Harkness, Robert

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Harkness, Robert

1833-1883

The eldest suriving son of John Harkness and Catherine Fetterly, Robert Harkness was born in "Drunnard", the name of the family home, Matilda Township, on 18 October 1833. After attending primary school, and showing no interest in farming, his father established him in a general store, located in an old stone building, in Iroquois, Ontario. According to the family biographer, Robert, "although obviously intelligent [was] referred to often as 'erratic', given to drink and gambling, [viewed as] something of a womanizer and not at all practical."Ultimately, the store failed, but before that, at the age of twenty-three, he fell in love with, and married, on 2 June 1856, seventeen year old, Sabrina Wood, who, "in spite of his many faults ... stuck to him loyally and became the only real anchor in his life." Over the next few years, three children were born: Effie Ernestine (1857), Robert Dunbar (1859), and Katie (1862). Wunderlust, however, was strong within Robert Harkness, and in "the spring of 1862 he jumped at the chance to leave his young family, abandon his responsibilities as eldest son and leave his brother Adam to settle his failing business affairs", and joined an expedition of young adventurers, (the Overlanders) heading west in search of gold. Over the next four years, he experienced hardship and drudgery -- punctuated by moments of responsibility and authority, such as the time he was made Captain of the Overlander raft, and which he negotiated safely down the treacherous Fraser River -- in towns in Western Canada, such as Fort Edmonton, Quesnel, Richfield, Williams Lake, the Cariboo, and New Westminster. Having had no luck whatsoever in the goldfields, he finally returned home, in the autumn of 1865, to his wife and family. Another son (Frederic Bruce), was born 25 September 1866, but Robert was still restless, and after usurping his wife's teaching position, he again drifted into other employemnt. The position of Township Clerk was followed by that of Justice of the Peace, and there was also an extended trip, on his own, to Ireland. Nine months after his return from that country, another son (Jefferson Davis, 7 May 1871) was born. Robert Harkness then turned his attentions to innkeeping and for the next ten years struggled to keep a hostelry open in Inkerman, Ontario. In 1881, he moved his entire family to the shores of the Bay Quinte and Picton, Ontario, where he took over publishing and editing "The Picton Times". Sadly, two years later, on 27 October 1883, Robert Harkness' own obituary (he died 21 October 1883) appeared in his paper.

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