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Rebecca (Harbaugh) Bacom |
Rebecca (Harbaugh) Bacom was born on Jan. 23, 1813 in Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Leonard and Elizabeth (Pritts) Harbaugh Sr.
She was age six in 1819 when her mother died and her father soonafter married young widow Martha (Minerd) Imel. In adulthood she had brown eyes and dark hair.
On Sept. 17, 1837, when Rebecca was 24 years of age, she entered into marriage with 28-year-old Robert Bacom (Nov. 22, 1808-1862), also spelled "Beckum," and a native of Delaware. He sported black hair and grey eyes.
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| The Bacoms' entry in the hand-lettered genealogy manuscript made by their nephew Allen Edward Harbaugh - courtesy Rev. Dr William Bradford Harbaugh |
The pair did not reproduce.
They spent their years together in Wharton Township (1850), Ohiopyle and Farmington (1860), Fayette County, where Robert earned a living as a weaver and farmer. When the federal census enumeration was made in 1860, 13-year-old Jane Bradford lived under their roof. That year, the census-taker spelled their last name "Beakum."
Little else is known of their lives, except that the pair were members of the Methodist-Episcopal Church and he was a Democrat in his politics.
Sadly, after being stricken with neuralgia, Robert passed away on April 26, 1862. His death brought to a close their union of 24 years' duration. His remains were lowered into repose in Thorp's Graveyard near Ohiopyle, today known as Irwin Memorial Cemetery. No marker is known to have been placed at the grave.
Rebecca outlived her husband by two decades. She suffered from erysipelas -- skin rash caused by bacteria -- and succumbed to the angel of death on Oct. 10, 1882, at the age of 69. Burial was in the Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Mill Run. Her grave also is unmarked.
In 1947, when the Harbaugh History book was published, she and Robert were briefly named on one line of her father's section.
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Copyright © 2025 Mark A. Miner |