Call Number:

2007.60

Repository:

Chestnut Hill Historical Society

Extent:

0.2 linear feet (1 document box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

2007.60

Date:

circa 1969

Creator:

Harmar family

Abstract:

General Josiah Harmar (1753-1813), was a Commanding General in the U.S. Army and fought in the Revolutionary War. The Harmar family collection, date?, contains family papers of the descendants of Harmar and includes photographs, newspaper clippings, and genealogical information.

"General Josiah Harmar (1753-1813) owes his place in diplomatic history to his role in the exchange of ratifications of the Treaty of Paris (Cat. No. 267). Ratification was required from the legislatures of nine states represented by the Continental Congress. The long process was not completed until mid- January 1784; the deadline for receipt of the ratification in Paris was March 3. Harmar, recently made Colonel, was appointed a bearer of dispatch to deliver the ratification. Winter storms delayed the Atlantic crossing and Harmar placed the document in the hands of Benjamin Franklin on March 29, nearly four weeks late, but the British raised no objections.

"On August 12 of the same year, Harmar was appointed commander of "the first national peacetime military force in American history, the progenitor and lineal ancestor of the establishment that has continued until the present. "[3] His small regiment was dispatched to Ohio in a largely unsuccessful attempt to protect the settlements there while driving illegal squatters out of the Northwest Territory. Harmar was brevetted Brigadier General in 1787, and he holds (with Governor Arthur St. Clair) the dubious distinction of waging the first official federal campaign against the Indians (October 1790). In a matter of weeks, he was forced to retreat from the Maumee Valley to Fort Washington (Cincinnati), a substantial setback. "Our loss is heavy, heavy indeed," wrote Harmar. Although he was officially absolved, his reputation was severely damaged and he resigned at the end of 1791."

Bibliography:

US Department of State. "General Josiah Harmar - Item Detail - Diplomatic Reception Rooms," Accessed January 11, 2012. https://diplomaticrooms.state.gov/Pages/Item.aspx?item=5.

Collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, genealogical material and other items related to the Harmar family sent via Mr. Francis J. Dallett.