Thomas Chalmers Harbaugh, of Casstown, Miami county, was born in Middletown, Frederick county, Maryland, January 13, 1849. He is the son of Morgan M. and Caroline (Rautzahn) Harbaugh. The father was born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, and the mother in Maryland. They moved to Ohio in 1851, lived in Piqua for several years, and in 1856 came to Casstown, where they lived until they were called home, at a ripe old age. T. C. Harbaugh received his education in the common schools in the village of Casstown. While a youth, yet in his 'teens, he served for several years as assistant postmaster.

When eighteen years of age he commenced writing for the county newspapers and magazines. His articles were so well received that he adopted literature "as a profession," and from 1867 to the present he has followed no other occupation. He has been a prolific writer of short stories for periodicals, such as the Youth's Companion, Ohio Farmer, Chicago Inter Ocean, Dayton Journal, the Cincinnati papers and other prominent papers in Ohio and the United States. He has written over three hundred novels and historic stories. Perhaps the best of his novels are The White Squadron, The Condor Killers and The King's Spy. He has written many serial stories for the Chicago Ledger and is a regular contributor to many magazines. He has an easy, readable style in his works of fiction that is very attractive. He is adept in situations and scenes of thrilling interest, and his works are always in demand, and he receives from them not only a good living but he has been able to lay by a nice little sum for old age. He has a splendid library of about one thousand volumes, and besides his natural genius for writing he is a constant reader and keeps posted on all the questions of the day.

Mr. Harbaugh is not a politician, yet he is an earnest Republican and always takes an active interest in the political battles of the county and state. Almost every year he is a delegate to the county and state conventions. He is a pungent, shrewd political writer, and during a hot campaign his articles are gladly welcomed, and often copied in the leading Republican newspapers of Ohio. In the county he is a regular contributor to some of the Piqua newspapers, and his articles are full of humor, sarcasm, and often predictions of the future of the politics of the county, so close to the mark that he must either be a close observer or has a seat very near to the council chambers of the political leaders of the county, and yet his letters appear to be written more in the spirit of recreation from his literary labors than that of being the result of serious thought upon political questions. There are those who believe, if he had devoted his attention entirely to political subjects, he would have commanded a national reputation as a political writer.

Whatever may be the verdict of the future upon the prose writings of T. C. Harbaugh there will be no dissent from the statement that within his heart and brain he has the genius of a poet. He does not aspire to nor even try the grand and gloomy realms of thought that have made the fame of some great poets of the day, but the realm of true patriotism, or in the sweeter, gentler plane of home and love, he has won his fame, and is enshrined in the hearts of every lover of poetry in Miami county and the Miami valley. He stands among the first of song writers in Ohio, and many of his poems have been set to music and sung upon the stage, and are popular in the parlor as well as in the concert halls. He is the author of the verses inscribed on the silver vase presented to Admiral Dewey as the gift of a grateful people for the naval victory of Manila. Many of his historical poems have been recited by the leading elocutionists of the nation.

He has never published but two volumes of poems. Maple Leaves, published in 1884, gave him the title of the "poet of the blue Miami." It is full of sweet gems. No one can read For Disturbin' the Choir without a feeling of sympathy for the old man who sang the "psalms of David for nearly eighty years," and no mother or soldier's wife can read the story of The Two Sleeves with eyes undimmed by tears, while the sad tenderness and manly sentiment in The Soldier's Lot could only be written by the hand of genius. The volume entitled Ballads of the Blue is full of patriotic verse and heart-felt tributes to the gallant soldiers of the Union army. Space will not permit a review of the little volume, but the writer will mention a few of the sweetest and purest: In Memoriam, a favorite poem that is recited every year all over this republic on Memorial day; Columbia's Soldier Dead, which is another favorite with the veterans of the Grand Army; The Last Veteran, Midnight at Andersonville, Grant Dying, and the Rose of Waterloo each have many admirers. Grant Dying is published in full in volume XI of Tedman's Cyclopedia of American Literature.

There are a number of good writers in Miami county, but known only to local fame, because the hard grind of other occupations than literature have monopolized their time and crushed out all ambition to excel in prose or poetry; but this good old county is proud of T. C. Harbaugh's reputation as an author and poet.

Mr. Harbaugh is a bachelor, notwithstanding out of his heart and brain he has coined so many tributes to love and affection. He is as modest as a girl, and unassuming in every respect. He is a small man with light hair and blue eyes, and if ever he had a love affair it has been kept a profound secret. He spends the greater part of his time in his library; sometimes he will be found along the banks of Lost creek or the Miami river with rod and minnow bucket, but he fishes more for quiet thought than for bass or perch.

The writer feels that he has not done justice to the literary merits of Mr. Harbaugh, although he writes with the partial hand of a personal friend. Indeed, a poet is never appreciated while living. The pen of envy and the tongue of malice is always present to detract from the few who dream and write of higher, purer aspirations than belong to the practical affairs of the common route of life.