes is a little less shaky than that of Susan and Jabes. [Susan and Moses, by the way, named their first son Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas and Margaret named their first son Moses.]
I haven’t been able to find any Harklesses in 1820 except Charles in Westmoreland County. And Susan married Moses Brown in about 1830 (their first child, daughter Juliana, was born 7 Aug 1830). So - nothing known about Susan up until the time she married.
And not a lot known about Susan after that! Her supposed father appears on only one census and then completely disappears - and the same is true of her husband. I have not found Moses (and presumably new wife Susan) in 1830. He is on the 1840 census, at which time he and Susan have 6 children - and then he too disappears forever. In 1850, Susan is on her own, with 8 of their 11 children.
So. Here is the story:
Susan Harkless, born about 1810 to (possibly) Jabes and Mary Harkless, married about 1829/30 Moses Brown. Susan and Moses had 11 children:
Juliana - born 1830 - with parents in 1840 - nothing more known after that
Thomas Jefferson - born 1831 - moved to Venango Co by 1860 (oil),
Lawrence Co by 1870 (farmer and gardener)
Mary Catherine - born 1834 - married George Hume - moved to Lawrence Co by 1870
(always called himself a farmer)
Emily - born 1836 - married Walter Scott - to Warren Co 1860, Venango Co 1870 (oil), Cattaraugus Co NY 1880 - family moved then to California
Elizabeth - born 1838 - probably died before 1850
Moses - born 1839 - Venango? by 1860, Butler? 1880
George - born 1842 - stayed in Allegheny? - died 1864
Andrew - born 1844 - ? Venango 1870 oil OR Allegheny farmer
Margaret Jane - born 1845? - married Lewis Waltenbaugh - to Ohio 1869
William C - born 1847 - died before 1850?
Nancy Triphena - born 1849 - married Shandle, Jacobus - ended in Chicago
Husband Moses presumably died about 1849. Children Juliana, Elizabeth, and William did not appear on the 1850 census, so they possibly died young. (Juliana could have been married by then, but no record has been found.)
Between 1850 and 1860, her children were scattered. She and her youngest, Nancy, were living with David Baker in 1860 - she was working as a domestic. Son Thomas had married and moved to nearby Venango County. Daughter Mary Catherine had married George Humes - she was still in Allegheny County, and brother Andrew was living with her. Daughter Emily had married Walter Scott and had moved to Warren County. Son Moses had possibly married and lived in Allegheny; son George, still single, was a farm laborer in Allegheny. I have not yet been able to find daughter Margaret, aged ~15 - she didn’t marry until 1866, but I don’t know where she was in the meantime.
By 1870, all her children were gone. Thomas and Mary Catherine (Humes) were in Lawrence County; Emily, Moses and Andrew in Venango County; Margaret (now married) was in Ohio; George was dead. Nancy was possibly married by now - she was married twice, first to George Schandle and then to Charles Jacobus - but I haven’t been able to find her in 1870. Nor have I been able to find Susan herself. She died in 1875 and was buried in Lawrence County, so one would think she would be living with one of her children in that county - but if so, the census missed her. The only possible I've found is a woman living all by herself way on the other side of Pennsylvania:
1870 Pa Adams Berwick Abbotstown 2
Susan Brown 76 KH - alone / neighbor David Null
[By the way, I find the 1870 census to be the most screwed up of all - many many people are missing from it.]
So that’s it. That’s all I have on Susan Harkless Brown.
~1810 - born - Allegheny Co, PA?
~1829 - married Moses Brown - Allegheny Co, PA?
1830 Aug 7 - daughter Juliana born
1831 April 26 - son Thomas Jefferson born (named after Moses’s brother)
1834 Feb 2 - daughter Mary Catherine born
1836 Oct 7 - daughter Emily born
1838 July 4 - daughter Elizabeth born
1839 (1840) Aug 4 - son Moses born
1840 Pennsylvania, Allegheny - East Deer p. 87 - 110001 21001
1m, 2f under 5 b. 1835-40 Elizabeth 1838, Emily 1836, Moses 1839
1m, 1f 5-10 b. 1830-35 Thomas J 1839, Mary C 1834? Juliana 1830?
1f 20-30 b. 1810-20 Susan
1m 30-40 b. 1800-10 Moses b. 1809 - 31
1841 June 14 - son George McGowan born
1844 June - son Andrew Sprowl born
1845 March 29 - daughter Margaret born
1847 June 23 - son William born
1849 June 14 - daughter Nancy Triphena born
~1849 - husband Moses Brown died
son William C died?
daughter Elizabeth died?
1850 Pennsylvania, Allegheny, East Deer p. 21
Susan Brown 40 f Pa
Catherine 17 / Thomas 18 salt bailer? / Moses 15 ditto / Emily 13 / George M 11 /
Andrew S 9 / Margaret J 6 / Nancy T 3
~1852 - son Thomas married Susanna Unknown
1854 Aug 23 - daughter Emily married Walter Scott
~1858 - daughter Mary Catherine married George Humes
1860 Allegheny Tarentum 489 (49) 27 June
David Baker 27 / MJ Baker 26 / M f 9 / Wm 6 / John 3 / Jane 1
Susan Brown 40? domestic $400 Pa
Nancy “ 11
~1862 ? son Moses married Anna E?
1864 - son George died
1866 Dec 24 - daughter Margaret married Lewis Waltenbaugh
1870 census - not found
1872/6 - daughter Nancy married Charles Jacobus
1875 Aug 28 - died - buried near New Castle, Lawrence Co, PA
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Page last updated 26 April 2005