Leonard Harbaugh

Name: Leonard Harbaugh

Sex: M

Birth: 10 MAY 1749 in Hellam Twp., York Co., PA

Death: 11 SEP 1822

Residence: Washington, DC

Burial: Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC

Note:

Leonard Harbaugh moved from York Pa., sometime between 1775 and 1780, and resided in Baltimore, Md., up to 1781, when he moved to Washington, D.C. During the time he was in Baltimore, he constantly engaged in building of every kind--churches, taverns, dwellings, warehouses, and bridges. He is credited by descendants with the building of the first apartment house in Baltimore.

In the spring of 1782, the commissioners of the city of Washington gave a contract to Leonard Harbaugh for the erection of a stone bridge over Rock Creek on a line with K Street. The bridge was a three arch structure, and was defective, so fell down, hence a public loss. Another structure was built over Rock Creek about 1800 of wood, which was only temporary. The commissioners of Washington and the corporation of Georgetown cooperated in the construction of another stone structure at K Street according to the rules. This structure stood and Leonard was the builder of the first arched bridge in America to stand.

The contract for the building of the Treasury Building was let to Leonard Harbaugh in November 1798 for the sum of $39,511 to have it completed by the first of July of 1800. For a more detailed account of his work in Washington, see "The History of the National Capital", by W. B. Bryan, p. 189 ff.

He owned a hundred in lots in Washington ranging in price from $300-$800. This was a large accumulation of property, since wages were around $2.50 at that time. He had lost most of this property by 1802, probably in his efforts to make good the loss to the government of some of the bridges. It seems from many records, that he was the business partner of George Washington, at least their names appear on several papers, as reported by Mrs. Marion Dwight Harbaugh, who has done considerable research upon this.

In a letter written by his son, Benjamin, Feb. 4, 1853, we find that Leonard occasionally preached and exhorted in religious assemblies in the church under the charge of Rev. Otterbein. In consequence of some misunderstandings, occasioned by heavy draft of his times and means, he withdrew himself from the church and congregation.

--Harbaugh History, by Cora Bell Harbaugh Cooprider, 1947, pp. 259-260

Leonard, the seventh son of Yost Harbaugh, the elder, was born on the homestead on Krentz Creek, May 10, 1749, and married Miss. Rebecca Rinebeck of Germantown. He was the same person named among other prominent Pennsylvania Germans, by Mr. Scharf, as having settled in Baltimore at an early day. From one of his sons, Benjamin, who still resided in that city as late as 1853, it was learned that his father removed from York to Baltimore about 1775, where he resided until 1792. He was an architect and builder, and undertook by contract, the construction of many large public and private edifices. He was ingenious in planning and designing, and skillful in execution. On the spot where Battle Monument now stands, stood a very large two story brick building which was used as a court house. From immediately under this house he removed all the earth and replaced it with stone arches, forming a basement; after which the building and basement continued to be used for about fifteen years, when it was removed. Many of the private residences built by him have also been removed to make room for streets and more fashionable dwellings, Among the buildings and improvements erected by him in Baltimore, were several churches, hotels, warehouses and bridges. He also designed and constructed the first mud or dredging machine that was used for cleaning out and deepening the harbor for vessels and other purposes. In 1792 he removed to Washington, D. C., and was soon engaged in the erection of numerous public and private buildings; among others, the war and treasury offices, which were afterward destroyed by the British troops, (in 1814). He was also engaged (with others) in the erection of the President’s house, the original Capitol buildings, and the reconstruction thereof after their destruction by the British. Under a contract with the

