John Harrod of Pennsylvania

A Timeline

Caution: Please use the following data carefully. Much of the early information contains contradictory data. I’ve listed the sources in the hope that we can figure out what can be verified and what should be discarded.

Before 1707 John Harrod was born in England          

 Sources: Swainson, “Harrod Family” by Bernice Lewis Swainson, The Filson Club History Quarterly, Vol. 32, Nos. 2 and 3, page 112 “He was born in England, probably in the county of Bedford or Bucks.” Hereinafter cited as "Harrod Family by Swainson."

            Life on the Appalachian Frontier,  The author of this paper says he was born in 1700 and came from Bedfordshire, England. Hereinafter cited as Appalachian Frontier. 

 1712 he immigrated to New Jersey

Sources: John Harrod Family Group Sheet, Audrey Merriman, 624 Carola St., Creve Coeur, IL 61611, 12 November 1984 "John Harrod I came with his father and brothers and lived first in New Jersey, came about 1712. His father was James Harrod."                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 1715 Monmouth Co., New Jersey served in the militia as a Sergeant

Sources: Howard L. Leckey, compiler, The Tenmile Country and Its Pioneer Families: A Genealogical History of the Upper Monongahela Valley (1935 Sampson Dr., Appollo, PA 15613-9208: Closson Press, 1997), p. 9, 240. A John Harrod was a sergeant in the Militia there. He served under the command of Col. Pfarmer and Capt. Leonard. Source: Old East New York Vol. 5, pp. 670. A David Harrod was on the tax list there in 1714. Hereinafter cited as Tenmile Country.  [0....]) (Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", p. 108. She says that John Herod who was a sergeant in Capt. Farmer's Company of Militia at Woodbridge, New Jersey was probably a son of David Herriott of Woodbridge, whose will was dated 10 Aug. 1725. There was a John Harwood who lived at Amboy, New Jersey in 1731.   

circa 1722 he lived in New Jersey

Source: Appalachian Frontier, He settled in New Jersey across the Delaware River and a little later south of Philadelphia.

circa 1722 he immigrated Appalachian Frontier

Source:  Ibid., The author of this paper says he came from Bedfordshire, England and that he settled in New Jersey across the Delaware River and a little later south of Philadelphia.

circa 1724 His son Thomas Harrod was born

1727 5 Jan he married an unknown first wife

Source (Cheryl Paulson, 328 Dawn Court, Ridgecrest, 93555   "Harrod Family Group Sheet" dated 2 Nov. 1984, No source citations were provided., p. Says he married Mary Ames  5 Jan 1727 but I can’t find any verification. 

Between 1727-1736 His son John Harrod Jr. was born

1732/33 Pennsylvania His first wife died.

Sources: (Appalachian Frontier, He went to visit some nearby relatives, and when the wife was busily engaged with the usual duties of a pioneer home, some Indians observed that she was alone. They broke in and killed her, plundered the house of all they wanted, and even cut off her hand in order to obtain the wedding ring Harrod had given her in England. They set fire to the house, and Harrod, seeing the smoke from his burning home, rushed back as quickly as possible.  As he approached, the Indians ran into the forest before he could get a shot at them. Upon his arrival, he was horrified to find that his wife had been killed and scalped. He discovered her hand in the canoe which the Indians had loaded with plunder from the house.”

Ca 1734 Shenandoah River, Virginia He married SARAH MOORE, daughter of JAMES MOORE III and FRANCES GAY,

Sources: (Susan W. Atkins, compiler, Hereward Records and Papers 1620-1940: 329 Years of History and Genealogy (Greenfield, IN: privately published, 1940), page 171 William Harrod Jr., son of Captain William Harrod to Dr. Draper, "I do not remember the name of my grandfather. Possibly it was Thomas or Samuel. My grandfather married my grandmother in Shenandoah Valley in 1736. She was named Sarah Moore. She was his second wife. He had a family by his first wife whose name I do not know. These were Thomas and John." Draper Mss. 371167. Hereinafter cited as Hereward Records and Papers.

(Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", p. 109. "Mrs. Susan W. Atkins used a 'quotation' which she said was taken from the Draper Collection. It refers to the marriage of John Harrod and Sarah Moore and reads: 'in the Shenandoah Valley in 1736.' The original record does not contain a date and reads: 'married Sarah Moore on Shenandoah; eldest son Samuel was born there.' 

(Appalachian Frontier, He remarried, this time to Sarah Moore, of Maryland.

