Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Harbaugh, Henry

HARBAUGH, Henry, clergyman, b. near Waynesborough, Pa., 28 Oct., 1817; d. in Mercersburg, Pa., 28 Dec, 1867. He taught to obtain means to enter college, and studied at Mercersburg, Pa., but was unable to finish either a classical or theological course. He was ordained in 1843, and installed as pastor of the German Reformed church at Lewisburg, Pa., and in 1850 accepted a call to the church at Lancaster, Pa., where he remained until his removal to Lebanon in 1860. In 1863 he was appointed by his synod professor of theology at the Mercersburg seminary. He occupied this chair until his death, which was occasioned by undue mental exertion. In his theological views Dr. Harbaugh was the foremost representative of the school that emphasized the efficacy of the ments and the priestly character of the ministry. He founded the “Guardian,” and was its editor for seventeen years, compiled numerous church almanacs, edited “The Child's Treasury,” contributed a great number of sketches to the German Reformed church “Cyclopaedia,” and at the time of his death edited the “Mercersburg Review,” and was one of the staff of the “Reformed Church Messenger.” He also wrote quaint poems in the German Pennsylvania dialect. He published “Heaven, or the Sainted Dead” (Philadelphia, 1848); “Heavenly Recognition” (1851); “The Heavenly Home” (1853); “Union with the Church” (1853); “Birds of the Bible” (1854); “Life of Rev. Richard Schlatter” (1857); “The Fathers of the German Reformed Church” (1858); “The True Glory of Woman, and a Plea for the Lord's Portion of a Christian's Wealth” (1860); “The Golden Censer” (1860); “Hymns and Chants” (Lebanon, 1861); and “Christological Theology” (Philadelphia, 1864).