The Story of Harnsberger Genealogy

The history of Harnsberger genealogy most likely began with the concerted efforts of John Samuel Harnsberger, (1839 - 1912, Jeremiah-Adam-Stephen-John), a lawyer and a politician who was born in Elkton, Virginia and lived much of his professional life in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It is not certain when his research began - it seems to have begun late in the 19th century, when he began collected family information not only from the Harnsbergers of the Shenandoah Valley, but through a letter-writing campaign to Harnsbergers across the country. How in his era he obtained addresses for distant cousins is unclear, but his research was the first attempt to go beyond just repeating his immediate oral family history. As he faced the end of his life, Samuel entrusted his records to his nephew, Charles Graves Harnsberger (1853 - 1938, Thomas-Jeremiah-Adam-Stephen-John). In turn, his oldest daughter Elizabeth M. Harnsberger (1891 - 1987) preserved and added to these records, and began a remarkable collaboration with Olive Stewart Gilbert (1898 - 1985, Olive-Barbara-Jacob-Conrad-Stephen-John) that began in the 1920s and continued through most of their lives. It must be said that Olive was the driving force in reaching out to so many Harnsbergers in the mid 20th century, in pursuing research into the family origins in Switzerland, and in disseminating her research through letters and through her nationally-distributed "Harnsberger Family News" newsletter.

     It is safe to say that Olive Gilbert, more than any one single person, was responsible for expanding the frontiers of our knowledge about our family. Her remarkable efforts may have been lost at her death if not for the timely intervention of two Harnsbergers without whose efforts so much original research would have been lost - absolutely irreplaceable documentary evidence that was available from 1920 - 1980, but is long gone with the deaths of older generations. At Olive's death, all of her papers could have been lost, but for the efforts of Ben Harnsberger (1915 - 2004, Clyde-William-Adam-Stephen-Stephen-John) of Macon, Georgia, who took possession of the papers with the intent to organize and publish them.

     Ben saved these critical records, but it took one more Harnsberger to roll up her sleeves and tackle the monumental task of taking boxes of loose records and transforming them into orderly reference volumes for future historians: Harriet Harnsberger Marshall (b.1937, William-Edwin-Jacob Emanuel-Jeremiah-Adam-Stephen-John). Upon learning of the existence of Olive's papers, Harriet and her husband David (both already genealogists in their own right) drove from Virginia to Georgia and received 20 boxes of papers from Ben. Over the course of 10 years, Harriet created from these raw materials 36 volumes, organized by individual family member (Volumes 1 - 35) and a complete collection of Harnsberger Family News newsletters (Volume 36). They are currently stored with the Germanna Foundation at the Fort Germanna Visitor Center, and it is the plan of the Harnsberger History website to make high-quality digital scans of this material for inclusion here.

     From Samuel to Charles to Elizabeth to Olive to Ben to Harriet, there is an unbroken chain of family members commited to the preservation of the history of our ancestors. However, these are not the only Harnsbergers who have done their research. Laura Virginia Harnsberger Coyner (1865 - 1941, Jacob Emanuel-Jeremiah-Adam-Stephen-John) was engaged in serious research in the early 20th century, connecting the descendants of Ursula (1722 - ?) with those of Stephen's first wife, Agnes (1722 - 1750), a link that had been lost for over a century. She uncovered critical information that identified the oldest Harnsberger family cemetery and the site of the original residence of Stephen and Ursula in the Elkton, Virginia area. Another Harnsberger recordkeeper was Florence Stevens Miller (1858 - 1947, Sarah-Sarah-Conrad-Stephen-John), who lived in Elkton, Virginia. John Hill Hansbarger (1815 - 1874, Jacob-John-Stephen-John) preserved some of his family history in the Clifton Forge, Virginia area, with his records currently archived at the Library of Virginia. There ae undoubtedly others we have failed to mention, and we suspect that a host of amateur genealogists have left their records at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society and the Augusta County Historical Society, among others.

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As for the future of Harnsberger Genealogy, please see our Research Index and Newsletter page!