Henry Jefferson Harby

Church Street

A Jewish blacksmith

Henry Jefferson Harby (1799–1851) was six years old when his father, Solomon Harby, died and his eldest brother, teacher and writer Isaac Harby, became head of the Harby household. Henry trained as a blacksmith and operated a successful shop on Church Street. In his early twenties he was appointed Charleston’s city blacksmith by the city council. Henry Harby married Leah Tobias and they moved several times as their household grew. His elderly mother, Rebecca Moses Harby (1768–1854), was living with the family by 1830; they were later joined by his unmarried sister, Caroline de Litchfield Harby, and several nieces and nephews, orphans of his brother Isaac. In his will, Henry J. Harby left his mother an annuity of $150 for life.