Rev. Dr. John Harbin^[1]

Cal 1795 - 1851  (~ 56 years)

• Name	John Harbin
  Prefix	Rev. Dr.
  Born	CALC 17 Feb 1795	, England   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Military	Surgeon in British Army
  Occupation	Doctor - Surgeon - British Army
  Occupation	1851	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Minister New Jersusalem Church
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-33670
  Died	17 Sep 1851	Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [2, 4, 5]
  Person ID	I33670	Generations
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2025

  
  

  Family	Elisabeth Wheeler,   b. 8 May 1805, , England ,   d. 15 Jan 1875, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 69 years)
  Children	1. Celia Elizabeth Harbin,   b. 1832, , Quebec, Canada ,   d. 14 Aug 1887, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 55 years)   2. Henrietta Harbin,   b. 6 Apr 1834, , Ontario, Canada ,   d. 26 Sep 1856, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 22 years)
  Last Modified	4 Mar 2025
  Family ID	F8861	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  John Scott Notes: First Warden of Waterloo County 1853 (elected May 1852), shown as 1852 to 1856 in 100 years; and first Reeve of Berlin 1854-56. A transcript of Scott's speech on being elected Warden in 1852 is in WHS1951 39:11. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh Medical School in 1834, the same year he arrived in Waterloo County. His arrival coincided with an outbreak of cholera in Galt that he helped to combat. He began his practice in Berlin that same year as the first licensed physician, and upheld his professionalism before quacks and charlatans. In 1849 Scott and Dr James Whiting were appointed to report to the Health Board on the state of health in Berlin. A.B. Sherk recollected that the "doctors did most of their outside professional work on horseback, and everybody knew them" (WHS1915 3:18). Scott had three horses. He was also coroner for the county for many years and was appointed Revenue Inspector in 1852. He was also a member of the first Berlin Grammar School Board of School Trustees and the first Local Superintendent. As Warden he loaded the first wheelbarrow at the breaking of ground for the railway line at Berlin in 1853. Dr Scott was converted to the Swedenborgian Church by Rev. John Harbin, formerly a surgeon in the British army, who assisted the doctor with his surgical operations. He died of a "malignant liver complaint." W.H. Breithaupt sums up his life as "short, and to a high degree, useful" (WHS1941 29:198) * Before he moved to Weber Street, Scott had a two storey frame building with a drug store on King and Frederick (WHS1930 18:196) Sources: WHS1915 3:18; WHS1951 39:11; WHS1941 29:198; WHS1989 77; 1851 census Grassroots government: biographies of Waterloo Township councillors, Elizabeth Bloomfield and Linda Foster, 1995 __________________ The Swedenborgians received the Rev. John Harbin, a New Church missionary, in 1843. In his early manhood he had been a surgeon in the British army. While practising his profession in Salisbury, England, he joined the Swedenborgian Church and resolved to devote his life to the dissemination of its doctrines. He emigrated to Canada in 1830 and labored as a missionary at Markham, Upper Canada, and in the district lying west and north of Toronto. The Berlin congregation then invited him to become their pastor. He accepted the call in 1844 and held services in the Free Church. The Rev. Mr. Harbin was the grandfather of the late Charles A. Ruby, a former manager of the Mutual Life Assurance Company of Canada. Mr. Harbin often assisted Dr. John Scott at performing a surgical operation. A friendship ensued and Dr. Scott and wife joined the Swendenborgian Church. Three other prominent men, Henry S. Huber, John Hoffman and William Hendry, (the first manager of the Mutual Life Assurance Company) and their families likewise became members. The History of Kitchener _______________ In 1833, Kitchener was a tiny, pioneer hamlet called Berlin. A group of people began to meet regularly in the apple orchard of Mr. Christian Enslin, a book binder by trade, at the present-day location of King and Benton Streets downtown (where the Four Seasons Hotel now stands). They gathered to study the books of Emanuel Swedenborg who wrote about the inner meaning of the Bible and the inner unity of all religions. This made those first church members not only pioneers of the soil but pioneers of the Spirit, too. On fire with their new insights, their numbers grew. In 1842, they joined with three other congregations to build a small wood-frame building that also served as Berlin's first public school. The first minister, Rev. John Harbin, was already serving a small missionary church in Markham. Harbin had been a military surgeon during the Napoleonic Wars and often assisted Dr. John Scott, Berlin's first doctor, in his operations. Dr. Scott joined the church and later became the first Warden of the County of Waterloo when it was created in 1853. The Ruby family were also founding members of the church and Charles Ruby became manager of the Mutual Life Company (Sun Life today). "Our History - Church Of The Good Shepherd". 2021. Church Of The Good Shepherd. https://www.shepherdsway.ca/our-history.

  
  

• Sources

  [S2] Church Records - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian), pg 3. by Pastor John Harbin [S244] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Deutsche Canadier (1841-1865) - Index to Births, Deaths and Marriages Announced in the Deutsche Canadier, Berlin, Canada West. originally indexed by Simone Nieuwolt and Sylvie Kuppek..organised by Rosemary Ambrose, 19 Sep 1851 Page 38. John Harbin Died 17 Sep 1851 Preacher of New Jerusalem Community, of Berlin. 56y, 7m. [S2070] Directory - Ontario Directory for 1851. [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851, Div 4 Pg 14. [S229] Census - ON, Waterloo, Berlin - 1871, Div. 1, Pg. 39.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - CALC 17 Feb 1795 - , England Occupation - Minister New Jersusalem Church - 1851 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - 17 Sep 1851 - Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth