Ellwood Scott Harrar was the son of James Snodgrass Harrar and Lavina Aaron Jenkins.

Birth

January 3, 1840, in Horsham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

Marriage

On October 4, 1876, Ellwood Scott Harrar married Elizabeth Rebecca Aitken (1852-1925), daughter of Joseph Aitken and Mary Margaret Loughead.

Children

Ellwood Scott Harrar and Elizabeth Aitken had six children.

1. James Aitken Harrar. He was born on August 5, 1877, in Williamsport, Lycoming, Pennsylvania. He married Florence Lakewood Humiston. They were married on 15 Nov 1909 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio. Residence 1940 in 455 East 57th Street. He died on 26 Jan 1970 in Williamsport, Lycoming, Pennsylvania. Address was 455 East 57th Street, New York, New York. They had 2 children: Nancy and William.
2. Mary Adele Harrar. She was born on January 4, 1879, in Williamsport, Lycoming, Pennsylvania. She married James Chamberlin Furst. They were married on April 30, 1913. She died on July 18, 1968, in Centre County Hospital.
3. Mabel Harrar. She was born February 9, 1882. She never married. She died in 1961.
4. Lillian Aitken Harrar. She was born November 29, 1883. She never married. She died Aft. 1968.
5. Emily Harrar. She was born November 25, 1887. She never married. She died Aft. 1968.
6. Eleanor Harrar. She was born October 9, 1889. She died Aft. 1968.

Mabel, Lillian and Emily were the three sister maiden aunts of Ellwood Furst who lived together in the “Millionaire’s Row” house at 915 West Fourth Street in Williamsport, PA. Mabel ran a lamp shop out of the house.

Photo Gallery for Children and Grandchildren of Ellwood and Elizabeth Harrar

Education

The Normal School at Carversville, Bucks County, PA. (From “Harrar Genealogy: The John Harrar Family of Pennsylvania” by James Aitken Harrar, M.D., 1945, page 22.)

Occupation

Ellwood taught public school for three terms in 1858, 1859, and 1860. He then moved to Philadelphia in 1860 where he worked for a time in the auction house of Pancoast and Warnock, and later in the wholesale house of Hood Bonbright & Co. Finally in 1864 he secured a position in the passenger department of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1875 he was advanced to the position of General Passenger Agent at Williamsport, PA, where he remained until his death in 1907. (From “Harrar Genealogy: The John Harrar Family of Pennsylvania” by James Aitken Harrar, M.D., 1945, page 22.)

Residence

Ellwood was a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania, mostly in the counties of Montgomery and Lycoming.

1870

1880

In 1880 Ellwood, 38, is living in Williamsport on Edwin Street with wife Lilly, 24, and two children, James, 3, and Mary, 1. His occupation is ticket agent.

1907

Elwood and family lived in a large Italianate style home at 915 W. Fourth Street in Williamsport, PA. Built in the 1870’s by Samual and Emma Otto Filbert as a wedding present for their daughter, Mrs. Lucy Eutermarks, it was purchased in 1907 by the Harrars and remained in the family until 1982.

The house is located on what was known as “Millionaire’s Row.” In the late 1800’s, West Fourth Street was the crown jewel of Williamsport, when this city was home to more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the country. It was the lumber business and the lumber barons that contributed to the boom in home and church construction. See more about the house here.

Death

Ellwood died on Friday, October 25, 1907, in Lansdale, PA, while on a trip to visit his farm at Colmar.

Obituary

This document was passed down to me from family members without documentation so I don’t know where it came from.

At the Third Annual Meeting of the Association of Passenger Representatives of the Pennsylvania System held at Pittsburgh November 15th 1907, the following Minute was read adopted and ordered to be incorporated in the proceedings:

Ellwood S. Harrar, Division Ticket Agent of the Philadelphia and Erie Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, died at Colmar, Pa. on Friday, October 25, 1907. Mr. Harrar entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railroad as clerk in charge of the Foreign Ticket Department June 1st 1864, when the company occupied the present Lehigh Valley Railroad Building, 228 South Third Street, Philadelphia. Six years later he was advanced to the post of Chief Clerk to D. M. Boyd Jr. Assistant General Passenger and Ticket Agent and given special supervision over through rates. In 1870 he was placed in charge of the advertising of the company as Advertising Agent. Two years later he was promoted to the position of General Ticket Agent of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Division and the Northern Central Railway north of Harrisburg, with office at Williamsport, Pa. In 1881 the reorganization of the Passenger Department was effected by which Division Ticket Agents were appointed for each Grand Division as subordinate officials to the General Passenger Agent. In accordance with this action Mr. Harrar’s title was changed, but the field of his work remained the same and he continued in it to the date of his death.

Mr. Harrar was a man of fine sensibility, pure in heart and without guile. Of a nature gentle, but unafraid, he approached the problems of life with a firm purpose and he worked them out in that quiet, yet persistent and determined spirit which wins achievement with the least possible friction. A naturally intelligent mind he enriched by reading and observation and he brought to the execution of his work a mental equipment which was at once ready and comprehensive.

In his forty-three years of service, although at no time physically robust, he never quailed at his task, but made himself master of the conditions existing in the territory under his charge. His refunds were intelligent and thorough, his opinions mature and conservative, and his labors in the field active and unremitting.

His loyalty to the company was deep and true and his efforts to promote its interests by every honorable means never flagged.

The loss that the company has sustained in his death cannot be measured; the gaps which has been made in the ranks of this Association can be filled only in the hearts of its members who will always keep in kindest thought the memory of his many virtues.

J. Wood
Chairman

Burial

He was buried in the Montgomery Baptist churchyard at Colmar, the remains being later removed to Williamsport, PA, to rest alongside his wife.

Sources

• “Harrar Genealogy: The John Harrar Family of Pennsylvania” by James Aitken Harrar, M.D., 1945, page 22.