Harney, (I) WILLIAM SELBY, soldier, convert; b. near Haysboro, Tennessee, U.S.A., August 27, 1800; d. at St. Louis, Missouri, May 9, 1889. Appointed to the U.S. army, February 13, 1818, he served in the Black Hawk and Florida Indian wars, and with gallantry in the conflict with Mexico, after which he was made a brigadier-general. He then had command in the far West during the Sioux troubles of 1855 and there became the friend and admirer of the famous missionary, Father J. B. De Smet, S.J., who was of great assistance to him in making peace. Having seized San Juan Island near Vancouver in 1858, a dispute with England over the Oregon boundary line followed his action. When the Civil War broke out he was in charge of the Department of the West at St. Louis, and while en route to Washington was captured and held prisoner for a short time by the Confederates. A brevet promotion as major-general for long and faithful services followed his retirement, August 1, 1863.
(2) JOHN MILTON, brother of foregoing, b. in Delaware, March 9, 1789; d. at Somerset, Kentucky, January 15, 1825. Their father, Thomas Harney, was an officer in the Revolutionary war. John Harney studied medicine and settled in Kentucky. After a visit to Europe he accepted an appointment in the navy and spent several years in South America. On his return he edited a paper, became a Catholic, joined the Dominicans, then beginning their mission in Kentucky, and died in their ranks. He was the author of a number of poems printed in various magazines.
THOMAS F. MEEHAN