Leah HARBISON was one of the thirteen children of James HARBISON and Rachel PORTER, as follows in roughly chronological order based mostly on marriage dates.
Thomas,John,Eleanor "Nellie",James,Elizabeth (mine) who m(1) Daniel EWING and m(2) 20 Nov. 1786 Richard HOPE,Jane,
Rachel,Margaret "Peggy",Leah,Esther,Ann Porter,Andrew, Arthur
A deposition from my ancestress, Elizabeth HARBISON b. May 1764 PA and d. 17 Mar. 1843 Boyle Col, KY, helps to trace their migration from PA (possibly Chester Co.) down through the Valley of Virginia (now called the Shenandoah Valley) and up through the Cumberland Gap to what is now Perryville, KY named for Admiral Perry.
My father was born and raised on a farm on the road between Parksville and Perryville.It had no name in those days but is now named Harberson Lane.-Note the spelling.That's because the son of Thomas changed the spelling of his surname and, since he lived on that road with the largest farm and nicest house, when it finally acquired a name it was named for James HARBERSON (1789 - 1836).
Perryville is in what is now Boyle Co., KY which was formed in 1842 from Mercer Co.Mercer Co. was formed in 1786 from Lincoln Co.Thus the earliest records of them are in Lincoln Co. and then in Mercer Co.
When the patriarch James and family and his brother Johnand family and his bother Arthur and a couple of other families went into the area they sheltered in a large cave and built their fort around it.The cave entrance is in a sink hole behind the house which for many years has been slowly developed to become a museum.There's a small steam that runs though the cave so the settlers had water when they were forted up because of the Indians.The stream over the years had built up a great deal of silt so that I could no longer bend over to get in but had to "duck walk" and I suspect it would necessitate crawling by now-if I could sneak in.Some years ago the cave was put off limits because of the possible liability.
James HARBISON was captured and killed by the Indians about March 1783.The story handed down over the years is that James was carried off by the Indians and that when the search party went out to try to rescue him they found his head but not his body.Supposedly they took his head back to his widow Rachel and she wrapped it in a linen cloth and put it in a chest to await the body.The body wasn't found so only the head was buried.There's no documentation other than he was killed by the Indians about Mar. 1783.-My ancestress Elizabeth's first husband was killed in the same attack according to tradition.
The widow Rachel PORTER Harbison's will was recorded Nov. 1811 in Mercer Co.Her son-in-law Richard HOPE, my ancestor, was one of her executors.
You're eligible for the DAR through Rachel.10 Aug. 1787 she provided beef and wheat for an expedition against the Shawnee Indians.
https://www.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/harbison/902/