Potomac Company, he cut a passage through an immense wall of rock that stood across the river at Big Falls, just above Georgetown, and made the Potomac navigable for long boats up to and even beyond Cumberland. Afterward he commenced a similar enterprise in the Shenandoah River at Harper’s Ferry and made that river navigable (for long boats) by building locks and cutting canals for a distance of more than one hundred miles above the ferry. After the completion of this work, he removed to the settlement on the Monocacy, near Frederick, Md., where he erected an immense stone bridge for a turnpike road company, across the Monocacy Creek, at a cost of $55,000. Finally he returned to Baltimore and resumed the building of various kinds of houses. At the time of his death, however, September, 1822, he was engaged as superintendent of the carpenter work on the rebuilding of the Capitol. His death was caused by mortification in the joint of one of his toes. He preferred death to amputation, at the age of seventy-six, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington. He was the father of fourteen children, thirteen of whom were sons. Some of them, or their numerous descendants, are still living in or near Baltimore and Washington. Rev. Reck Harbaugh, one of his great grandsons, was living at Princeton or Burlington, N. J., in 1852, and was pastor of a Presbyterian congregation. Leonard , the great grandfather, was also a devout man, and during the first period of his residence in Baltimore, was a member of and exhorter in the church of Rev. Otterbein, of blessed memory. Benjamin Harbaugh, one of Leonard’s sons, formerly of Baltimore, married Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Maj. William Bailey of York, an officer in the Revolutionary Army attached to the Pennsylvania line, under the command of Col. Swope.

Mary Elizabeth, the oldest daughter of the original settler, Yost, was born near York, on Good Friday, 1753, and became the wife of Godfrey Lenhart, an old and well known citizen of York, among whose descendants are the late Mrs. Kuntz; Mrs. Genther; Mrs. Louis Sudec of York; Mrs. Elizabeth Bailey, and her daughter Catharine, who was the wife of the late distinguished Prof. Samuel Tyler, LL. D. (of Frederick, Md.) author of Baconian Philosophy, Life of Barnes, and various legal treatises; Rev. Henry Lenhart, late of Williamsport, Penn., and his son, Rev. L. Lenhart, for seventeen years a chaplain in the navy, and who while serving in that capacity went down with the Cumberland, in Hampton Roads, in the spring of 1864; William Lenhart, the distinguished mathematician; and Catherine Lenhart, wife of the late John McPherson, so long a prominent and highly honored citizen of Gettysburg, cashier of its bank, and father of Hon. Edward McPherson; William C. McPherson, his son; Hon. John B. McPherson, associate law judge of the Dauphin and Lebanon District; Mrs. Andrew Mehaffy, (formerly of Columbia, now of New York); Elizabeth, wife of Gen. Albion P. Howe, United States Army (Cambridge, Mass.); J. B. McPherson, Esq. (New York City); Catharine, wife of Dr. Norman B. Scott; Dr. J. McPherson Scott; Mrs. Alexander Armstrong, and Norman Bruce Scott, Esq., all of Hagerstown, Md.

--Taken from the book, History of York County, Illustrated 1886 by John Gibson, Historical Editor (copied from Harbaugh Message Board Post)

Father: Yost Harbaugh b: APR 1699 in Aspach, Kaiserslautern, Germany

Mother: Mary Elizabeth ? b: ABT. 1720 in Germany

Marriage 1 Rebecca Rineback b: 31 AUG 1754

Children

William Harbaugh b: 12 APR 1773 in York Co., PA

Leonard Harbaugh b: 6 FEB 1775 in York Co., PA

Thomas Harbaugh b: 5 MAR 1777 in Baltimore, MD

Joseph Harbaugh b: 8 FEB 1779 in Baltimore, MD

Samuel Harbaugh b: 3 MAR 1781 in Baltimore, MD

George Harbaugh b: 25 MAR 1783 in Baltimore, MD

Jessie Harbaugh b: 5 FEB 1785 in Baltimore, MD

David Harbaugh b: 2 MAY 1787 in Baltimore, MD

Charles Harbaugh b: 31 AUG 1789 in Baltimore, MD

Daniel Harbaugh b: 20 FEB 1791 in Baltimore, MD

Benjamin Harbaugh b: 10 APR 1794 in Washington, DC

Frederick Harbaugh b: 1 APR 1796 in Washington, DC

John Harbaugh b: 20 JUL 1797 in Washington, DC

Rebecca Harbaugh b: 15 SEP 1798 in Washington, DC

Builder and architect in early America. Leonard Harbaugh was the son of a German immigrant, Yost Harbaugh and Yost's second wife, Mary Elizabeth. He married Rebecca Rineback (1754-1801). They had 13 sons and one daughter (the daughter Rebecca was the last child born in 1798; her 13 brothers were born between 1773 and 1797). Per the Harbaugh History (1947) "Leonard Harbaugh moved from York, PA, sometime between 1775 and 1780, and resided in Baltimore, MD, up to 1781, when he moved to Washington, D.C. During the time he was in Baltimore, he constantly engaged in building of every kind----churches, taverns, dwellings, warehouses, and bridges. In the Spring of 1782, the Commissioners of the city of Washington gave a contract to Leonard Harbaugh for the erection of a stone bridge over Rock Creek on a line with K Street. (note: the first bridge failed, but another bridge was built....."this structure stood and Leonard was the builder of the first arched bridge in America to stand.") Continuing in the Harbaugh History book: "The contract for the building of the Treasury Building was let to Leonard Harbaugh in Nov. 1798 to have it completed by July 1800 for the sum of $39,511. It seems from many records, that he was the business partner of George Washington, at least their names appear on several papers."

