James
Harbaugh
(1871-1920)
James Harbaugh was born on Nov. 3, 1871, in or near Nicolay, on the mountainous border of Fayette and Somerset Counties, PA, the youngest son of Joseph and Jane (Williams) Harbaugh. He is one of a disturbing number of cousins to be killed in railroad accidents over the years.
James married Sarah "Ellen" Sands (1879-1952), the daughter of John and Catherine (Linderman) Sands. The Harbaugh and Sands families were close. James' brother Marshall Harbaugh married Ellen's sister Mary Elizabeth Sands; and as well, James' cousin Alma Ream married Robert "Cricket" Sands.
James and Ellen had five children -- Evans Harbaugh, Russell R. Harbaugh, Wallace Harbaugh, Bertha Stull and Donald C. Harbaugh.
In
about 1912, James obtained employment as a track laborer with the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad. Tragically, he was killed on Jan. 16, 1920 when, said the
Connellsville Courier, he stepped "on the eastbound track to let a freight
train pass [and] was struck yesterday morning at Huston station, near
Confluence, by train No. 6... he was thrown about 20 feet from the track and was
dead when picked up by the train crew." He was 49
years of age. His mangled remains were prepared for burial by the E.A. Humbert
funeral parlor and laid to rest in the Maple
Summit Church graveyard. They are mentioned in the 1970 book, A History of
Mill Run.
Ellen outlived him by more than three decades. She passed away at the age of 73 on Feb. 27, 1952 at the home of her son Evans Harbaugh. She was buried beside her husband. The Connellsville Daily Courier said she "lived all of her life in the Maple Summit community. She was a member of the former Christian Church near Maple Summit." At the time of her death, she was survived by 17 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
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| The railroader's grave at Maple Summit Church |
James and Ellen's family has an entry in the 1947 book, Harbaugh History (Evansville, IN), authored by Cora Bell and J.L. Cooprider.
Son Evans Harbaugh ( ? - ? ) married Faye Hixenbaugh ( ? - ? ), the daughter of William Richard Hixenbaugh. They resided in Mill Run in the 1940s and at Maple Summit circa 1970. They are believed to have had three sons -- Ronnie Harbaugh, Ray Harbaugh and Alvin Harbaugh.
Son Russell R. Harbaugh (1903- ? ) married Anna Tissue ( ? - ? ). They are believed to have been the parents of four children -- James Austin Harbaugh, Vaughn Harbaugh, Gerald Harbaugh and Eleanor Harbaugh. The Harbaughs moved from Bear Run to Rices Landing, Greene County, PA, where Russell was employed as a track laborer. When son James was age two, in about 1925, he became attached to his invalid grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Austin Tissue, and to an uncle, Harry Tissue, and was permitted to spend most of his time at their home in Bear Run. Tragedy struck in late November 1936, however, when the 11-year-old James was killed by a hit-and-run motorcyclist on the Connellsville-Farmington Highway, and his body dragged to and deposited in the lane of the property of Levi Tissue. A distant cousin, Wilbert Regis "Patsy" Minerd, was among county detectives who investigated the case. In July 1937, the Harbaughs moved back to Bear run, occupying the "Harry Tissue house" formerly occupied by the Richard Stark family. Their fates are unknown.
Son Wallace Harbaugh was single at the time the Harbaugh History book was published in 1947. He lived in Mill Run in 1952.
Daughter Bertha
C. Harbaugh (1907-1951) married Paul L. Stull Sr. (1890-1971), the son of
William H. and Martha (Linderman) Stull of Bear Run. They lived on Murphy
Street in South Connellsville. Despite the fact that Bertha suffered from a
heart condition since birth, she went on to have five or six children -- Wallace
E. Stull, Paul L. Stull Jr., Esther Riser, Margaret Crise, Bertha Koontz and
Wilma Stull. Bertha, said the Daily Courier, "was a member of the
Falls City Baptist Church at Ohiopyle for 21 years and the Ladies Missionary
Circle at Ohiopyle while living there... Her life was spent in the Mill Run and
Ohiopyle communities with the exception of the last nine years during which time
she resided at South Connellsville." Sadly, Bertha died on March 2, 1951,
at the age of 43, at Connellsville State Hospital, after having "collapsed
on the street near her home while going to a neighbor's house for a visit,"
said the Courier. She was laid to rest in the cemetery of the Hickman
Chapel Church at Mill Run. Paul apparently never married. He worked for Anchor
Hocking Corporation in South Connellsville, and retired from there. (The plant
is seen here in a postcard view.) In about 1965, he moved to Vanderbilt,
Fayette County, possibly to be nearer to his married daughter Bertha Koontz. He
died at the age of 81 in the Guilford Convalescent Home in Chambersburg, PA, on
Aug. 29, 1971, near where his son Paul Stull Jr. lived.
Son Donald C. Harbaugh ( ? - ? ) married Bertha Pearl Johnson ( ? - ? ). They resided in Mill Run. Sadly, Donald died of a heart attack while excavating for a Texas Eastern Gas pipeline over the mountains near Mill Run.
Copyright © 2007-2008 Mark A. Miner