Will

• Harbin (Harben), William, yeoman, Prince George County, 25th March, 1733; 14th May, 1733,
• To son John and hrs., 1/6 pt (50 A.) "The Gleaning"' on Goose Ck.
• To 2nd son William and hrs., 3rd son Elisha and hrs., 4th son James and hrs.., 5th son Joshua and hrs., 6th and last son Edward Willias [Villers] Harben and hrs, each 50 A. of afsd. tract.; shd. any die without issue survivors to divide portion of dec'd.
• To 6 sons afsd. and 3 daus. (unnamed) residue of personalty.
• To wife Mary extx. use of dwelling plantation during life. Testator directs that he be buried at the Church as near as possible to his Pew.
• Test: John Allison, Anne Young, John Flint. 20.672

  ---

WILLIAM HARBIN Will 1733

• In the name of God Amen.The Twenty Fifth Day of March in the Year of our Lord, one Thousand Seven Hundred and Thirty Three. I, William Harbin of Prince George County in the province of Maryland Yeoman being sick in body, but of good and perfect memory thanks be to the Almighty God and calling to Remembrance the uncertain Estate of this transtorey life, and that all Flesh must yield unto Death where it shall please God to Call Do make Constitute ordain and Declare this to be my last Will and Testament in manner and form following revoking and annulling by these Presents all kind every Testaments and Testaments Will and Wills heretofore by me and made and Declared either by Word or Will and Testament and none other, and first being penitent and sorry from the bottom of m,y heart for my sins past most humbly desiring forgiveness for ye same.
• I give and commit my soul unto Almighty God my Savior and Redeemer in whom and by the Merritts of Jesus Christ I trust and believe assuredly to be saved and to have full Remission and forgiveness of all my sins, and that my soul with my body at the General Day of Resurrection shall rise again with Joy and Through the merits of Christ's Death and Passion shall possess and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven prepared for his Elect and Chosen, and my body to be buried in such place wherer it shall please my Exc's hereafter named to appoint.
• And now for the settling of my Temporrall Estate and such Chatties as it hath pleased Almighty God far above my Deserts top bestow upon me.
• I do order give and dispose the same in manner and form following that is to say first I will that all those Debts or Duties that I owe in Right or Conscience to any Person whatever shall be well and truly payed within convenient time after my decease by my Executrix hereafter named.
• Item i do give and bequeath unto my son John Harbin one sixth part of a parcel of land being part of Tract of Land called the Gleaning lying on Goose Creek. Content three hundred acres (viy) fifty acres to him and his Heirs forever.
• Item I do give and bequeath unto my son William Harbin one sixth part of the aforesaid parcel of Land lying as afs'd (viy). Fifty acres of land to him and his Heirs forever.
• Item I do give and bequeath my third son Elisha Harbin one sixth p[art of the aforesaid Tract lying as aforesaid (viy) fifty acres of Land to him and his Heirs forever.
• Item I do give and bequeath my fourth son James Harbin one sixth part of the aforesaid parcel of land as aforesaid (viy) Fifty acres of Land to him and his Heirs forever.
• Item I do give and bequeath to my fifty son Joshua Harbin one sixthpart of the aforesaid Tract or Parcel of Land lying as aforesaid (viy) Fifty acres of Land to him and his Heirs forever.
• Item I do give and bequeath to my sixth and last son Edward Villias Harbin one sixth part of ye aforesaid parcel of land lying as aforesaid (viy) fifty acres of land to him and his Heirs forever and if in case any of them should die without children either one or more than his or their parts to be Divided equally amongst the other that survives them. To him, them or any of them and their Heirs forever.
• Item I further five and bequeath all the rest (viy) of my moveable goods and chattles that they may equally be divided amongst them. (viy) my six sons and three daughters for to have one ninth part every one to have one equally part of them.
• Item i do will and desire that my well beloved wife may have the dwelling plantation during her natural life and I further desire, that my body may be buried at the church as near as possible to the seat or pew where I used to sit in without unnecessary charges.
• I further appoint Mary Harbin my well beloved wife my whole and sole Executrix of this amy Last Will and Testament.
• William (X) Harbin (Seal) made Signed Sealed Published and Declared to be his Last Will and Testament in Presence of us John Allison Ann (X) Young mark John Flint
• Memorandos --The Annint to the interlining in the aforegoing Will was l0th line was before the the following signing and sealing. Probate thus written facts.May 14, 1733
• Then came John Allison and Ann Young two subscribing Evidences to the within Will and made oath on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God that they saw and heard Wm. Harbin the Dece'd Testaton sign seal publish and declare the within Will to be his last Will and Testament and at the time of so doing he was of sound and perfect memory. To the best of their apprehension and in his presence and at his request they subscribed the same as evidence and they believe the other subscribing evidence say and heard the same as they did--- sworn before. Pet Dept. Depty Com of Prince George County.

  ---

The Gleaning Plantation

New information added on 10/02/1997, regarding the location of the Nation's Capitol and White House in Washington DC on or next to the first Harbin-owned land in America:

The first encounter with what turned out to be our Harbin ancestor in Prince George's County, MD was on the 27th day of June.

1709. A William Harbin witnessed the will of Elizabeth Blanford.

Professional genealogists agree that this William Harbin was the progenitor of the Harbins in America who spread south and west out of MD. Prince George's County MD was formed in 1696 and it contained all of what would later become the District of Columbia and Washington DC. The city of Washington and the Potomac River and streams flowing into it figured prominently in the records of William Harbin and his family. The records of Rock Creek Church in Washington, located north of the capitol between Capitol St. and New Hampshire Ave. contain historical evidence of the births, marriages, and deaths of Harbins descending from this William Harbin.

