Her Book

Ninth Generation and on

ALFRED NORMAN HARLAN   1850-1939 -- Farmer; pump & well trade

1850 - Born August 23, 1850 in Randolph Co., Indiana
      son of Barton Stone Harlan and Jane Ayers Harlan

1872 - Alfred worked on his father's farm until 1872 when he went to Lincoln, NE and obtained work on a farm.

1873 - He married the next year to Matilda Johnson
        Matilda was born Dec. 29, 1852 in Ontario, Canada;
        daughter of William and Charlotte (Henry) Johnson.
and he and new bride rented a farm near Waverly, NE.

1875 - They returned to Gifford, Iowa to farm his mother's place.

1880 - In 1880, Alfred and "Tilly" and three children, Barton, Myrtle, and Ernest, went 500 miles by covered wagon to Furnas Co., which took them nearly three weeks. They took a homestead of 160 acres of wild land near the frontier town of Arapahoe. Being short of funds with which to buy tools, Alfred took his family back to the eastern part of Nebraska and took a job with the B & M Railroad at Plattsmouth, NE. Ernest died there at the age of five.

1882 - In the spring of 1882 they had to move back to their homestead in order not to lose claim on it. With no tools to work with, Alfred sought out jobs away from home shearing sheep and "broom corning." The family went through months of unimaginable hardships. Later crops were better and Alfred obtained a team and a start of cattle.

1892 - In 1892, because of heavy mortgages to obtain tools, land, etc., plus crop failures, the farm was lost and they moved into Arapahoe and bought a small house. Alfred bought into a well, windmill, and drilling business with Tom Ball (Maurice Ball's father - his brother Silas' father-in-law) and it was in Arapahoe they lost another son, Carlyle, not quite three years of age.

1897 - In 1897 the family moved to Republican City, NE where Alfred bought a pump and pipe business and later added a feed store and handled chickens and eggs.

1900 - In 1900, because of almost complete crop failures in Nebraska and Kansas, the family moved to Beatrice, NE where Alfred secured employment with the Dempster Mfg. Co. (deep well equipment).

1902 - The company sent Alfred to Tucumcari, New Mexico to make wells for the Rock Island Railroad along the right of way. He and Tillie lived in a box car fitted up as living quarters for the six months they were in New Mexico. They returned to Beatrice in the fall of 1902 and Matilda was confined to bed for months with a severe case of rheumatism.

1903 - A change of climate was advised by doctors, so in 1903 they moved to Corvallis, Oregon where so many of the family were already making their homes.

1919 - Alfred followed his trade of pump and well work and retired from it in 1919 following the death of Matilda on March 5, 1919.

1939 - Alfred became almost completely blind in his last years and died April 1, 1939 at the age of 89 - at the home of his son, H.B. Harlan. He is buried at Crystal Lake Cemetery.


        Issue of Alfred and Matilda Harlan: 7 children

        Henry Barton   1874-1960;   m. Ivy L. Mownson 1899
        Ernest   1876-1881;
        Myrtle Louisa   1878-1965;   m. Frank Woolman 1900
        Clinton Leroy   1881-1959; m. Flossie Velma Huff 1920
        Dora Ethel   1884-1918; m. Martin L. Peters 1902
        Cyrus Ashley   1887-1950; m. Ula Drinkwater 1909
        Carlyle Tillson   1894-1897



MY NOTE:
The next contiguous page entitled "Tenth Generation" will continue with the stories of those who are directly in line genealogically to our family. However, each name on this page "Ninth Generation" has a link to the histories of that branch of the family. If you take the time to read them, the stories are interesting as a piece of history as well as a connection to our relatives.
This is a break from the pattern of Mom's book.