My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published by Biographical Review Publishing Company in 1896.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

* * * *

GEORGE W. HARLOW, carpenter, contractor, and builder, of the firm of C. N. Harlow & Co., Northampton, was born during the residence of his parents, Charles and Orissa (Mason) Harlow, in Maine, his birth occurring in the town of Amherst, September 5, 1842. (A fuller account of the family is given in the sketch of Charles N. Harlow on another page.)

Mr. Harlow was educated in the common schools. His native mechanical talent was developed while working with his father when a young man. He remained beneath the parental roof until some time after the breaking out of the Civil War, when, in August, 1863, he enlisted in defence of the Union. He joined Company C, Fifty-second Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and served one year, during which he was at the forefront in several hard-fought battles. At the time of his enlistment he was a strong and rugged man, five feet eleven inches in height, weighing one hundred and eighty-four pounds. After the battle at Franklin, from lying out at night in the rain he took a severe cold, which resulted in a serious lung trouble and diarrhoea. In the course of the three following weeks Mr. Harlow lost sixty-three pounds in weight, yet he rejoined his regiment in season for the siege at Port Hudson. He was, however, disabled from further service, and took no part in that action. Finally one of his lungs was pronounced “entirely gone”; and he was sent home, supposedly to die. He returned to his father’s house on July 19, 1864, a mere wreck of what he was when he left it less than twelve months before. His grand constitution, however, and his strong determination to live enabled him to recuperate and after a while to resume his former occupation. Since 1881 Mr. Harlow, in company with his brother, has been in business at his present stand.

On September 28, 1865, the ceremony uniting Mary Louise Kneeland and George W. Harlow in the bonds of matrimony was performed. Mrs, Harlow is a native of Northampton, born September 25, 1842, a daughter of Isaac Newton and Frances N. (Strong) Kneeland. Her maternal grandfather, Seth Strong, was one of the early settlers of Northampton, coming here at a time when wild turkeys and other game were plentiful and the site of the present city was a part of the favorite hunting-ground of the dusky savage. He was a mason by trade, had much inventive genius, and was a lineal descendant of Governor Strong, of Colonial fame. He and his wife reared two children of the four born to them; namely, Frances N. (Mrs. Harlow’s mother) and Harriet. He lived to the age of eighty-nine years, dying in 1879. In the public library of the town is a history of the Strong family, which dates back five generations; and there are also two valuable historical works relating to this locality, published by Frederick N. Kneeland. Mrs. Harlow’s father was very prominent and well-to-do. He made a good deal of money from machinery which he invented for the manufacture of paper and of ink. The latter is now used by the government. He had an income of fourteen hundred dollars per month, but never hoarded it, being generous to a fault. His brother Joseph married Harriet, another daughter of Seth Strong. Isaac N. Kneeland was born April 1, 1820, and died April 4, 1860, just as he was to be appointed government printer. His widow is still living in Northampton, an active and bright woman of seventy-two years. She has buried four of the seven children born to her, namely: Emily Jane, who died in 1847; Charles, in 1850; Lillian, in 1857; and Anna Isabelle, in 1863. The three who are living are: Mrs. Harlow; Frederick Newton, Cashier of the First National Bank; and Hattie Josephine, residing at Paradise Road with her mother and brother.

The union of Mr. and Mrs. Harlow has been blessed by the birth of six children, as follows: Sarah Gertrude, wife of Charles H. Warren, of Roxbury, Mass., who has one son and two daughters; George F., who graduated from the high school in 1889, and is book-keeper for C. N. Felts; Arthur Bradford, a salesman for the Banister Company; Annie Mabel, a student in the high school; Grace Evelyn, a pupil in the grammar school; and Ralph Eugene, a school-boy of eleven years. Mr. Harlow and his family occupy 13 Monroe Street, a pleasant and conveniently arranged house, which he built in the summer of 1895. He is a Master Mason, having been Junior Deacon of his Lodge, and belongs to the William L. Baker Post, No. 86, Grand Army of the Republic, being Sergeant-major of the post. In politics he is a Republican; and he attends the Congregational church, of which Mrs. Harlow is an esteemed and active member.

* * * *

This family biography is one of the numerous biographies included in the Biographical Review Volume of Biographical Sketches of The Leading Citizens of Hampshire County, Massachusetts published in 1896. 

View additional Hampshire County, Massachusetts family biographies here: Hampshire County, Massachusetts Biographies

View a map of 1901 Hampshire County, Massachusetts here: Hampshire County Massachusetts Map

Use the links at the top right of this page to search or browse thousands of other family biographies.