John Paxson Harlan

John Harlan Sr. and wife Mary watched over their Quaker family and farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania in the early-mid 1800s. They also felt blessed to have a successful tanyard, mill, and country store. The value of the farm’s real estate was listed as $10,000 on the 1850 census.

But of their eight children born, only four survived to adulthood and only two of those were boys. John’s father hoped his oldest son would continue in the family business, so he sent him to the Agricultural College of Pennsylvania, known today as Penn State University. However, by then the nation was divided and at war with itself. 

Pennsylvanians grew increasingly concerned in the spring of 1863 that Southern rebels might dare to invade the Commonwealth. The governor issued a call for militias to be formed in June, so John responded, as did many of his fellow students. And as students often are, they were too late. He signed up on July 1, the very day that Union troops engaged the enemy at Gettysburg. 

It was a bloody but brief fight as the Confederates were sent into retreat on July 3, never to step foot on Union soil again, so the volunteer militias weren’t needed. Officially, John was enlisted from July 1 until August 24, so he was released just in time for his return to college after a disappointing summer vacation. 

However, the 1864 college catalogue doesn’t show John as a student. One source says he lived for a time in West Chester, Pennsylvania before settling in Philadelphia. He made several attempts to find the right career, but one attempt at which he was most successful was finding a wife.

Elizabeth Fredd added Harlan to her name after their wedding on December 19, 1866. Their first son died at age 3, several months after their second son, George, was born in 1870. Three more would follow, Mary Ethel, Rachel, and Charles.

City directories listed the occupation of the former farmer’s son under “Flour, Feed, and Grain Dealers” in the 1870s. He then became a tax collector, operating under the authority of the Philadelphia City Commissioners.(Today their function is conducting elections and voter registration.) Collectors would assess property values and collect taxes from the owners. 

Newspaper stories from the 1880s reveal John also tried his hand as an attorney but he lost the few cases that were reported. By 1886 they lived in a large home at 4715 Chester Avenue and continued to employ a servant as they had since the 1870 census was taken. 

Honing his skill in assessing property values is what led him into the real estate field for the next 50 years. More than just owning a real estate agency, John played a big part in the development of finer homes in the 49th Street section of West Philadelphia, known today as Cedar Park. Shown here is how most homes in the neighborhood appear, a three-story “twin” in Queen Anne style architecture., often with a variety of turrets and decorative features.

A man who became a close associate of John’s was Horatio Pennock Connell. The Connell family was a true political dynasty, well known as real estate developers, and were also the co-founders of Mount Moriah Cemetery. While Horatio was serving the last of his four terms in the state legislature he invited John to be a member of the cemetery’s Board of Managers. 

He also encouraged John to be active in politics. In 1892, with Horatio’s support, John started a Republican “club,” an informal group of citizens who joined efforts to back certain candidates for local offices.

On a social level, both the Harlans and Connells were regular vacationers in Atlantic City where their daughters enjoyed the night life. They were also friends and neighbors; the Connells lived around the block at 4600 Kingsessing Avenue, and the two men were involved with the cemetery for the rest of their lives.

With his experience in collections, John was appointed to a three-year term on the city’s Board of Mercantile Appraisers in 1892. This five-person group had the task of keeping records of all business owners in their districts and setting taxes. They were particularly instructed to enumerate all taverns, saloons, and hotels and report those who were unlicensed to the District Attorney for prosecution.

His term was up in 1895, signaling an end to John’s career in collections. He did remain somewhat active in politics as a member of the 46th Ward Executive Committee. But he wasted no time in returning to the simpler job of selling and renting real estate. This is an advertisement for three of his rental properties that happened to be within a short walk of his house. His obituary says he also continued to provide a “valuable service to the local courts as an expert witness of valuations of property, both for the city and for many estates.”

Soon it was time for Marie Ethel Harlan to leave the nest. In 1896 she became the bride of Howard Bucknell, son of William, the late benefactor of Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Sadly, after giving birth to two boys, she died from kidney disease in 1902. (Howard’s mother was in the news a decade later; she was a passenger on the maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912 but survived after it sank.)

John’s connection to Mount Moriah might have paved the way for his other daughter to meet her future husband. Serving on the board with him was John Hunter. This link to his notable story includes the story of his son, Dr. John Wilson Hunter, who married Rachel Harlan in 1912.

There’s no reason to believe John ever stopped being active in the realty business although the pace was slower when he was in his 80s. Prostate cancer ended his life in 1928, 13 months after his friend Horatio died.

Elizabeth had died of heart disease in 1918, and that was the same cause of death for the three remaining children. They were all living in the family home after the Second World War. It was from that home, the home that was newly built for them in 1885, that each was buried in their father’s plot: Charles in 1951, Rachel in 1957 and George in 1960. (The home where they once lived is now a vacant lot, but is appreciated by the neighbors as the home of the Chester Avenue Community Garden.)