Click Here to Return to Milestones
Born near the town of Freedom, in Beaver Co., on September 29, 1826, John S. Harbison was of Revolutionary stock. His grandfather, John Harbison, and his great-grandfather, Edward White, served on the American side in the struggle for freedom from the yoke of British oppression.
But the family can trace their roots back many generations farther, in fact, to 1435, in Ireland. Early in the settlement of America three members of the family came to this country, and the descendant of one of these became the pioneer of Western Pennsylvania, John Harbison, who, while serving as a scout on the Indian frontier along the Allegheny River near the blockhouse called Reeds Station, (now Freeport, Pa.) was shocked by the news that hostile Seneca Indians had attacked his log cabin home and murdered two of his young children and carried his wife (Massy) and babe into captivity. The saga of her hardships and suffering at the hands of savages makes one of the most heart rending tales of pioneers on the frontier. Her husband, John, had been with General St. Clair in western Ohio a few months before when they suffered one of the most humiliating defeats by Shawnee and Delaware Indians ever recorded in military history. He had been wounded in the upper chest and returned home to recover.
After enduring privations and cruelty while captive, Massy escaped with her tiny child and reached safety at the white settlements on the east side of the Allegheny River near Pittsburgh. The capture of Massy Harbison in 1792 was one of the last episodes of the kind in Pennsylvania, and she lived to the age of 76 years, dying in 1846, when her grandson and subject of this article was a youth of 20. His father was one of her 13 children, ten of whom survived and lived to old age. Two children, Samuel and Robert, were killed by the Indians in 1792 and her thirteenth, Gilbert, died as a baby. It is only by such a narrow margin, indeed, that our peaceful present is separated from the eventful past.
It was William, son of pioneers John and Massy Harbison, who was the father of John S. Harbison about whom this article is written. William married Margaret, daughter of William Curry, or Currie, who was the chief armorer in the field under General Washington and who participated in at least eight conflicts and was present at the memorable "Crossing of the Delaware", thus giving another line of Revolutionary service to the family
William Harbison moved from Beaver County to a farm near New Castle, Pa. and remained there until his death. William and Margaret had four children, three sons and one daughter, and it was on this western Pennsylvania farm near New Castle that young John first learned about bees. It was a fascination that was to take him far beyond his wildest dreams.
In 1854 he decided to make a trip to California, where stories of the gold fields and great fortunes made by simply digging in the earth drew thousands of young and old alike. He sailed from New York on the steamer Northern Light to Greytown and thence across the isthmus by way of Nicaragua. From there he took the steamer, Sierra Nevada, to San Francisco arriving on November 20, 1854.
For a time he prospected in Amador County, but quickly found the life of a miner meant great hardship and constant exposure, with small returns for the inexperienced man and he decided to seek his fortune along other lines. The possibilities of fruit culture in the new country appealed to him, and he immediately sent back East for a supply of seeds and small trees. These arrived in 1855 and were quickly given a chance to show what they could do. That fall he received a shipment of decidious trees and from that shipment he sold to many farmers, thus becoming a pioneer in the field of horticulture in the Sacramento Valley, if not the state. Records show freight charges for this general shipment of $664.50 for four cases containing between 4,000 and 5,000 small trees. He sold the trees, however, for $1.00 to $3.00 each, the cherry trees bringing the latter price. Besides cherry, the shipment contained such trees as plum, peach, apricot, and nectarines.
John Harbison's interest in the flora of the state led to his familiarity with the problems of fruit growers and he turned his childhood passion with bees to good use. Bees would do well in California, and he no sooner came to this conclusion when he turned his steps toward the old homestead back in Western Pennsylvania, starting on the journey May 5th, 1857. There he spent the summer getting everything in readiness for the transporting of the honey-makers to the Pacific slope. He made cases from chestnut wood in which to carry the colonies and the bees spent busy days during the flowering season gathering up large stores of sweetness.
Like pioneers in other fields of endeavor, John Harbison had to undergo the scornful comments about his project from many of those around him. No one ever heard of transporting bees so great a distance. To expect bees to survive a journey of 5,000 to 6,000 miles was foolish. What assurance did he have that bees would find anything to sustain them once they arrived in California? Why didn't he stay home where he was assured of a living, if nothing more? These and other comments were put to him by neighbors and strangers who happened to see the cases he made for his journey West.
Undaunted by hints he was foolish to expect success from such a venture, he again sailed on November 5, 1857 on the same steamer he had made his previous trip southward, the Northern Light. Arriving at Aspinwall he crossed the isthmus once more, but this time on the Panama Railroad. There he boarded the ship, Sonora, bound for San Francisco, and upon arrival transferred to the river steamer New World, and was taken up stream to Sacramento where he arrived on December 2, with a loss of only five colonies of his original 67 with which he had started.
He was fortunate during the voyage to receive the cooperation and help of the steamship captains and railroad officials, all of whom showed great interest in his unique venture. Portions of the steamer deck were screened off to protect the colonies from high winds and sea spray in o weather and it was these and other esures that made the scheme a success. That it was a success financially can be seen when it is known that Harbison sold the bees for $100 a hive.
So satisfactory was the outcome of this first shipment, Mr. Harbison again started for the East on September 20, 1858 and on Decemeber 6 th sailed from NewYork once more, with 114 colonies. He reached Sacramento on New Year's Day with a loss of only 11. The success of this work tempted others to try the same thing, and within the next few months over 1,000 colonies had been shipped from the east. Now the time had come for John Harbison to move into a new and more rewarding avenue, the bee culture itself and gathering of honey in California. Having established bee culture as a permanent industry in the state and having demonstrated the fact that there was plenty of material for honey making, Harbison went into it heavily.
At one time he had as many as 3650 stands actively at work. He made exhibits of honey at State Fairs and won handsome medals and silver goblets, napkin rings, spoons and like trophies were awarded to him as far back as 1858, the first year he had his bees producing. He won the Silver Medal from the California State Agricultural Society for the best beehive, and a handsome bronze medal and diploma from the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia in 1876, for his display of honey at that big fair. That same year he made the heaviest shipment of honey to the Eastern markets, sending overland a total of 23 carloads, besides two carloads to San Francisco. Each carload represented between 21,000 and 22,000 pounds of honey. At that time he was living in San Diego, having taken up residence there several years before. The city of San Diego had slightly over 50 citizens at that time.
When the first carload of fruit was shipped from California, Mr. Habison sent along a case of honey, and in 1869 he shipped the first carload of honey that was ever sent from the State. In 1873 he sent the first carload of honey from San Diego to Chicago. Prices for honey at that time were a little over $1.00 a pound.
On January 4, 1859, Harbison received a patent for a hive he invented. He also authored a book on practical bee culture and horticulture and was a recognized authority on the subject. It was always his belief that bee culture and horticulture were the fine arts of agriculture.
In 1865, John Harbison married Mary J. White of New Castle, Pa. They had one daughter who married E.C. Hinkle of Sandiego.
John Harbison died in San Diego, California on Saturday, October 12, 1912 at the age of eighty six. His obituary in the New Castle News stated that he at one time exported honey to Japan, England and France, as well as supplying the eastern markets of the United States and was known throughout California as "The Bee King from Pennsylvania."
This article was created in part from the newspaper articles
and obituary appearing in the New Castle News, dated Nov 4, 1912
and ftom family records.
..