The below biography was extracted from Lest We Forget, a family history written in 1983 and 1984 by Lucille “Tippy” Rebecca Kyle Harr, and updated in 2010 by Debra Harr.

I [Tippy] call him Granddad because of my children, Gene and Debra, who are his only grandchildren. 

He was quite a handsome man, tall, straight and slender. He had just a slight limp as a result of one leg being a tad short. His hair was grey by the time I met him around 1937 or 1938. He was 61 or 62, I was 19 or 20, give or take a year or two. He wore his hair short and it had a slight curl. His nose had a rosy tone and he had a sniffle.

He was a learned man and had an education uncommon in those days. He attended Fairmont Normal School and studied to be a lawyer. In fact, I think he finished the course and only lacked his Bar examination. I think he would have been a good lawyer—he liked to argue. He was a real estate salesman, having completed a course in Real Estate and Brokerage from Harry W. Cross and Company in Chicago, Illinois in May, 1905. He was a notary public in 1913 and he sold insurance—or intended to—as I have letter heads which would indicate this.

However, he is remembered as being a lumberman in Canaan Valley and followed this trade when he moved to Petersburg in 1920. He played violin for a Canaan Dancing Arena.

While in Canaan he operated under the name of Harr Brothers. One job wa the Idleman tract in 1916-17. After that John moved his lumber business to Petersburg. Brothers in the business were James, Merrick and Jacob. Bill Hedrick also worked with the Harr brothers while they cut and skidded logs from Canaan Valley for the Babcock Company.

He was the son of Seymour and Lucetta Roby Harr. He was born December 24, 1876, in Lumberport, Harrison County, West Virginia.

He had 3 brohters, Jacob, Merrick, and Richard; and 3 sisters, Charlotte Isabelle, and Molly and Mamie who were twins. See stories about each of these siblings.

John Rufus Harr and Delarie Virginia Hanger were married January 2, 1902 in Parsons, West Virginia. January 2 was on a Thursday that year. They were married by Reverend Joseph W. Bedford of the M.E. Church. After the marriage they stopped in Davis and were guests of Floyd Hanger, Delarie’s brother. Floyd lived on Henry Avenue in Davis. They were enroute to Buena, West Virginia, where they would reside. John was listed as a farmer and Delarie was listed as being from Seymourville. Both were 25 years of age.

John and Delarie lived at Buena, although the place I heard most about and the place they called home was the house bought and occupied by Jake and Ada Harr after the John Harr family moved to Petersburg. The house was torn down when Aunt Ada sold the property to the Canaan Valley State Park in 1965. The house was a 5-room house with a fireplace and water that ran in the kitchen from a spring at all times.

The Harrs moved to Petersburg in the fall of 1920. The frame house was bought from Vergie A. and D. S. Michael for $1200 and located at 105 Spring Street, Petersburg, and directly in back of Halterman’s Hardware. The house was enlarged and was later to receive indoor plumbing.

His children—Dorothy, Bessie, Hester, Guy, and Debs—were all born in Tucker County, Canaan Valley.

John belonged to the socialist party or believed in it. So far as I know he never attended church, although he studied the bible and had an opinion and argued his point in reference to it, I am told. Several bibles in the family belongings were found and are very worn, indicating lots of use.

John stayed in the home after the demise of his wife, Delarie, in mid 1926, and until he became involved with Bessie Weese, a domestic worker at the Bill Halterman’s residence. Bessie had an eye for him, possibly even before his wife’s demise, convinced him that a better life could be had with her. “Bess Weese”, as the family called her, was a daughter of George and Sara Weese. George Weese willed his property to the church, but with a little persuasion and John’s knowledge about law, the will was overturned and the farm reverted back to Bess. John moved into the home with Bess and was back in business raising chickens. He made improvements and finally on December 29, 1938, a year after he first took out a license to marry her, he married Bess in Moorefield, West Virginia, by Raymond Musser. John was 60 years old and Bess was 40.

It was on a Sunday, December 18, 1957, Debs, Gene, Debra, and I were visiting Bessie and Vic Wolford. Along in mid afternoon Hoye Smith and Louise came to the house and informed us all that John had passed away from a heart attack. We all came to Petersburg with the exception of Vic. We found out that he was sitting with ‘Butch’ Sears on the living room couch, had the attack, and died on the spot. Dr. V. L. Dyer pronounced him dead and Thrush Funeral Home prepared his body and it was returned to the home on Route 220, 4 miles south of Petersburg. Furniture was removed from a downstairs bedroom and his body placed in that room for viewing. The room was small and cold, but convenient for the purpose.

The body was taken to the Baptist Church and funeral services were held by Robert Withers, December 20, 1957, at 2 p.m.

Pallbearers were William Sears, George Halterman, Garrett Van Meter, Stanley Turley, Jr., Ralph Thompson, and David Bergdoll.

He lacked 6 days of being 79 years of age. His daughter Dorothy was also born on December 24. Interment was in Maple Hill Cemetery, Petersburg, beside his wife Delarie.