 (Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", page 112 After his first wife was killed by Indians, John removed to Virginia where, about 1734, he married Sarah Moore 'on Shenandoah' and where some of their children were born. Draper Manuscripts 37J169-174 and Wither's Chronicles of Border Warfare (1912 edited by Reuben G. Thwaites) p. 190, Sketch of William Harrod.  [2.22.]).

circa 1734 John Harrod immigrated to Shenandoah, Virginia

Sources: (Alexander Scott Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare or a History of the Settlement by the Whites of Northwestern Virginia and of the Indian Wars and Massacres in that Section of the State (Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Co., 1895, 1970), p. 190 “James Harrod's father emigrated from England to Virginia about 1734, and was one of the first settlers on the Shenandoah, in the Valley of Virginia. One of his sons, Samuel, accompanied Michael Stoner on his famous western hunting and exploring trip in 1767, another, William, born at the new family seat at Big Cove, in what is now Bedford County, Pa., served with distinction under George Rogers Clark. Hereinafter cited as Chronicles of Border Warfare. 

1734 John Harrod emigrated from Wales

Source: (Virginia Shannon Fendrick, compiler, American Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Chambersburg, PA: DAR: Franklin County Chapter, ca 1944), p. 96 John Herrod (Harrod) was one of the early Welsh settlers in the Little Cove and Connallaways (now Tonolloway) in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. According to Draper, John Harrod came to America in 1734, name of wife unknown. Hereinafter cited as Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin Co., PA. 

Between 1734-1736 his son Samuel Harrod was born

before 1735 he relocated to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia

Source: Appalachian Frontier, They moved to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where they established a new home. Here John's third son, Samuel was born in 1735.

circa 1737 John Harrod relocated to Little Cove, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania

Source: Ibid., After two years, the family moved to Little Cove, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.

1737 Dec 9 His son William Harrod was born

Between 1738-1745 his daughter Eleanor Harrod was born

1738 Dec. 15 Franklin Co., Virginia was created out of northern portions of Augusta and Orange Counties, Frederick began to function as a political unit around 1743. Frederick county people came from several different sources: German and Scots-Irish from Pennsylvania and Maryland, English settlers migrated to Hite's Fort near present Stephens City. English settlers from coastal counties also came there

Source: Frederick County Marriages 1738 - 1850 by John Vogt and T. William Kethley, Jr.

between 1740 and 1750 he was on the tax list in Little Cove, Peters Twp., Franklin Co., Pennsylvania

Sources: (Atkins, Hereward Records and Papers, pages 171 and 178. 

(History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania 1884 (Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1884), p. 595 "The settlers in the Little Cove (now Franklin County) and on the Conolloways, at the time of Secretary Peters' visit to the Big Cove were: Joseph Coombs, John Herrod, Elias Stillwell, Rees Shelby, Levi Moore, Andrew Coombe, . . . " "By an act of March 29, 1798 all that part of Bedford, called the Little Cove and lying east of a line to begin in the Maryland line near the Great Cove or Tuscarora mountain . . . intersects the present line between Bedford and Franlkin Counties was annexed to Montgomery Township, Franklin County. Hereinafter cited as Bedford, Somerset & Fulton Counties, PA 1884.

Between 1742-1746 his son James Harrod was born (founder of Harrodsburg in Kentucky

Ca 1744 Daughter Mary Harrod was born

Ca 1746 Daughter Rachel Harrod was born

Between 1747 and 1750 he lived in Big Cove, Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania

Sources: (Howard L. Leckey, Tenmile Country, pp. 244, 247 Source: Pennsylvania Colonial Records. In a letter of May 1750 from Secretary Richard Peters to the Colonial governor, secretary Peters had been sent into what is now Cumberland and adjoining counties in Pennsylvania to warn people off the land which had not yet been purchased from the Indians. It was on this trip that the story of the "Burnt Cabins" occurred. Trader George Croghan was with Peters in the Augwick Valley where he had a home. When the commission went to the Little Cove and Big Cove, they report that they ordered a number of persons off their improvements, including John Harrod. This was at a time when William Harrod Jr. reports that his grandfather as living in the Big Cove. It was the same area that saw James and William Harrod begin their military service under Forbes and where William Harrod got his first commission a few years later. John Harrod had been there at least 3 years. .[1]

between 31 May 1749 and 1750 Little Cove, Pennsylvania or Maryland (disputed territory between Frederick Co., Maryland or Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania) John Harrod signed a petition

Source Coombs Family Organization Conolloway Letter of Late 1749 or Early 1750 (Source: Minutes of the Provincial Council, pages 453 & 454)

