DEWITT HARMON
Biography written in 1900
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DeWitt Harmon, now serving as county engineer of Forsyth County in his sixth year, is a successful business man at Kernersville and
is one of the well known figures in the public life of his native county. Mr. Harmon for many years was engaged in railroad
engineering, and therefore brings a vast amount of training and experience to his present official position.
Mr. Harmon is a native of Kernersville. His grandfather, Appollus Harmon, was born in Suffield, Connecticut, of colonial ancestry. He
was reared and educated in his native state, but when a young man came to North Carolina and at Kernersville met and married
Salome Kerner. Several years later they went back to Connecticut, but eventually returned to Kernersville, where Appollus Harmon
located on land inherited by his wife. He was there engaged in farming and remained a resident until his death at the age of
sixty-seven. His wife, Salome Kerner, was the daughter of Joseph and Christina (Cosner) Kerner. Excepting for the few years she
lived in Connecticut, she was a life long resident of Kernersville.
Julius Sheldon Harmon, father of DeWitt, was born at Kernersville in 1824. Part of his early education was acquired in Connecticut,
and at an early age he was apprenticed to learn the trade of millwright. He inherited studious tastes, was a great reader, and though
he had little opportunity for formal schooling he acquired a very thorough education. For a time he taught school. Besides teaching
he worked at his trade as millwright and also did surveying. His home for the greater part of his life was at Kernersville, where he died
in 1891. The maiden name of his wife was Antoinette Kerner, daughter of Phillip Kerner. Their four children were Cora, Della, DeWitt
and Tilla E. The first two are now deceased. Tilla is a graduate of Salem College and is a successful music teacher. She and her
brother now occupy the old homestead at Kernersville.
DeWitt Harmon had the advantages of the grammar and high schools of Kernersville, and at the age of eighteen he had qualified as
a teacher. His first term was taught in the Pine Grove School in Kernersville Township. After two years as clerk with the general
merchandise firm of Beard & Roberts at Kernersville he was offered a position in the Moravian School at Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and
he taught there three terms. Resigning he took up an active outside work more to his liking and became identified with the
engineering corps during the construction of the Richmond & Danville Railroad. He began as a chain and stake bearer, and having
much ability at mathematics and being eager for advancement, he was promoted until he became assistant to the engineer of the
maintenance department of the road. Many responsibilities were given to him in the engineering work. For five years Mr. Harmon had
his headquarters at Asheville, North Carolina. He was then assigned to the Georgia department, with headquarters at Savannah, and
remained then until 1891. On the death of his father he resigned from the railroad and returned home. He had in the meantime
acquired an interest in a flouring mill near Kernersville, and 1897 he erected the Kernersville Roller Mills, equipped with all the
modem machinery and facilities for the manufacture of high grade patent flour. That is one of the chief industries of that part of
Forsyth County, and Mr. Harmon still operates the plant.
His public spirit has led him into active connection with public affairs. For several years he served as one of the Board of
Commissioners of Kernersville and also on the local School Board. He was a member of that board when the fine schoolhouse was
erected. In 1912, by act of the Legislature, he was appointed a member of the Board of Highway Commissioners of Forsyth County,
and in that position his training as an engineer has given him much influence and has enabled him to serve the community with a
thorough Professional skill. Since he became a member of the board many improvements have been made on the roads and several
bridges built. For four years he was a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and in that time several miles of macadam
road and the County Home was built.
Found the following names in a book "North Carolina Petitions for Presidential Pardons, 1865-1868, An Index," Russel S. Koonts
comp., 1995
For Forsyth County,
George V. Fulp, postmaster at White Road
John H. Hester, postmaster at Kernersville
Robert L. Walker, postmaster at Walkertown
John Henry Hester served as postmaster in Kernersville before and during the Civil War. According to the records of the
Postmaster General of the United States , he was named postmaster in Kernersville on February 18, 1858, succeeding John F.
Kerner. He held this position until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, at which time he was designated by the Confederate
States of America as postmaster of the town. He held this office until it was closed on April 30, 1865 following the termination of
hostilities. As reported in the November 4, 1865 edition of the People’s Press, John H. Hester and several other Forsyth County
men were issued pardons by the Federal Government, presumably for activities on behalf of the Confederacy.
Contributed by Michael Marshall