On 4 April 1717, Thomas Eletchall of Prince George's County received a land patent of 600 acres from Charles II of England. It was described as "all that tract of land called The Gleanings lying in the said county and on the west side of a stream Goose Creek". Thomas Eletchall died in July 1717. William Harbin had already given him 45 pounds sterling for 300 acres of that tract. Fletchall's wife, Ann, had to sell the land to Harbin to ger money ro sarisfy a debt to Charles Beall, as follows:

"William Harbin from Charles Beall and Ann Fletchall, 9 December 1717. This indenture made today between Charles Beall and Ann Elerchall, Executrix of the last will and testament of Thomas Eletchall late of P.G. Co., deceased, on the one parr and William Harbin of P.G.Co., on the other part witnesses that the said Beall and Flerchall for 45 pounds sterling already heretofore paid to Thomas Fletchall late of this county, and to the said Beall whereas is now remaining a debt on the estate, all that part or tract of land called The Gleanings lying in P.C. Co. on Goose Creek beginning at a bounded hickory the second bound tree of John Pearce's containing 300 acres more or less."

William continued to call his land The Gleanings, although he owned only half of the original tract. William was appointed a Warden of Rock Creek Church in December of 1726. He was appointed Vestryman in April 1727. On 25 Mar 1733, William Harbin made his will which was proven on 14 May 1733. He appointed his wife Mary as Executrix and it was witnessed by John Allison, Ann Young, and John Elint. This will left SQ acres each out of a tract called The Gleanings on Goose Creek to his six sons.

A search at the Maryland hall of records located "the church" referred to by William. The Rock Creek Church was the parish church of Prince George's Parish, and the only one there, so it had to be William's church. A cursory check of maps of the DC area could not locate a Goose Creek, so it was set aside for later research. Rock Creek, and Rock Creek Park and Parkway, are famous landmarks in DC. The creek flows down through the park, along the parkway, and into the Potomac just west of the Lincoln Memorial. Other Harbin researchers had assumed that Goose Creek was another name for Rock Creek. This was not so. Research proved that a Goose Creek had existed at that time.

It was found that the parish records, dating back to 1710, were preserved at the Washington Diocese and copies were available for research by the public at Rock Creek Church. These records, combined with wills, estates, deeds, and court minutes, provided a goodly amount of data on the two wives, six sons, and three daughters of our ancestor, William Harbin I

Let us take a look at this Goose Creek situation. As pointed out, we checked modern maps and some old ones for a Goose Creek without any luck. We did find a Goose Island in the Potomac River. Given that William Harbin and his family were members of the early Rock Creek Parish Church, we felt that the land and Goose Creek should be nearby. In the early days and prior to the formation of the district, the area where the nation's capitol is now located was low and marshy with a large tidal basin where the capitol building, the Mall, and the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials now stand. With some searching of the national archives and the MD hall of records, we slowly put the history together.

A map was located "showing the location of Farm Tracts and early Proprietors in the period 1751-1792 on the site of the later city of Washington, DC". The map showed Goose Creek flowing down through the area where Rock Creek Church is located and flowing into the tidal basin where the Capitol building now stands. And then an article by Howard K. Smith essentially completed our research for us. The Capitol of our nation, and its seat of government was moved in the summer of 1800 from Philadelphia to its primitive location in the newly designated District of Columbia. After the capitol had been established, a farmer named Pope came to own quite a bit of land on Goose Creek. He could not resist calling his farm Rome, and renaming the creek the Tiber, and so be did. A few later maps refer to the creek as "Goose Creek or Tiber Creek". Eventually all reference to Goose Creek disappeared. Tiber Creek became a canal (Canal Street) and then was later buried where it flowed under the Capitol Building, alongside the Mall, and into the Potomac. Beneath the National Archives Building, huge pumps operate to safe guard the foundation from waters of the old Goose/Tiber Creek

The search was continued in an effort to locate exactly where the Gleanings lay relative to Goose/Tiber Creek and the city of Washington. Had there not been a survey dispute, in 1800, between Charles Beatty and Nolley Young, we would probably never know. The file containing the detailed survey maps was in the MD Hall of Records. This records revealed that John, William, and Elisha sold their 50 acres each to John McLean in 1739. Joshua sold his to George Vandever in 1752. Vandever sold it to Edward Harbin in 1757. James sold his 50 acres to Edward in 1765, 50 Edward was the last Harbin owner of the 150 acres. In the meantime, John McLean sold his shares to Charles Beatty. So Beatty and Young owned what had been the Harbin share of The Gleanings and immediately got into a survey dispute. A Mr. West owned the other 300 acres. The Gleanings lay north to south along Goose Creek. It was roughly rectangular and approximately 7300 feet long north to south and 2300 feet wide east to west. The 300 acres owned by the Harbin family was the southern half. The lower boundary of which ran east to west about where the Capitol building and the White House now stand. William Harbin paid 45 pounds sterling for that 300 acres in 1717. That land today in Washington DC has a worth in the Billions of dollars. Who would have ever thought that our nation's capitol would be located in that Maryland swamp?

(Thanks to Mr. Thomas L. Hair of Fort Walton Beach, Florida for the details of this research.)

References

• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/9KB2-DTB
• https://www.colonial-settlers-md-va.us/getperson.php?personID=I1523...

  ---

• Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jan 5 2023, 16:25:23 UTC

Other sources claim that William was son of Capt. Francis Harben, owner of the ship "Owner's Adventure" that he sailed back and forth between England and Maryland. From Dorset, England. d. 1699. Married Elizabeth Smith on 1681. See book Confederate Spies at Large by John Stewart.