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Harlan Family Association

The Harlan Family in America Association was formed in 1987 in conjunction with a national family reunion held in Delaware, to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the immigration of George and Michael Harlan. The purpose of the organization is to document and perpetuate the history and genealogy of the family.

The primary activity of the family is the semi-annual publication of a newsletter called the Harlan Record. The newsletter serves as the means for communicating information about Harlan history and Harlan family members and Harlan family activities. The Record also publishes inquiries for those doing research on their Harlan heritage.

Membership in the family organization is free but we encourage those who can afford to do so to send a yearly contribution.  Please send your contributions to:

The Harlan Family in America
P. O. Box 1654
Independence, MO 64055

Changes of address and additions to the mailing list may also be sent to this address or may be e-mailed to Ruth Harlan Lamb, Secretary, at harlamb@aol.com

The official Harlan archives are kept at the Chester County Historical Society, West Chester, Pennsylvania. Here our descendents will be able to find copies of materials from the national reunions held in 1987, 1997 and 2002.

The Mission of the Harlan Family In America 1998

Our family heritage organization exists for two comprehensive reasons. One is philosophical. The other is operational.

I. Philosophy

Throughout human history, the single most powerful force for our welfare, protection and happiness has been, simply, the Family.

The influence of the human family has been unfortunately illustrated by the cascading social and human behavior problems of our 20th Century. Sadly, these problems are directly proportional to the massive increase in the number of dysfunctional American families.

Therefore an important purpose of the Harlan Family in America is to project and communicate, by our example, the importance and benefits of the human family to the human experience. Our goal is to define the character, values, heritage and traditions of the generations of families in America bearing the names of Harlan, Harland, Harlin and Harlen.

We will accomplish this by continuing to develop the bonds of our own extended Harlan Family throughout America and wherever Harlans may be living in other countries. In so doing, we will demonstrate the pride, the sense of belonging, and the security that flows from being, simply, a member of the family that cares about its own.  

II. Specific Organizational Objectivers

As our family heritage organization continues to mature, our specific operational objectives will of course be subject to change. At this time in our development, the following are the essential areas on which we will focus:

 • Continue to identify new Harlan Family members, descendants of George, Michael and Thomas, and those Harlans whose surnames have changed with marriage. Our task is to let them know of our Harlan Family Organization that is available to them, and to encourage them to join;

 • Continue to build strength and interest among our members by frequently communicating information about the Family, its current activities and plans, its history and heritage with all available means: local, national and regional reunions; newsletters and other direct mail; website, etc., and encourage communication among individual family members;

 • Continue to develop genealogical resources and knowledge to identify our history and heritage both in America and in Britain, and to discover and preserve—via historians and genealogists—history, documents, memorabilia and records;

 • Identify and preserve Harlan historical sites which have influenced our Family, in our country and abroad, such as the Harlan–Lincoln Home, the Delaware Landing Site, the Brandywine Area, and Harlan sites in England and Ireland, and promote family gatherings and travel to these sites;

 • Maintain a strong and efficient organization with an adequate and sound financial base and a repository for Family information, and have regular meetings and communication among Board Members and all other Harlans involved;

 • Create and foster all other activities that will enable members of the Harlan Family to be good, responsible and productive citizens of this land.

Harlan Family In America Officers

Key People in Harlan Family Association

Daniel Harlan - Coordinator of Celebration 300 and past president of the Harlan Family Association of America

In the mid-1980s, Dan Harlan of Maine began wondering whether any plans were underway to celebrate in 1987 the 300th anniversary of the arrival in America of George Harlan(d) and family, and brother Michael. Hearing of no such plans, he initiated and coordinated Celebration 300, the American Harlan Family Tricentennial in New Castle, Delaware, the landing site of the brothers.

Dan was born in Ohio in 1923, the son of a Methodist pastor and has academic degrees from American University in Washington DC (BS in Communication) and Boston University School of Theology (Master of Divinity). In addition to a pastoral career serving United Methodist churches in Maine, Maryland, Alaska and New Mexico, Dan has been an agricultural economist with the US Department of Agriculture and retired in 1985 as Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture of the State of Maine.

He is married to the former Mary Ann Austin of Washington, DC, and the couple has four daughters: Christina Harlan of North Carolina, Karen Marysdaughter of Maine, Rachel Harlan of Virginia and Natalie Harlan of Arizona. They have four grandchildren. Dan and Mary Ann live in Virginia.

John R. Harlan- Treasurer of the Harlan Family Association of America

More than a year before the Harlan Celebration 300 in 1987, John Robert Harlan of Augusta, Georgia, agreed to receive contributions toward the financing of the Tricentennial. When officers for the Harlan Association were elected and the organization incorporated, John continued to serve as secretary/treasurer.

He was born in Hagerstown, IN, the son of George and Mary Hilts Harlan. He received a B.A. degree from Wabash College, Class of 1950, and became project manager for Bullock Construction Company until 1952. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1952, was commissioned a 2nd Lt. Corps of Engineers in 1953 and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1972. His decorations include Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Army Commendation medal, the Meritorious Service medal and others.

