John Harmon
Gateway to Texas: History of Orange County
edited by Dr. Howard C. Williams
Page 29
John Harmon was born in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, in 1790. In 1813, he married Elizabeth Comstock Clark (from the same Louisiana town). During this period the United States was at war with Britain, and John was mustered into the service in a company led by Captain Sharick Porter. After six months he was mustered out, but was subsequently redrafted and transferred to New Orleans. However, the war of 1812 ended before he arrived.
The couple’s first child, David, Was born in 1816. In the same year they sold their St. Martin Parish land for $600 and traveled farther west into Louisiana. A daughter, Susan, was born November 2, 1822,; a son, Joshua, was born March 6, 1826. It is thought that the Harmons were living in Opelousas, Louisiana, at that time. In 1826, John moved to the eastern Bank of the Sabine River for two years and prepared a giant raft. In early December of 1827, he loaded the raft with all his worldly goods, his wife, and their three children, and floated downstream in search of a new home. Early on New Year’s Day, they tied up to the bank at what would later be Orange, Texas.
In March 1828, another Daughter, Hester Harmon, was born. They lived in a little house at Green’s bluff until 1830, when john moved to the west side of Adams Bayou and claimed a league of land. It extended from Adams bayou to Cow Bayou and below what is now known as the southern pacific railroad tracks. Harmon, acquired a Mexican Deed to this property through the Empresario de Zavala in 1834.
It is not known if he participated in the Texas Revolution of 1836. In the 1860’s he sold his land to a man from New Orleans named Smith. Apparently he was paid in Confederate money which proved to be worthless.
The 1840 census showed that Harmon owned 670 acres of land, 6 slaves, 6 horses, 60 cattle and one clock. In the 1840’s he was on a citizen’s committee that supported the annexation of Texas by the United States. For the next several years he continued to figure prominently in the affairs of the little community. During the 1960’s he served on grand juries, was appointed road overseer for his precinct, and in 1867, was on of the first citizens to be franchised in orange county after the Civil War
The last official contract involving John Harmon is the will he signed in 1871. At that time he left all of his property to his son-in-law, Joshua Coale (Cole), and daughter, Elizabeth, on the condition that the Coales would take care of him and support him as long as he should live. In 1874, John Harmon died. The exact location of his grave is unknown, It is felt that it was possible the Dorman cemetery on Tulane Road and that the marker may have long since disappeared.
Submitted by Ricky Bubb
Used with permission
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