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McHarg died in Albany, December 23,
1803, and his widow passed away in that
city, September 20, 1843, ^t the venerable
age of ninety-five.
(II) William McHarg, son of John and
Griselda (Kelly) McHarg, was born in
March, 1778, in Galway, Saratoga county,
New York, and succeeded his father in
the latter's business in Albany. That was
years before the building of the Erie
canal, and people came in sleighs to pur-
chase goods which they exchanged for
such commodities as the Indians could
furnish. After the building of the canal
it was used by Mr. McHarg as a means
of transportation for his merchandise.
When the Hudson River railroad was
built he foresaw, with the acuteness of
the true business man, that the majority
of those who had heretofore supplied their
wants in Albany would not hesitate to
proceed directly to New York. Mr. Mc-
Harg married, April 16, 1810, Sophia
King, whose ancestral record is appended
to this biography, and they became the
Sophia
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
parents of the following children :
Anne, John, mentioned below ; Margaret,
William Neill, Rufus King, and Charles
King. The death of William McHarg
occurred January 27, 1865, in Albion, Orleans
county. New York.
(III) John McHarg, son of William
and Sophia (King) McHarg, was born
June 3, 1813, and as a young man was
advised by his father to open a store in
New York City, which, even then, had
been for some years recognized as one
of the future world centers of trade. Mr.
McHarg followed the advice, with re-
sults which fully justified it, but in the
panic of 1857 his establishment proved
to be one of those which failed to weather
that fearful storm. His Southern trade
had been particularly large. Mr. Mc-
Harg married, March 6, 1838, in Hamil-
ton, Massachusetts. Martha W. Patch,
daughter of Tracey Patch, a sea captain
of Cape Cod. Mr. McHarg enlisted in
the Civil War with the rank of captain,
and served as aide-de-camp on the staflf
of General Martindale. The following children
were born to Mr. and Mrs. McHarg:
I. Sophia King, born March 4, 1840, in Albany
; married, December 23, 1863, General
Horace Porter, of Harrisburg, Penn-
sylvania, United States army, who died
May 29, 1921 ; Mrs. Porter died April 6,
1903, in Paris, France. 2. John William,
born April 3, 1843 ! married, November 6,
1873, Harriet Schuyler Delavan, of Albany,
who died July 4, 1906, leaving no
307
children. 3. Theodore, born February 19,
1845, died in New York City, November
26, 1867. 4. Henry King, mentioned be-
low. Mr. McHarg died January 4, 1884,
in New York, and his widow passed away
September 8, 1885.
(IV) Henry King McHarg, son of
John and Martha W. (Patch) McHarg,
was born February 6, 1851, and received
his education in Dr. Reed's Walnut Hill
boarding school, at Geneva, New York.
On completing his course of study he
went to New York City and entered the
ofifice of the late Le Grande Lockwood.
That was in 1866, and he remained with
Mr. Lockwood until 1869, when failure
caused the dissolution of the business.
Mr. McHarg then became assistant corresponding
clerk in the Third National
Bank, but at the expiration of a year
failing health obliged him to withdraw for
a time from the activities of business.
The day following his twenty-first birthday
he became a member of the New York
Stock Exchange and is now one of the
oldest on its roll. Until about nine years
ago he was actively engaged in the bond
business.
The railroad interests of Mr. McHarg
have for a long period been numerous and
important. When the Texas Central