Thomas Samuel was born at the home of his father, James White Harlan. Thomas S. was a planter and farmer. Family tradition was that the home was named Glendower and sold by James White for Confederate money. This may or may not be true. Glendower is still standing and is in use in Glendower, VA. It is more likely that James White Harlan owned some of the land that later made up Glendower, but no the portion that contained the main house.
The family then moved to a place called Meadowbrook and burned to the ground leaving them nothing. The family of Thomas S. then moved to West Virginia (Bath County) where they resided until 1881 when they moved to Henry County, Kentucky (now probably Carroll County) on a farm between Ghent and Warsaw. In the latter years of his life, he and his wife, Mary Fleming, lived at La Grange, Kentucky, in the house where his son Edgar Leslie Harlan later lived. His wife, Mary Fleming, was his first cousin once removed.
Thomas fought on the Confederate side in the Civil War. He enlisted in the C Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, Virginia on April 17, 1861 in Scottsville, VA
Obituary of Thomas Samuel Harlan
Our beloved friend and neighbor, Thomas S. Harlan, lives today only in the hearts of friends, and indeed tenderly enshrined is he there. When worn and weary with life’s afflictions, he laid down its burden to be clothed upon with immortality.
An exchange of a body full of disease for one glorified and immortal is a happy exchange, and enriches by far the receiver, and paints its lilies of hope on the tender, susceptible tablets of the hear, and is harmonious blending teacher Christ the sinners, the one who, with ransomed love, breaks the fetters of sin and gives immortal beauty and freedom to the spirit of man.
The subject of this sketch, loved and honored by all, first beheld the light of day in a palatial home in Albemarle county, Va., the day of his birth being July 21, 1829. He came of a family of noble ancestry, rocked in the luxury, the slave him and faithfully did his bidding. Reverses later in life overtook him, consequently acquainting him with more than one side of life. He served four years in the Civil War, and under the stars and stripes fought a valiant fight for the Confederacy,. He married to his surviving wife May 5, 195-, and nearly fifty years of connubial was their happy portion. There was born to them seven children – six sons and one daughter, the latter having died in infancy. There are left the faithful wife, the dutiful sons, and an affectionate sister, to morn their loss. Bro. Harlan united with the Christian Church in Buckner, Ky., five years ago, and was baptized by Bro. W. T. Wells. While always a good man, strictly moral in his habits of life, yet since confessing Christ, he had been faithful and devoted to the church. He was a true husband, a noble brother and indulgent father, a typical neighbor, a faithful friend. God bless and direct the lingering feet in the way of righteousness, and the pearly gates at last to stand, and join hands and hearts as on unbroken family.
LaGrange, Ky., G. W. Nutter
Relationship of Thomas Samuel Harlan and His Wife, Mary Fleming (Harlan) Harlan
