Individual Details
Elisha Harrington
(1754 - 1829)
Tradition states that while still in Rhode Island, Elisha was approached by a land agent from Warren County, NY and was shown a quantity of small beech nuts which were represented as being buck wheat grown in Warren County. This inducement brought him to Warren County, NY; a virgin wilderness with no roads wider than a path. His nearest store and grist mill were located on Half Way Brook, some 12 miles away in Queensbury Town. It is said that on one occasion, he had gone to the mill alone, but with an extra pack horse, and having experienced some delay, was returning home late in the evening. Driving ahead of him in the narrow trail, the pack horse burdened with a quarter of fresh beef; wolves attracted by the odor pursued him and the situation soon became critical. With his hunting knife, he occasionally sliced off a hunk of meat and threw it back on the trail, and while the wolves fought over it, he continued to lash his horses to their utmost speed.
The good wife, Dorcas, from the home in the little forest clearing near the top of the mountain, heard the howl of the wolves as it grew to a roar and echoed along and across the mountains, knew well the meaning. Quickly, she and the children gathered brush and wood and built a large bonfire in the door yard. In the course of a few minutes they waited until they saw the foaming and panting horses dash from the blackness of the forest into the glow of the home fireside and into safety.
During a winter, a yearling heifer had died in the log barn, a few paces from the house. After a day or two the wolves began to feed on the dead heifer at night. Elisha left the door open and fastened a rope to it, and with the other end of the rope attached to a cross beam near the roof of the barn. After supper he instructed his son, Elisha, Jr. to sit on the beam and hold the rope and pull the door shut as soon as several volves came in. In the early part of the evening he pulled the rope and caught four wolves, but Elisha Jr. dared not dismount from his perch until daybreak when his father came and thrust the muzzle of the long bar rifle through the cracks between the logs of the barn and shot the two remaining wolves. The other two had been killed in the fight that followed when the wolves found that they were in confinement.
The old log residence was one room, 16 feet by 20 feet, with one door and no windows, and a large stone fireplace used both for heating and cooking. In the ceiling was a square hole and a latter nailed to the wall which led to the dark loft in which the children slept (there were 14). It was at this home in about 1820 Dorcas made the pronouncement "The nest is too full" whereupon, Elisha provided a team of oxen and a covered wagon for four of the fourteen children and they went west presumably to Ohio.
The good wife, Dorcas, from the home in the little forest clearing near the top of the mountain, heard the howl of the wolves as it grew to a roar and echoed along and across the mountains, knew well the meaning. Quickly, she and the children gathered brush and wood and built a large bonfire in the door yard. In the course of a few minutes they waited until they saw the foaming and panting horses dash from the blackness of the forest into the glow of the home fireside and into safety.
During a winter, a yearling heifer had died in the log barn, a few paces from the house. After a day or two the wolves began to feed on the dead heifer at night. Elisha left the door open and fastened a rope to it, and with the other end of the rope attached to a cross beam near the roof of the barn. After supper he instructed his son, Elisha, Jr. to sit on the beam and hold the rope and pull the door shut as soon as several volves came in. In the early part of the evening he pulled the rope and caught four wolves, but Elisha Jr. dared not dismount from his perch until daybreak when his father came and thrust the muzzle of the long bar rifle through the cracks between the logs of the barn and shot the two remaining wolves. The other two had been killed in the fight that followed when the wolves found that they were in confinement.
The old log residence was one room, 16 feet by 20 feet, with one door and no windows, and a large stone fireplace used both for heating and cooking. In the ceiling was a square hole and a latter nailed to the wall which led to the dark loft in which the children slept (there were 14). It was at this home in about 1820 Dorcas made the pronouncement "The nest is too full" whereupon, Elisha provided a team of oxen and a covered wagon for four of the fourteen children and they went west presumably to Ohio.
Events
| Birth | 1754 | Scituate,Providence,Rhode Island | |||
| Marriage | Abt 1774 | Guilford, Windham, Vermont - Dorcas Thomas | |||
| Death | 1829 | Warrensburg, Warren, New York |
Families
| Spouse | Dorcas Thomas (1754 - 1843) |
| Child | Garner Harrington (1779 - ) |
| Child | Joseph Harrington (1790 - ) |
| Father | Captain Jonathan Harrington (1705 - 1785) |
| Mother | Sarah Foster (1717 - 1787) |
| Sibling | Stephen Harrington (1740 - 1812) |
| Sibling | Rufus Harrington (1743 - 1821) |
| Sibling | Matthew Harrington (1745 - 1828) |
| Sibling | Mercy Harrington (1747 - 1823) |
| Sibling | Jonathan Harrington (1747 - 1813) |
| Sibling | Daniel Harrington (1748 - 1801) |
| Sibling | Sarah Harrington (1750 - ) |
| Sibling | Hannah Harrington (1754 - ) |
| Sibling | Job Harrington (1759 - 1834) |