George Harsh

George Harsh

PennsylvaniaConfirmed

Father of Nathan James Harsh, husband of Louise Bell Martin Harsh · 1827–1895

Born

in Pennsylvania

Sources

8

Research status

Research status: CONFIRMED as the father of Nathan James Harsh (2 December 1860 – 10 September 1934), husband of Louise Bell Martin Harsh. Nathan’s own Tennessee death certificate, file 21866, read from the image, names his father George Harsh and his mother’s maiden name Talitha Newly [Newby] S503; FamilySearch’s index of the same certificate (record NS4N-VFZ) agrees, though it is an index of that one record, not a second record. The censuses put Nathan in George’s household: aged 10 in 1870 in Davidson County, where George was a dry goods merchant S504, and aged 19 in 1880 in the 1st Civil District of Sumner County S588. The parent link is Confirmed; his own dates, below, are Probable.

Life in the order the records give it

Census1860

In 1860 Geo Harsh, 32, a farmer born in Pennsylvania, was in the 23rd District of Davidson County, P.O. Goodlettsville, with Mrs T. [Talitha], 25, Philip, 3, and Mary, 1 S2353. In 1880 he was 53, a farmer born in Pennsylvania to a father from “Offenheim” [Oppenheim], Germany, with his wife Elizabeth, 30 S588. Three censuses give Pennsylvania; Nathan’s death certificate, from an informant two generations on, gives Tennessee. Pennsylvania is taken as his birthplace.

Census2026

History of this card. 21 Oct 2026

card added from Nathan Harsh's 1934 death certificate (S503) and the censuses on Louise Bell Martin Harsh's card; parent link Confirmed (verdict 272803617441-father). SWEEP-1021D.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable

Probable confirm or correct → His dates, wives and parents. Born 24 April 1827 in Pennsylvania and died on 26 June 1895 at Castalian Springs, buried in the Gallatin City Cemetery S2272. He married Mary S. O. Guthrie in 1851, who died in 1855; Talitha Newby of Smith County in 1856, the mother of Nathan and of Elizabeth Caroline “Callie” Harsh, wife of Colby Burris Chenault Jr. (see Colby Burris Chenault); and, after Talitha’s death, Elizabeth Kirk Edmonds (1849–1925), a widow, Mrs. James K. Polk S2276. Elizabeth is named as the mother of his son Thomas Walker Harsh (1879–1946) on Thomas’s death certificate, read from the image S2384. His parents were Dr Philip Harsh of Oppenheim (about 1797–1870) and Magdalena Kehler S2272 S1311. What is weak or missing: the birth and death days, the three marriages and his parents rest on a Find a Grave memorial and a compiled family history, not on records read; the “Capt.” given him in some family trees is unsourced. No marriage record or death record for him has been read. Know more? Use “Add to this record”.