"Petition of the Settlers of the Little Cove on the Temporary Line,

"To the Honourable Thomas Penn and Richard Penn, Esquires, true and absolute Proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania, &

"The Petition of Subscribers, Inhabitants of small Tracts of Land situate Westward of the Kittochtinny or Blue Hills, at a place known by the Name of the Little Cove and Conolloway's Creek, humbly sheweth:

"Whereas, sundry Inhabitants of the Province of Maryland (some of 'em vested with Authority) divers times within these three Years past have attempted to survey and take possession of the aforesaid Tracts, being at or near where the Temporary Line when extended will run, as we believe; We, therefore, willing to live under the Protection of the good Constitution and Government of the Province of Pennsylvania, have hitherto prevented the various Attempts of the People of Maryland, and have preseumed to seat ourselves and made small improvements on the said lands.

"As we have done this purely to defend it from the People of Maryland, and not in contempt of the laws of the Province of Pennsylvania nor the Governor's Proclamation, we humbly pray that we may be permitted to live on our respective Improvements at least until the Temporary Line shall be extended.

"And your Petitioners shall pray, &

Whether the Tonoloways Settlement was actually in  Frederick Co, MD or Cumberland Co, PA was unresolved, and whether it was Indian land or not even a more critical issue.

Joseph Coombs, John Harrod and Andrew Coombs were 3 of the 21 men who signed. Hereinafter cited as Coombs Families. 

1750 Jan 22 Son Levi Harrod was born

After 1750 Daughter Sallie Harrod was born

1750 Little Cove District, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania  John Harrod appeared on the tax list

Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", page 109 Source: Filson Club files.

31 1750 May he lived in Little Cove, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania

Carrier, William Harrod by Herlynn Carrier, page 266. .[2] 

Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", page 109 Source: Minutes of Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, Vol. 5 pp. 453-4.   

After 1751 Daughter Elizabeth Harrod was born

After 1752 Daughter Jemima Harrod was born

1753 Frederick Co., Maryland, military service

Atkins, Hereward Records and Papers, pages 200-201. John and William Hearwood were on the muster roll of Capt. Moses Chapline during the French and Indian war. 

Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", page 115 Sheperdstown was across the Potomac River from Frederick Co., Maryland and was close enough for relatives living on both sides of the river to keep in touch. The nearest fort was probably on the Maryland side. This may account for the names of John and William Harrod (Harwood) being on the roll of Capt. Chapline's Company in Frederick Co., Maryland in 1753. William was living in Little Cove at the time. It was just over the line in Pennsylvania.  

1753 26 Jun John Harrod Frederick Co., Maryland

Source: Atkins, Hereward Records and Papers, pages 199-200. John Harrod, first as a Corporal and later as a Sargeant was on the Muster Roll of Capt. Joseph Chapline.

1754 3 Jul Fort Necessity, Virginia/Pennsylvania

Source: Fort Necessity National Battlefield: Roster of Virginia Militia, Perhaps the John Harwood on this list was John Harrod. This area is now located in Farmington, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Hereinafter cited as Fort Necessity Roster. 

1755 Big Cove, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania

Source: History of Washington Co., Pennsylvania p. 54. "In the morning of Sunday, the 2d of November, the Indian allies of the French attacked the Great Cove settlement, Cumberland County, killed six persons, and carried away seventeen prisoners. On the same day Benjamin Chambers wrote from Fallow Spring (source Col. Rec., vol. vi. p. 675) 'To the Inhabitants of the Lower Part of the county of Cumberland. If you intend to go to the assistance of your neighbors, you need not wait any longer for Certainty of News. The Great Cove is destroyed. James Campbell left this Company last night and went to the Fort at Mr. Steel's Meeting House, and there saw some of the Inhabitants of the Great Cove, who gave this account, that as they came over the Hill they saw their houses in flames. The messenger says there is but one hundred, and that they divided into two parts, the one part to go against the Cove, and the other against the Conolloways and that there are no French among them. They are Delaware and Shawanese. . . The people of the Cove that came off saw several men lying dead; they heard the murder shout and the firing of Guns, and saw the Indians going into the Houses that they had come out of before they left sight of the Cove. . . "On the day following the massacre and burning at Great Cove the settlements at Little Cove and Conoloways were attacked, all the houses burned, and several persons carried away as prisoners. Mr. Potter, sheriff of Cumberland County, reported 'that of ninety-three families which were settled in the two Coves and the Conolloways forty-seven were either killed or taken and the rest deserted.” (Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare, p. 190 "In November 1755, a raid was made on the Big Cove settlement, by the Delaware chief Shingiss, but the Harrods were among the few families who escaped unharmed to Fort Littleton." 

