Person:Joseph Harbison (1)

... Francis Harbison was born near Philadelphia, served in the Revolutionary war, during part of which he was a prisoner, and settled in 1798 on the farm now occupied by William Donahey, Young township. He died in 1823, at the age of sixty-five; his wife in 1849, at the age of ninety.

Their children were:
Joseph, d., m. to Rebecca Ewing, d.;
Robert, b. in 1785, d. in 1855, m. to Mary Millen, b. in 1785, d. in 1858;
Mary, m. to Thomas Cunningham, d.;
Jane, d., m. to Jas. Ewing, d.;
Anna, d.;
William, d., m. to Sarah Hutchinson, d.;
Sarah, d., m. to William McNeil, d.; and
Matthew, d., m. to Mary Henry.

... Joseph Harbison, eldest son of Francis and Catherine (Hart) Harbison, came with his parents to Young township and became one of the leading agriculturists of his day in that vicinity. He acquired a tract of several hundred acres. His first dwelling was constructed of logs, and he later erected a frame house and barn, also making many other improvements on his property, where he spent his life. The frame residence which he built there in the latter forties is still standing and is in an excellent state of preservation. Mr. Harbison died on his place and was buried in West Lebanon cemetery. "He was a strong antislavery man, a Whig and Republican in political sentiment, and served as justice of the peace. A prominent member of the Presbyterian Church, lie served as elder of the church at West Lebanon, which he helped to organize; he was originally a member of the church at Eldersridge. He was a man of high Christian character, devoted to his home, his family and the best interests of the community, and was a desirable citizen in every sense of the term.