Robert Harper, of the Northern Liberties

• Parents unknown. Not the child of Joseph Harper & Sarah Harper.
• Not the same as Robert Harper

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Robert HARPER was born in 1717 (?) in Belfast, Ireland. He emigrated in 1727 from Belfast, Ireland. Robert Harper, being forced by persecution to flee from his home in Ireland , secured passage to Philadelphia by becoming an indentured servant to John Buzby, a wealthy Quaker of Oxford Township. He died in 1765 in Philadelphia County, Pa.. He died possessed of a considerable fortune He was living in Oxford Twp.. He was an Iron Worker in Frankford, Montgomery County, Pa.. He was Scots-Irish.

Robert Harper Sr. emigrated from Belfast to Philadelphia in the 1730s when he was 12 or 13 years old. He came alone and there is no surviving records that indicate who his parents might have been. There are no primary sources of Harper genealogy beyond Robert Sr. In any event, he came to America under contract to a wealthy Quaker family named Buzby, for whom he spent seven years as an indentured servant. At the end of his contract he married one of the Buzby daughters named Sarah and had a number of children, including Robert Harper Jr.

From a letter written by Charles Harper Smith (a noted historian and genealogy researcher) - " Robert Harper was an indentured servant of Sarah's father, John Buzby. He was a penniless young Scotch-Irishman who had obtained passage from his home in Belfast by binding himself out as a servant for a period of seven years after his arrival in Pennsylvania. His time was just about up when he married his boss's daughter. He was a skilled iron and steel worker, and after his marriage he set up a small factory for the manufacture of augurs and gimlets along the banks of Tacony Creek, near his home. He died in 1765, quite well-to-do, and the business was taken over by his son Samuel."

From Robert Harper's will - "Be it Remembered that I Robert Harper of the township of the Northern Liberties in the County of Philadelphia & province of Pensilvania Yeoman Being Sick & Indisposed in body but through the favour of Divine Providence am of Sound Disposing Mind Memory & Understanding ..." "Item I Give Devise & Bequeath to my Oldest Son Samuel a Certain Messuage Smith's Shop & Lott of Ground thereunto belonging Scituate in Oxford in the said County ..." The Will contains the names of Robert's younger sons at that time: Robert, William and John. It also contains the names of his daughters: Elizabeth, Sarah, Agness, Rebecca, Mary, and Ruth. The Will wraps up "In Wittness Whereof I have hereunto Sett my Hand & Seal This Second Day of the Third Month (called March) In the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty Seven 1757 ..." The Codicile to Robert's Will is dated "for the Day of the seventh Mo 1765". In it he provides for the two sons who were born after the writing of the original Will - Nathan and Benjamin. He also reports that some of his daughters have married - Elizabeth, Sarah, Agness and Rebecca. That leaves two daughters unmarried in July of 1765, Mary and Ruth; they were alive in 1757 so they were at least 8 years old in 1765.

From documents received from Patricia Saunders: "Robert Harper was born in 1719 in Belfast, Ireland. He emigrated in 1727 from Belfast, Ireland. Robert Harper, being forced by persecution to flee from his home in Ireland, secured passage to Philadelphia by becoming an indentured servant to John Buzby, a wealthy Quaker of Oxford Township. He died in 1765. He died possessed of a considerable fortune. He was living in Oxford Twp.. He was an Iron Worker in Frankford, Montgomery, PA. He was Scotch-Irish. He was married to Sarah Buzby in the home on Charles Read, His Majesty's Justice of Peace." Note (further information obtained from a 1942 letter by Charles Harper Smith): Robert Harper and Sarah Buzby were married on January 23, 1734. The ceremony could not be performed in meeting, for Robert was not then a Quaker, and Sarah's people were not permitted to attend the wedding.

Robert Harper Sr. emigrated from Belfast to Philadelphia in the 1730s when he was 12 or 13 years old. He came alone and there is no surviving records that indicate who his parents might have been. There are no primary sources of Harper genealogy beyond Robert Sr. In any event, he came to America under contract to a family wealthy Quaker family named Buzby, for whom he spent seven years as an indentured servant. At the end of his contract he married one of the Buzby daughters named Sarah and had a number of children, including Robert Harper Jr.

From a letter written by Charles Harper Smith - " Robert Harper was an indentured servant of Sarah's father, John Buzby. He was a penniless young Scotch-Irishman who had obtained passage from his home in Belfast by binding himself out as a servant for a period of seven years after his arrival in Pennsylvania. His time was just about up when he married his boss's daughter. He was a skilled iron and steel worker, and after his marriage he set up a small factory for the manufacture of augurs and gimlets along the banks of Tacony Creek, near his home. He died in 1765, quite well-to-do, and the business was taken over by his son Samuel."

From Robert Harper's will - "Be it Remembered that I Robert Harper of the township of the Northern Liberties in the County of Philadelphia & province of Pensilvania Yeoman Being Sick & Indisposed in body but through the favour of Divine Providence am of Sound Disposing Mind Memory & Understanding ..." "Item I Give Devise & Bequeath to my Oldest Son Samuel a Certain Messuage Smith's Shop & Lott of Ground thereunto belonging Scituate in Oxford in the said County ..." The Will contains the names of Robert's younger sons at that time: Robert, William and John. It also contains the names of his daughters: Elizabeth, Sarah, Agness, Rebecca, Mary, and Ruth. The Will wraps up "In Wittness Whereof I have hereunto Sett my Hand & Seal This Second Day of the Third Month (called March) In the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and fifty Seven 1757 ..." The Codicile to Robert's Will is dated "for the Day of the seventh Mo 1765". In it he provides for the two sons who were born after the writing of the original Will - Nathan and Benjamin. He also reports that some of his daughters have married - Elizabeth, Sarah, Agness and Rebecca. That leaves two daughters unmarried in July of 1765, Mary and Ruth; they were alive in 1757 so they were at least 8 years old in 1765.

From documents received from Patricia Saunders: "Robert Harper was born in 1719 in Belfast, Ireland. He emigrated in 1727 from Belfast, Ireland. Robert Harper, being forced by persecution to flee from his home in Ireland, secured passage to Philadelphia by becoming an indentured servant to John Buzby, a wealthy Quaker of Oxford Township. He died in 1765. He died possessed of a considerable fortune. He was living in Oxford Twp.. He was an Iron Worker in Frankford, Montgomery, PA. He was Scotch-Irish. He was married to Sarah Buzby in the home on Charles Read, His Majesty's Justice of Peace."