John is president of several real estate investment corporations and has done volunteer work with the Boy Scouts of America and the Richmond County, GA, Heart Association. He is a member of various realtor organizations, including the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors. John and Annette Duggan were married in 1960, and the couple has three children: Nancy Antoinette, Matthew Duggan and Jane Stanley. Since 1972 he has been with Sherman & Hemstreet, Inc., a commercial real estate company and is currently Vice President, Industrial Properties.

At the 1997 Harlan Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, John R. Harlan consented to continue serving as secretary/treasurer of the Harlan Family Association.

Junior F. Harlan - Vice President/Web Site Coordinator

Junior became involved with the Harlan Association by attending the 300th national reunion in Delaware. After taking several Harlan trips, he became co-coordinator for the 315th national reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. At that event he was elected a member of the board, and later became Vice President and reunion site coordinator. He also holds the position of Genealogy Director on the Harlan Web site.

He was born July, 1936, at Peoria, Ill., a son of Harold and Mildred Hunkler Harlan. After high school, he graduated from Browns Peoria School of Business, majoring in business management. He was employed by Caterpillar Inc., retiring after 40 years of service in 1996 and moved to Scottsdale, Ariz. For most of his years at Caterpillar, he worked in Information Services. He had been active in Boy Scouts, serving as Cub Master.

Junior married Dorothy McLaughlin in August, 1959, in Chillicothe, Ill., and they have two sons, David Harlan of Ariz. and Steven Harlan of Colo.

Katherine M. Harlan – Board Member

Katherine volunteered to help at the 2002 Brandywine Valley reunion after enjoying the discovery of the extended Harlan family at the 1987 reunion. She became a board member in 2004.

Born in Beaumont, TX, Katherine moved to Atlanta, GA during high school. She majored in French at Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and earned an MBA at Boston University. She spent 20 years in food marketing, including a stint as Vice President of Marketing at Mrs. Smith’s Frozen Foods, a subsidiary of Kellogg’s. Since that time she has had an eclectic career of working at an education services agency, teaching at the local university, consulting in marketing and strategic planning, volunteering at several community non-profit organizations, and writing restaurant reviews.

She lives in Chester County, PA, with her husband, Bruce Mowday, who is an author of local history books and the owner of a media relations firm.

Robert A. Harlan - Board Member

Bob has been a board member for The Harlan Family in America since 1999. He served as co-coordinator for the national Harlan reunion held in Brandywine Valley, Pa., in 2002.

He was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating in 1966 with a BA degree from Central Methodist College in Fayette, Mo., he taught and coached at a junior high school in Ohio. He joined the U.S. Army in 1969 and spent the next twenty years at various assignments around the world, including two tours in Germany and one in Vietnam. He and his family flew from Germany to attend the 1987 national Harlan reunion in Delaware. After retiring he worked for the U. S. Post Office for several years and has been active with the National Ski Patrol. Today he enjoys his life as a grandfather and cares for numerous animals on their farm.

Bob lives with his wife, Cindy, in Greensburg, Pa. They have three children: Becky Shavel of Pennsylvania, who was Hospitality Chairman at the 2002 national Harlan reunion; Scott of Wisconsin; and Elizabeth of Virginia. They have two grandchildren, Nicholas and Julia Shavel.

Tom and Marylee Harlan - Editors of The Harlan Record from 1987-1999; Tom - Past President of the Harlan Family Association of America

Tom and Marylee, Washington, have had a role in the Harlan Family organization since the working committee met to plan for the 300-year-reunion. As well as helping plan and staff that event held in New Castle in 1987, they arranged for the reprint of Alpheus Harlan’s 1914 genealogy book.

After the highly successful reunion, they agreed to be editors of the national newsletter. Soliciting ideas from family members, it was agreed that the name of the publication should be “The Harlan Record” since this was the name of the original newsletter printed in the early 1900s. "The Harlan Record” has been printed annually since 1988.

The national family organization was incorporated by Lane Harlan in Missouri under the name of “Celebration 300”, the name given the reunion. Tom agreed to serve as President. At the 310th reunion held in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Tom retired from this position and was replaced by Dan Harlan of New Mexico. Tom is currently a member of the Board of Directors.

Tom and Marylee live on Harstine Island in Puget Sound. He was educated at Washington State University and Lewis and Clark College and worked for the US Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest and Washington DC. He is retired and has many hobbies, including playing the bagpipes in the Olympia Highlanders Bagpipe Band.

Marylee was educated at Washington State University and worked in management positions for the Office of Personnel Management and US Customs Service. She is involved in a number of community organizations.

William K. Harlan - Board Member

Bill is a fifth-generation Californian and grew up in Watsonville on Monterey Bay. His great-great-grandfather, George [#852], led a wagon train over the Hastings Trail in 1846 and into the state. His great-grandfather, Elisha [#2995] and grandfather, Leroy [#7447], were cattle ranchers in Fresno County in the San Joaquin Valley. His father, Keith, was an engineer.