In the Congressional Cemetery (according to the Harbaugh History book), there is a marker showing Leonard and his wife in the same grave and Rebecca (their only daughter----she never married) and one son David (who also never married) in another grave.

Family links:

Parents:

 Yost Harbaugh (1699 - 1762)

Spouse:

 Rebecca Rineback Harbaugh (1754 - 1801)*

Children:

 Thomas Harbaugh (1777 - 1857)*

 David Harbaugh (1787 - 1844)*

 Benjamin Harbaugh (1794 - ____)*

 Rebecca Harbaugh (1798 - 1818)*

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Leonard, the seventh son of Yost Harbaugh, the elder, was born on the homestead on Krentz Creek, May 10, 1749, and married Miss. Rebecca Rinebeck of Germantown. He was the same person named among other prominent Pennsylvania Germans, by Mr. Scharf, as having settled in Baltimore at an early day. From one of his sons, Benjamin, who still resided in that city as late as 1853, it was learned that his father removed from York to Baltimore about 1775, where he resided until 1792. He was an architect and builder, and undertook by contract, the construction of many large public and private edifices. He was ingenious in planning and designing, and skillful in execution. On the spot where Battle Monument now stands, stood a very large two story brick building which was used as a court house. From immediately under this house he removed all the earth and replaced it with stone arches, forming a basement; after which the building and basement continued to be used for about fifteen years, when it was removed. Many of the private residences built by him have also been removed to make room for streets and more fashionable dwellings, Among the buildings and improvements erected by him in Baltimore, were several churches, hotels, warehouses and bridges. He also designed and constructed the first mud or dredging machine that was used for cleaning out and deepening the harbor for vessels and other purposes. In 1792 he removed to Washington, D. C., and was soon engaged in the erection of numerous public and private buildings; among others, the war and treasury offices, which were afterward destroyed by the British troops, (in 1814). He was also engaged (with others) in the erection of the President’s house, the original Capitol buildings, and the reconstruction thereof after their destruction by the British. Under a contract with the Potomac Company, he cut a passage through an immense wall of rock that stood across the river at Big Falls, just above Georgetown, and made the Potomac navigable for long boats up to and even beyond Cumberland. Afterward he commenced a similar enterprise in the Shenandoah River at Harper’s Ferry and made that river navigable (for long boats) by building locks and cutting canals for a distance of more than one hundred miles above the ferry. After the completion of this work, he removed to the settlement on the Monocacy, near Frederick, Md., where he erected an immense stone bridge for a turnpike road company, across the Monocacy Creek, at a cost of $55,000.Click here to see pictures Finally he returned to Baltimore and resumed the building of various kinds of houses. At the time of his death, however, September, 1822, he was engaged as superintendent of the carpenter work on the rebuilding of the Capitol. His death was caused by mortification in the joint of one of his toes. He preferred death to amputation, at the age of seventy-six, and was buried in the Congressional Cemetery at Washington. He was the father of fourteen children, thirteen of whom were sons. Some of them, or their numerous descendants, are still living in or near Baltimore and Washington. Rev. Reck Harbaugh, one of his great grandsons, was living at Princeton or Burlington, N. J., in 1852, and was pastor of a Presbyterian congregation. Leonard , the great grandfather, was also a devout man, and during the first period of his residence in Baltimore, was a member of and exhorter in the church of Rev. Otterbein, of blessed memory. Benjamin Harbaugh, one of Leonard’s sons, formerly of Baltimore, married Mrs. Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Maj. William Bailey of York, an officer in the Revolutionary Army attached to the Pennsylvania line, under the command of Col. Swope.

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jul 30 2018, 0:25:16 UTC