In the record Generation 5 — Earl's great-great-grandparents and their siblings

1. S503Tennessee, U.S., Death Records — certificate 21866: Nathan James Harsh, 1934. Ancestry record 200652. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed Nathan James Harsh, husband of Louise, born 2 December 1860, died 10 September 1934 at Gaston Hospital, Lebanon; father George Harsh, mother Talitha Newby; informant J. D. Harsh, Gallatin; buried Gallatin. The certificate gives George's birthplace as Tennessee; the 1870 census (S504) says Pennsylvania, and is the better witness.
2. S5041870 U.S. Federal Census — George Harsh household, Davidson County, Tennessee. Ancestry record 4468172. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed George Harsh, 43, dry goods merchant, born Pennsylvania; Talitha, 36; Philip W.; Mary; Nathan, 10; Caroline; and a younger child whose name is hard to read.
3. S5881880 U.S. census — 1st Civil District, Sumner County, Tennessee, ED 208, p. 25. Ancestry record 10076325. Image examined, read 25 September 2026. Confirmed George Harsh, 53, farmer, born in Pennsylvania, his father born at “Offenheim”, Germany; Elizabeth, 30, wife; Mary 20; Nathan, 19, son; Callie, Cheatman, George, Herbert, William and Walker; James Polk, 6, stepson. The Ancestry index gives Tennessee for George and both his parents; the page says Pennsylvania and Germany.
4. S13111870 census — Phillip Harsh household, 18th Civil District, Davidson County, Tennessee, p. 18. Ancestry, “1870 United States Federal Census”, record 4476247. Image examined in the Stage 2 reading, 25 September 2026. Probable Dwelling 92, family 95: Phillip Harsh, 73, retired merchant, born Germany, real estate $16,000; Magdaline, 65, born Pennsylvania; William, 45; Lydia A. Rutherford, 35, born Pennsylvania, father foreign-born; Phillip H., 12, born Tennessee, at school; and James G., 11, born Tennessee. The 1870 census states no relationships. Phillip H. Rutherford is taken to be Mary Jane Martin’s husband by name and age (born c.1858), and Lydia as his mother; that she was a Harsh rests on her living in Phillip Harsh’s house and on her son’s middle name. PROBABLE.
5. S2272Find a Grave memorial 129937918 — George Harsh, Gallatin City Cemetery, Sumner County, Tennessee. Findagrave.com, read 7 October 2026 (memorial page). A volunteer’s compiled page, not an original record. Probable Born 24 April 1827, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; died 26 June 1895, Castalian Springs; wife Elizabeth Kirk Edmonds (1849–1925), married 1878, given as the second. The page transcribes a county-history sketch naming his parents as “Phillip and Madeline (Kahler) Harsh” and the Nashville Banner and Tennessean notices of 27–29 June 1895. Parents linked: Dr Philip Harsh (born May 1797, Oppenheim; died 27 July 1870, Nashville) and Magdalena Kehler (1802–1883). It agrees with the 1870 and 1880 census households (S504, S588, S1311) on George’s age, birthplace and father’s German birthplace. The sketch itself, now read (S2276), names three wives, so Elizabeth Kirk Edmonds was the third. What it does not settle: the newspapers were not read by us; Dr Harsh’s own dates are only possible.
6. S2276Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee (Nashville, 1887), Sumner County biographies — sketch “Capt. Geo. Harsh”. Read 7 October 2026 as the Sumner County TNGenWeb transcription (retyped by a volunteer, 1999–2001), from the Internet Archive’s 2005 capture of rootsweb.com/~tnsumner/fahars.htm; the live page is gone; not the printed page. Probable George Harsh, son of Phillip and Madeline (Kahler) Harsh, born in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, in 1827; in 1851 he married Mary S. O. Guthrie, who died in 1855; in 1856 Miss “Tobithia” Newby of Smith County, by whom ten children, eight living: Phillip W., Mary A. (Mrs. W. W. Brown), Nathan J., Callie E., Lee Cheatham, George, R. N. Herbert and William G.; then Mrs. James K. Polk, daughter of William T. and Mary A. Edmonds of Memphis, by whom Thomas Walker and Alex Cyrus. A compiled county history, written from the family’s account in his lifetime. It agrees with Nathan’s death certificate (S503) on his mother and with the 1870 and 1880 households (S504, S588). It prints the second wife’s death as 1868 and the third marriage as 1869, which conflict with its own statement that Mrs. Polk first married in 1871 and with the 1870 household; the Find a Grave dates (died 9 December 1877; married 1878) are the better reading. No marriage record has been read.
7. S23531860 U.S. census, 23rd District, Davidson County, Tennessee (P.O. Goodlettsville), household of Geo Harsh. Ancestry record 19050682. Read from the image (Stage 2 batch 1019-0440, 19 Oct 2026). Confirmed Geo Harsh, 32, farmer, born in Pennsylvania; Mrs T., 25; Philip, 3; Mary, 1; Miss Guthrie, 18.
8. S2384Tennessee death certificate no. 22050, Thomas Walker Harsh, Memphis, 6 October 1946. Ancestry record 16112949. Read from the image (Stage 2 batch 1019-0655, 19 Oct 2026). Confirmed Born 16 September 1879 at Gallatin; a retired criminal-court judge; father George Harsh, mother Elizabeth Kirk Edmonds; wife Mary Read Harsh; buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Ancestry’s index reads the surname as “Harck”. The parents are given by an informant.