Follow Us
Like Us
Matching family tree profiles for James Harmon, of Saco
view all
Immediate Family
-
wife -
daughter
-
son -
daughter
About James Harmon, of Saco
Not a known son of Nathaniel Harmon, of Braintree
Wikitree
James Harmon was born around 1630, probably in England.[1] Some have said that he is the son of Francis Harmon and Sarah Martin but no evidence has been offered for this belief.
He came to Saco, Maine, when it was first settled.[1]
The first mention of James Harmon was in 1655, when he made an "announcement that he slandered John Snelling".[2] There were no Harmon's listed as inhabitants of Saco on July 5, 1653.[1]
"Several disconnected Clark(e) families appear in old Kittery. Edward Clarke and wife Mary lived on Crooked Lane in 1672. He died before 1677. Sarah, daughter of Edward Clarke, married James Harmon of York in 1659[3] or "James Harmon married Sarah Clarke, May 6, (1658) or before, (the date was torn)."[1]
"James Harmon, who married Sarah Clark, was a very intemperate and troublesome man." He ran afoul of the law on several occaisions. At a commissioner's court held at Saco, in 1658, James was presented for swearing and was fined 40 shillings and bound, to his good behavior until the county court in a bond of 10 pounds.[1]
In 1660, while drunk, he severely cut his father-in-law, Edward Clark, with a knife. He was complained of for this and for not providing for his family. The court believing that Harmon was intending to leave the country, ordered that Edward Clarke (father of the wife of Harmon) was given the power to sequester the estate of Harmon, then in the hands of Stephen or John Batson. Edward should secure this for Sarah Harmon and her child. The next year, 1661, he was thrown in jail, because his wife and in-laws complained again.[4]
Edward Clark, drowned in 1661. Morgan Howell was put in charge of securing Harmon's estate. He sued Stephen Batson, for not delivering the estate as ordered.[4]
James Harmon lived sometimes in Kennebunkport and sometimes in Saco, Maine, and he continued to abuse his family. In 1664, Sarah Harmon, was allowed to live with her mother or with Mr. Gibbons, until she and James could live together again, he promised to change his ways, but didn't. August 27, 1667, He promises not to strike his daughter Jane, anymore, and Sarah promises to take charge of her daughter. Sept 1668, Jane is to go to live with Mrs. Gibbons, until husband and wife can talk.[4]
1673 is the last mention of James in Saco, Maine.[5] There is no record of James in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Harmon had two children, Barbara/Barberry and Jane/Jayne.[4][2] Probably they resided in Saco after 1668.[4] The Harmon Genealogy also mentions a third child John.[1] Two more children are mentioned in Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis. Vol. II. Gardner-Moses: p. 142 on-line at Ancestry[5] Samuel and James.
Family
James Harmon married Sarah Clark, daughter Edward and Barbara Clark on May 6, 1658, in Saco.[8]
His wife, Sarah, appears in Boston as a widow in 1680, so he must have died in the interim.
Children
The following are known to have been children of James and Sarah Harmon:
- Child 1, b. 1659 or 1660 - this child could actually be the same as Jane if the accounting was sloppy but they are known to have a child mentioned in the July 3, 1660, court case.
- Jayne, b. about 1661 - bound to James Gibbons for a term of eight years April 4, 1671, likely until her age of maturity.
- James - his mother, Sarah, administered his estate in 1693.
- Samuel - was a bondsmen for his mother 1693.
- Barbara, b. December 6, 1667, recorded in Saco records.
Child 1 may have simply been Jayne given the state of the record keeping around the other children. Child 1 could have been John Harmon, who married Sarah Roberts, and he seems to fit here and no other likely place. Child 1 was NOT John Harmon, who married Elizabeth Cummings and secondly Deborah Johnson as was stated without proof in the Harmon text as he was deposed to have been born about 1639.
Sources
- James Harmon at Wikitree.com, visited May 12, 2018 and again on December 2, 2022.
- Harmon, Artemas Canfield. The Harmon Genealogy, Comprising All Branches in New England
- Notices of Other Early Settlements, and of Proprietary Governments, in Maine, Including the Provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia, Alex Putnam, Saco, 1830. Archive.org
- Bradbury, Charles. History of Kennebunk Port, from its first discovery by Bartholomew Gosnold, May 14, 1602, to A. D. 1837, Kennebunk: James K Bemich, 1837. Archive.org
- Stackpole, Everett S. Old Kittery and Her Families, Lewiston Journal Company, Lewiston, ME, 1903. Archive.org
- Harmon, Artemas Canfield. The Harmon Genealogy, Comprising All Branches in New England, Gibson Bros., Inc., Washington, D.C., 1920 Archive.org
- Davis, Walter Goodwin. The Ancestry of Lydia Harmon, 1755-1836, Stanhope Press, Boston, 1924 Archive.org
- Anderson, Robert Charles. The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, 1995.
view all
James Harmon, of Saco's Timeline
| 1630 |
1630
|
England
|
|
| 1657 |
1657
|
Saco, York County, Maine, British Colonial America
|
|
| 1659 |
1659
|
Saco, York County, Maine
|
|
| 1667 |
December 6, 1667
|
||
| 1673 |
1673
Age 43
|
Saco, York County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America
|