Bill was educated in local schools and then earned B.A. and M.A. degrees at University of California, Berkeley. In later years he returned and got an Ed. D. at the University of San Francisco. He worked as an English instructor at a large community college, Diablo Valley, in the East Bay since 1964. In 1985 Bill became an administrator and was put in charge of developing a new college campus in San Ramon, just a few miles from where his great-grandfather, Elisha, had grown up in the 1850s. He retired from his administrative position in 1999 when the State formally approved the new college campus he had helped to build.

He and his late wife lived in Walnut Creek for the last 32 years where they raised a son, Will, and daughter, Heather. Will is a sergeant first class in a mortar platoon and will be returning to duty in Iraq very soon. Will has two children, Katy and Andrew, who live in Las Vegas. Heather is a nurse and with her husband, Mike Greenawalt, live with Bill. They are expecting their first child. Bill’s wife of 47 years, Mary Tipton Harlan, passed away in April, 2005.

Besides the history of the Harlan family, Bill’s other great interest is in the plays of William Shakespeare. He has taught his works to people of all ages and written several adaptations of his plays. For 30 years he and Mary conducted tours to see the plays performed, especially at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Currently he is teaching a class called “Shakespeare at the Movies” for senior citizens and an on-line college class in Shakespeare for working adults. You can reach him at orsinox@comcast.net.

Ruth Harlan Lamb - Secretary

Ruth attended one of the Dan Harlan’s planning groups prior to Celebration 300 in 1987, has helped with national reunions in 1997 and 2002, and is looking forward to the 2007 gathering. She has served as secretary of the Harlan organization since 1998. After the editors of The Harlan Record resigned in 1999, Ruth volunteered to prepare and mail the newsletter twice a year.

Born in Kansas City, Mo., she has resided in nearby Independence since she was four years old. She received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Education from Central Missouri State University, with majors in art and instructional technology. After teaching elementary art for 30 years, she retired in 1991. Hobbies include calligraphy and lettering, as well as other arts and crafts. She volunteers at community agencies and does computer work for organizations and her church.

Ruth has a daughter, Kathy Brick, a son, Mike Lamb, and five grandchildren, all of Overland Park, Kansas.

Gerry Harlan Lundgren - Board Member

Gerry Harlan Lundgren was born in upstate New York where she lived until age 16 with her parents, a brother, and a sister. After her parents died in a car accident, her father's brother and his wife finished raising Gerry and her sister. She was fortunate to have the chance to live with such a loving and stable family at a difficult time in her life. She was also fortunate to live on the family farm in the hills of Tennessee, which is an area full of family history. This was the beginning of Gerry's fascination with her Harlan heritage.

Following college at Mississippi University for Women and graduate school at Memphis State University, Gerry moved to Iowa to work as a speech/language pathologist in Iowa public schools. She has enjoyed working with children and families in rural Iowa for 27 years. Her hobbies include hiking, camping, and horseback riding.

Gerry and her husband Dan have one child, Christine. They live in southwest Iowa on the farm where Dan grew up. Dan raises corn, soybeans and hay, and has a small cow herd. He also works part time at UPS.

Liz Harlan Sly - Board Member

As far back as Liz Harlan Sly can remember, there was a yellowed typescript in her father’s desk drawer that contained only the passages from Alpheus Harlan’s genealogy book that related directly to her Harlan line.

When her parents died, the desk, the drawer and typescript were transferred to her house. Liz read it and understood that her Harlan ancestors were originally from the Monkwearmouth area of County Durham, England. She figured that she and her cousins were the only remaining Harlans!

And so it was that when Liz and her husband, Bob, and another couple made their first trip to England in 1988, she insisted that they visit St. Peters, Monkwearmouth. They had some trouble finding the little church, but eventually located it. It seemed deserted in the midst of a field of construction all around it. They found a side door that was ajar and trouped in. As they looked about, a tall gangly fellow, the Vicar, emerged from the back and asked if he could help us. It was explained that they were there because Liz’s ancestor was baptized there and they just wanted to look around.

His response was, “You must be one of the great Harlan clan!” Then he elaborated that in the previous year the Harlans had held a reunion in Pennsylvania and had been in contact with him about the church and its history. And not only that, the Harlan family had made a contribution toward the restoration of their beautiful ceiling which had been damaged by fire a couple of years before. He gave them details of the reunion and contact information. The Slys were somewhat chagrined when they heard that Celebration 300 was held in New Castle, just a few hours away from their home in New Jersey.

She contacted Lane Harlan (Ridge’s brother), and the rest is history. Lane sent Liz all sorts of memorabilia and put her in touch with Peggy Harlan Talley who sent even more. Liz ordered a copy of Alpheus’ book so that now she has the full story of the Harlan family and is determined that no more reunions will be held without her! She feels that being a member of the Harlan family has surely enriched her life. She and Bob, both being only children, find it wonderful to be part of such a large family! Her line is George #3, Aaron #8, Aaron #41, James #199, Elihu #737, John #2496, George #6283, Homer ii, and Liz.

Liz was born in Atlanta, Ga., attended the Universities of Alabama and Tennessee, and lived in Washington, D.C. where she worked for the FBI (J. Edgar presiding). She was rescued from this situation when she married Bob Sly and moved to New Jersey.

For additional information not included on this web site please contact Junior F. Harlan at harlanjay@cox.net.