1756 Feb 29 he lived in Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania

Sources: Harry E. Foreman, "The Story of the Fort," Kittochtinny Historical Society: Papers Read Before the Society  Vol. XV (2 April 1964): p. 54 "The writer is certain that some of the Harrods were in the fort when it was attacked. I believe this is where and when John Harrod, Sr. died in 1755". Hereinafter cited as "Story of the Fort." 

Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare, p. 190 "In November 1755, a raid was made on the Big Cove settlement, by the Delaware chief Shingiss, but the Harrods were among the few families who escaped unharmed to Fort Littleton."   

before 24 Mar 1767 Ayr Twp., Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania John Harrod died

Sources: Atkins, Hereward Records and Papers, pages 211, 221 On 24 March 1767 William bought Buchanan's land described as adjoining lands of John Harwood deceased. I believe John Sr. died in about 1755. 

Swainson, "Harrod Family by Swainson", page 113  On March 24, 1767, Alexander Buchanan sold a tract of land to William Harrod. It was located on the northeast by the lands of 'John Harwood, deceased' . . . in Little Cove, Air Twp., Cumberland Co. . . '. The name is spelled Harwood in the deed but a Note Bene is signed by William as 'Wm. Harrod' per Draper Manuscripts 4NN3. His grandson, William Harrod Jr., said that John died when James was about 12 years of age and that James was born in 1742 per Draper Manuscripts 37J167 (a letter), but Major John Griffin Fauntleroy who married Margaret Harrod said that James was born in 1746 on the eastern of the Susquehannah and Potomac region as informed by William Harrod . . . James was attached to a company of men at 14 years of age' per Draper MSS 12C23 and 12C22. Mrs. James Harrod, age 86 in 1842, said her husband was 10 years older than she which would make him born in 1746 as Fauntleroy states per Draper MSS 12C22.

before March 24, 1767, John was deceased when his son William bought Buchanan's land in Ayr Twp., Cumberland County. This land was described as "bounded by the lands of John Harwood deceased . . ." The description indicates that his estate had not been settled and hence that John Jr. was not the owner and would not have paid the taxes on 100 acres recorded as having been paid by John Harrod in 1763 and 1767. 

Coombs Families, Perhaps he died in an Indian attack described in Coombs Fort of the Tonoloways Settlement of Maryland and Pennsylvania. 1 Nov. 1755  A party of about one hundred Indians (Shawnees & Delawares) entered the Great Cove and began murdering the defenseless inhabitants and destroying their property. The savages divided into two parties, one of which attacked the inhabitants of the Cove, and the other swept down upon the Conolloways. All the settlers who had warning of the approach of the savages fled. Many thus saved their lives, and going into the neighboring settlements, gave the alarm to the inhabitants....On November 14 (1755) Sheriff Potter made the following statement to Provincial authorities in Philadelphia "Twenty seven plantations were burnt and a great quantity of cattle killed. A woman ninety three years of age was found lying killed, with her breast torn off and a stake run through her body. Of ninety three families which were settled in the two Coves and the Conolloways, forty seven were either killed or taken and the rest had deserted." [ History of Bedford, Somerset & Fulton Counties, PA (1884)]. 

Source: Appalachian Frontier

Sources for this family:

Helynn M. Carrier, Another Fresh Start in the Search for "My" William Harrod (601 South Baywood Ave., San Jose, CA 95128-3302: privately published, November 7, 1998

The Harrods of Happy Hollow by Homer C. Richie, shows no documentary evidence. Says James Harrod came from Bedfordshire, England ca. 1717 with his wife and sons. 

(Audrey Merriman, "John Harrod Family Group Sheet", 12 November 1984 (624 Carola St., Creve Coeur, IL 61611). Her sources were "James Harrod of Kentucky" by K.H. Mason,

"Kentucky Pioneers and Their Descendants" by Fowler pp. 57-8,

"The Ten Mile Country and It's Pioneer Families" by H.S. Leckey p. 20 & p. 11., "John Harrod I came with his father and brothers and lived first in New Jersey, came about 1712. His father was James Harrod. Later he settled on the Shenandoah in the Valley of Virginia". Hereinafter cited as "John Harrod FGS." 

(Cheryl Paulson, "Harrod Family Group Sheets", 2 Nov. 1984 (328 Dawn Court, Ridgecrest, CA 93555). No source citations were provided.. Hereinafter cited as "Harrod Family."  [0xxx.])