The Harbuck Family of Warren County, GA is quite difficult to pin down. They seem to be descended from Jacob HERBACH who arrived in Georgia from Germany in 1737. However, documented proof is hard to come by. If you have interest in the Georgia HARBUCKS, please check my timeline of notes at the bottom of this page for everything I know about this surname. If you have additional research on the Harbucks of Georgia, please send that information so that I can include it in the timeline.

My line of descent appears to be as follows.

1. Johann Peter HERBACH, (1674 - 1753)

Johann Peter HERBACH was born about 1674, possibly in the Netherlands, possibly in Switzerland. He and his wife Anna Maria (thought to be the daughter of Abraham SINGER), were members of the Reformed Church at Otterberg in the Pfalz region of Germany in the early 1700s.

The children of Peter and Anna Maria Herbach were:

• Johann Yost Herbach - bc 1703. m. Margaretha Klein. They immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1737. Much is written about this line.
• Johann Jacob Herbach - see the next section
• Anna Maria Herbach - chr. 5 JUL 1705 in Otterberg, she married Mr. Cherdron and she lived in York County, PA.
• Johann Leonard Herbach - chr. 24 JUN 1709 in Otterberg, he married Maria Johanna there in 1733.
• Johann Casper Herbach - chr. 25 MAY 1712 in Otterberg, he immigrated to Georgia with his brother Jacob. Casper seems to have left Georgia in the 1760s and moved north.
• Anna Elizabet Herbach - bc 1725, m. Francois Henry Hoffman in 1747.

Anna Maria HERBACH is said to have died in 1728. Peter HERBACH married a second time to Christina JUNG/JUNGIN. They had two children:

• Johann Peter Herbach - b. 26 MAR 1734 in Germany.
• Anna Catharina Herbach - chr. 25 FEB 1739 d. 18 DEC 1739.

2. Johann Jacob HERBACH, (1702 - 1790)

Jacob Herbach was born 1 JAN 1702 in Otterberg, Germany. He and his wife Maria Eva immigrated to Georgia, along with his brother Casper, in 1737 aboard the ship Three Sisters. All were indentured servants. On 20 DEC 1737, Jacob Herbach was listed as the indentured servant of Abraham de LEON in Vernonburg, Christ Church Parish, Georgia. Jacob worked in the Trustees Garden, a project to determine what crops would grow in the Georgia climate. Many crops failed, but cotton and peaches were first introduced to Georgia in the Trustees Garden.

Following his indenture, Jacob Herbach received land grants in 1741, 1743 and 1759. Few other records exist for the Herbachs. Chatham County lists a will of Jacob Herbach in the their estate papers: 1790 the executors were Suckey Harbuck (?), William Harris and George Basil Spence.

The children of Jacob and Maria Eva Herbach seem to have been:

• Michael Herbach - see the next section
• Mary Herbach -
• Catherine Herbach - married to Mr. Reddy, thought to possibly be Mr. Reddick or Raddick, whose family also traveled on the Three Sisters.

3. Michael Herbach/Harbuck, ( >1737 - 1782)

Michael Herbach appears as Herbach and Harbuck in Georgia records. He did not arrive in Georgia with his parents, so Michael must have been born in Georgia. He married Mary ??.

Michael Harbuck wrote his will on 12 JUN 1782 in Chatham County, GA. The will was probated on 28 SEP that same year. It names his four children, his wife Mary and his sister Catherine REDDY.

Michael and Mary Harbuck appear to have had four children:

• Johann/John Harbuck - see the next section
• Jacob Harbuck -
• Michael Harbuck - m. Mary BURKHALTER, the daughter of John BURKHALTER.
• Margaretha Harbuck -

4. Johann/John Harbuck (17?? - 1814)

At this time it is purely speculation that Johann Herbach of Chatham County was the same man as John Harbuck of Warren County. The Harbuck family had settled in Warren County, and there is no other record of a John Harbuck in this time frame, so the likelihood seems strong.

John Harbuck married to Mary Barbara ??. He served the Patriots during the Revolution. He did not live long enough to collect a pension, but his widow did register in a Georgia Land Lottery as a Revolutionary Widow.

John Harbuck has records in Warren and Chatham counties from 1801 to 1806. He died before 7 NOV 1814 in Warren County when Letters of Administration were filed on his estate.

In 1816, Jeremiah BURKHALTER of Warren County was appointed as guardian to Sarah E. B. Harbuck, orphan of John Harbuck. This is the only record that actually names a child of John Harbuck. However, my Elizabeth HARBUCK, whom I believe to be a daughter of John Harbuck, would have been 18 years of age when this guardian was appointed. She would not have needed a guardian at that time.

The registration for the 1820 Land Lottery took place in 1817. At that time, John Harbuck was the only recently deceased Harbuck male in Warren County. Elizabeth Harbuck registered for the lottery as an orphan or head of a household of orphans, making it likely that she was a daughter of John Harbuck. Elizabeth Harbuck won a lot in Early County and she and her husband Hachaliah McMATH later sold it.

Mary Barbara Harbuck registered in Richmond County in the 1821 Land Lottery as a widow and won a lot in Monroe County. Mary also registered her daughters Sarah E. B. Harbuck and E. J. Harbuck as orphans in Richmond County. At the same time the "orphan of John Harbuck" was registered by Jeremiah BURKHALTER in Warren County. Sally Harbuck was later declared a fraudulent drawer because she had been registered twice. Also, Sarah/Sally was the only legitimate orphan of John Harbuck. In 1825 a William Harbuck of Warren County replaced Jeremiah BURKHALTER as Sarah's guardian.

Mary Barbara Harbuck had two illegitimate children: Eliza Jane Harbuck was born about 1820, and Thomas Henry Harbuck was born in 1826. They were both born in Richmond County, GA.

In 1827 Mary Barbara Harbuck registered in the Land Lottery as a Revolutionary War widow and won a lot in Muscogee County. On 26 DEC 1829, living in Richmond County, Mary Barbara Harbuck, Thomas Henry Harbuck, and Eliza Jane Harbuck officially changed their surname to FISHER. I suppose that some FISHER male was the biological father to Eliza Jane and Thomas Henry.

Mrs. Mary B. FISHER married Matthew H. HOLDFORD in Richmond County on 26 APR 1838. A Mary HOLFORD appears on the 1840 census there. She still resided in Richmond County in 1860.

From court papers and land documents it appears that John and Mary Barbara Harbuck at two children:

• Elizabeth Harbuck - see the next section
• Sarah E. B. Harbuck - she is named as the orphan of John Harbuck in 1816 and 1825.

5. Elizabeth Harbuck (1798 - 1884)

Elizabeth Harbuck was born 6 JAN 1798 in Georgia. She registered in the 1820 Georgia Land Lottery as an orphan and won a piece of land in Early County, GA. Elizabeth married Hachaliah McMATH on 4 MAY 1820 in Warren County, GA. They later moved to Sumter County, GA and raised a large family there.