GGWC Mathias Harman Sr

Biography:

It is remarkable that a young man who stood very little over five feet and never weighed more than one hundred and twenty pounds was feared by the Indians and known for his heroic exploits. Tice, or known as Captain in later years, founded the first English settlement in eastern Kentucky in 1755.His battles against Indians included killing the son of a major Chief in hand to hand contact that led to his being known as the Brave Little Red Man.

Born with an enormous nose, a thin sharp face, a full head of yellow hair, a dark untrimmed beard, blue eyes said to turn green and glittering in battle and said to be fearless! His associates envied his enormous endurance and total lack of fatigue. He could match any Indian in privation and proved relentless by the Indians believing him in league with the devil or some other power. This reputation was supported by the many warriors he killed and by his being known as an excellent marksman with his long rifle. Constant escapes from the Indians and his relentless daring made him a part of the respected "Long Hunters".

He blazed trails from Virginia to the Mississippi River.

From 1777 to 1790, he was part of the greater Montgomery County Virginia Militia fighting the British and their allied Indians in western Virginia, Kentucky and southern Ohio valleys.

Historical markers #736 in Kentucky, X-25 in Dry Fork and X-27 in Tazewell County, Virginia, mark his exploits and contributions to the conquering of the western wilderness.

Probably his most enduring exploit was the aid in the escaping of Jenny Wiley from Indian capture in 1789. A party of eleven Indians attacked her home and she was held captive for several months before rescue. Her rescuers returned her to Harman's Station and then to her family. Her story is marked by the Jenny Wiley State Park and Theater in Kentucky. It was believed that she was abducted in retaliation after Harman had killed a Chief in an Indian raid.

He was the seventh child of eleven of Adam and Louisa Harman, born in 1739 and he lived to be 93 years. His wife was three years his senior and they had seven children. He died a widower of twenty five years in 1832 .

It is said that he felt his greatest accomplishment was leading settlers into the western development of our country and assisting Major Andrew Hood and Colonel John Preston's surveying of the land in western Virginia and eastern Kentucky.

SAR Patriot #: P-175290 DAR #: A050869

Death: 02 Apr 1832 / Dry Fork / Tazewell / VA

Qualifying Service: Soldier

Children: Mathias Jr, Henry, Adam, Katie, Phebe, Louisa