Bio-Harbaugh, Sarah-Ream

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Sadie (Harbaugh) Ream
(1879-1939)
Memoir by Granddaughter Doris (Sands) Hawker

Sarah Ellen "Sadie" (Harbaugh) Ream was born on March 27, 1879 on a farm at what is now Clairton Lake near Scullton, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of David and Mary Magdalene (Whipkey) Harbaugh.

Sadie was the youngest of her 12 brothers and sisters. She was born some 14 years after her father returned from serving in the Union Army during the Civil War.

Hard-working and fiery tempered, Sadie married Joseph Ward Ream (1875-1939) on April 12, 1896. She was age 17 at the time, and he 21.

Joseph was the son of Thomas and Adeline (Shaulis) Ream Jr., and was the youngest of 15 children. They lived on a farm at Jersey Hollow near Ursina, Somerset County.

Sadie and Joe had a grand total of 16 children -- Cyril "Edgar" Ream, Bertha Blanche Conn, Ethel Irene Harbaugh, Hazel Ream, Letitia Alice "Tish" Silbaugh, Charles David Ream, Harvey Joseph Ream, Harold Landa Ream, Alma Leora Sands, Herbert Matthias Ream, George Washington Ream, Alfred Boyd Ream, Arthur "Paul" Ream, Norman Richard Ream, Osborne Warren Ream and Erma Ruth Younkin.

Sadly, daughter Hazel was stricken by inflammatory rheumatism at age 11 and died on Aug. 12, 1912. She was laid to rest at the Imel Cemetery in nearby Clay Run, Fayette County.

Joe and Sadie with their three oldest children -- Bertha, Edgar and Ethel

Adding to the sadness, son Alfred died at a little over two months of age, on Jan. 27, 1914. He also is buried at Imel.

Sadie's father died in December 1910, and Joe was selected to help administer the estate.

Twenty years later, when Sadie's mother died, Joe also played a role with the estate paperwork. He wrote a letter to the US Pension Commissioner, sending an executor's notice of the costs of her burial, so the estate could obtain reimbursement. The letter is seen here, with the original in the National Archives in Washington, DC.

In a memoir by granddaughter Doris (Sands) Hawker, she wrote that Joe and sons ran their farm and were loggers. Sadie and their daughters:

...took care of the household chores, which consisted of scrubbing wood floors, washing clothes on the washboard, baking bread and preparing all the meals each day for the whole family. On occasion they would spend their evenings visiting their neighbors.

Doris also wrote that the Ream family:

...raised most everything they needed to live on the farm. They would take produce and eggs to town and trade for what they didn't have, such as flour, sugar, salt, etc. Grandma would can and dry most everything she could. She was seventeen years old when she had her first child. She was pregnant 15 more times in the next 25 years. Her last child was born when she was 42.

Old postcard of nearby Confluence

The Reams' house in the Jersey Settlement is seen here.

In August 1923, Sadie and Joe attended the annual Minerd-Miner Reunion, held at Confluence Park. Joe was mentioned in the resulting article published

The following year, in August 1924, Joe and Sadie went to the Minerd Reunion held at Lincoln's grove, near the Western Maryland Railroad Station in Confluence. Sadie's mother and sister Rosetta Minerd also were there, along with the Reams' daughter Bertha Conn. In 1925, Joseph was re-elected as secretary-treasurer at the reunion held at Sellers' hall, where, said the Republican, "Rev. Joyce gave an address portraying the benefits of family reunions and showing why they should be held. Burgess C.R. McMillan gave a recitation and Rev. Williams of Connellsville made an interesting address."

Sadie and Joe and their brood of children and grandchildren enjoyed attending the annual Harbaugh Reunions. They are seen in group photos taken at reunions in 1929 (at the Jersey Church) and 1936 (at the Kingwood Picnic Grove).

Tragedy haunted the Reams over the years. In 1928, they lost their son Harold when he accidentally shot himself while climbing over a fence in the woods on their farm. Grandson Alvin Glenn Ream was killed in action in Germany during World War II. Daughter Tish Silbaugh died in a housefire in 1970.

Sadie is mentioned in a lavishly illustrated, 2011 book about her sister Rosetta who married a Civil War veteran -- entitled Well At This Time: the Civil War Diaries and Army Convalescence Saga of Farmboy Ephraim Miner. The book, authored by the founder of this website, is seen at right. [More]

For more information on this line, contact granddaughters Doris (Sands) Hawker and Joan (Ream) Cleaver.