John Harman of Armstrong County Pennsylvania and His Ancestry

John Harman in his marriage to Lydia Bish in Jefferson County in 1854, gave his parents' names as Daniel and Elizabeth Harman and his birth place as Millersburgh, Dauphin County. See previous post, Herman/Harman/Harmon Connections to Dauphin County, for more information. Please note that Herman is a variation of the surname Harman/Harmon. Upper Paxton Township was the original township in Dauphin County from which Lykens and Mifflin Townships were later formed.

There were three Herman men in Upper Paxton Township in Dauphin County in the 1770's and 1780's with children:  John Herman, Jacob Herman, and David Herman. Both John Herman and David Herman had a son named Daniel. 

David Herman can be eliminated as the ancestor of John Harman of Armstrong County since he and his son Daniel moved to Ohio. David Herman/Harman appears in Springfield Township, Columbiana County, Ohio, in the 1820 census. Most of his children also moved to Ohio. He dies in Columbiana County prior to 24 February 1834. His will and estate papers name his son Daniel and his other children (available on Ancestry.com). Census records show that Daniel lived in Columbiana County and later Mahoning County in Ohio from 1830 through 1870. He died on 26 November 1871 in Mahoning County, Ohio, where he is buried in the Old Springfield Cemetery in New Middletown (See Find A Grave record for him).

John Herman died intestate before 1787, and his wife Ann was named administratrix of his estate. Jacob Herman and Daniel Stoever [Steever] were named guardians for his three children under 14 years of age:  Elisabeth, John, and Daniel. All of these children would have been born after 1773.

Ann's maiden name was Steever since she is named in the will of her father, John Jost Steever, written in 1807. He also leaves money to his three grandchildren, Elisabeth, John, and Daniel Herman (children of his daughter Anna's first husband) and leaves property to his daughter Anna and her second husband, Andrew Osman.

John Herman's son, Daniel Herman, had a son John born 17 December 1807, and a son Joseph born 15 May 1809, at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Killinger, Upper Paxton Township, Dauphin County. This church is near Millersburg in Upper Paxton Township. John Herman born in 1807, is the same man as John Harman of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.

This conclusion was reached after looking at all the extant Herman/Harman church records to at least 1820, at the following churches in Upper Paxton, Mifflin, and Lykens Townships:  Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church in Killinger, Upper Paxton Township; St. John's Lutheran Church near Berrysburg, Mifflin Township; and Hoffman's Reformed Church, Lykens Township. Each child's record was added to their parents to form family groups. Estate indexes and deed indexes were searched for Herman/Harman entries and the pertinent estates and deeds were examined for information. It was apparent from this that John Herman, Jacob Herman, and David Herman were the original Herman settlers in Upper Paxton Township but it is not known if they were related. Since Jacob Herman was named as a guardian for John Herman's children after his death, it is likely that they may be related. Please contact me if you have any further information or comments on the Herman/Harman families.