His life in the army proved to be a very strenuous one for his Regiment happened to belong to a division (most of the time) under Major Smith, and was moved about to reinforce the other armies, hence they were all over the South.  At one time, he was a member of Sherman's advance body guard.  He was in the battle of Shilch, Siege of Vicksburg, and in many battles of less importance.  I have heard him say that the short battle of Pea Ridge, Mo., was the fastest, and the hottest place he was in during the war.  He was always a crackshot with a rifle.  I have heard him tell of an experience while their army was in Arkansas.  He was doing guard duty stationed in a tower on the outskirts and it seems that a drove of cattle had been rounded up on a foraging expedition, brot in and were being butchered by the soldiers.  They would shoot the critters, then stick them, and the boys were taking a turn about doing the shooting.  The Col. happened to come along and watched this awhile then stepped forward, borrowed a gun from a private to shoot one himself.  Father, on the outposts, was in the tower saw what was doing and in a spirit of deviltry when the Col. raised his rifle to shoot, Father drew a beam on the animal hastily and fired, the critter dropping in front of the Col. before he could shoot.  He looked all about and could not locate where the shot came from, handed the gun back to the soldier, and walked away without saying a word to anyone.  The fact that he was so far away and being in the tower, it was not discovered that he had fired this shot.

He was a fine violinist and Major Smith always saw to it that a violin was provided and when they would strike camp, about the first order from the Major was to send for Jim as he was called by everyone all of his life.

During the last year of the war, he was taken prisoner and confined at Andersonville for three months.  I have heard him tell that it was customary to march the prisoners out every day to gather their own wood for the camp fires, cooking, etc., and it was to one of these excursions that he made his escape.  After several days, he was recaptured while eating in a negro hut.  While the guard held a gun on him, the negro was compelled to take the clothesline and tie him in a rocking chair, then loaded in a spring wagon and taken back to the prison.  I have heard him say that conditions could not be worse under any circumstances that they were in that hell hole.  Men by the thousands, sick starved, haggard and discouraged, they took offense at trifles.  Comrades would get up fight if one had more than his share of anything they be sharing together and he said that any time you wanted to see a fight, all you had to do was just look around and you would be sure to see one or several fights in progress between unfortunates.  They were rationed with one quart of corn meal each to the man, and they had to prepare it in some way for themselves so it could be ate.

At the time he was first captured and made a prisoner, it seems that he was with a detachment of the army sent out on a foraging expedition and after a tiresome march, they stopped at a plantation to rest.  Soldier like, always hungry, he spied a smoke house and entering the smoke house he did not find anything there and he sat down on a bench to rest a little.  All at once, he heard someone running by the smoke house like H--l, as he told it, and running to the door here was some Rebel cavalry rounding up the boys.  He had left his gun in the smoke house and the Rebs, had seen him, thus he realized that he could not stop for that so he broke and ran with several horseman after him firing revolvers but that did not stop him and as luck would have it, he soon made a rail fence and vaulting over it, it stopped the horses, and getting behind a tree he had an old Navy revolver in his pocket, and when he turned that loose they got out of there, then he started to run following a winding path through brush and timber, and suddenly, on a turn, he ran into a bunch of Nebraska soldiers.  He stopped and was raising his revolver when one of them said we have got the rest of your boys here and you might as well surrender and save your hide, and realizing the hopelessness of further resistance he threw down the gun and gave up.

He had some forty of fifty dollars in his pocket and they soon relieved him of that, and then made him strip off his Uniform and clothes--they furnished him some old worn out clothing to wear.  At one time, while in the prison, he got hold of a very desirable kettle in some way, and he traded it to a guard for a peck of corn meal.  But how were they to make the exchange.  Neither cared to trust the other for delivery, so they finally agreed that the guard was to lower the corn meal, but after the guard got the kettle, he would not furnish the meal as he soon went off duty.  When he came on the next day, Dad was ready for trouble and decided to get the guard if he was killed in the attempt.  The quarrel started and he started for the dead line which was some 40 feet inside the wall, the guard warning him to keep back, but he kept going and the guard raising his gun to shoot was interrupted by another guard demanding to know the trouble and when told what it was about, the second guard told the first one that if he had agreed to give him a peck of meal to see that he delivered it or he would cause him trouble and the result was that he got his meal.

I have heard him say that men were dying all around them like flies at all times.  He was finally released through an exchange of prisoners.  When the men were exchanged, they were started for their lines in formation under Rebel guards, and this went all O.K. for a ways and then everything broke loose and finally many of the guards threw away their guns and joined the boys saying they were tired of it all and wanted to quit.  On reaching their lines, most of them could not control their appetites and soon were deathly sick after eating.  He secured a loaf of bread and nibbled at that slowly and gradually got back on feed without any bad results.  He contracted a dysenteria that was more or less chronic and often bothered him for years afterward.  This seemed to be the worst thing the prisoners had to deal with and there was no way of getting an relief in the prison.  He was in the prison at the time the spring broke out, and he always held to the theory that providence done this for the suffering prisoners.  Before that, there was nothing but swamp water to use and sanitation was unknown and conditions deplorable.

When in the army, he was considered the best man (physically) in his regiment and whenever a rival Regiment had a wrestler or a boxer send out challenges, it was always up to Jim Harrington to represent the Regiment in their contests, and they were quite common in that life.  He stood a trifle less than six feet, weighed 185 lbs. was an all-round athlete and an expert swimmer.  He did not know what fear was and though peaceably inclined, and always ready to avoid trouble, yet he would not take the slightest insult from anyone.  To illustrate this, in early days, while making one of the Ohio River trips, they happened to stop at one of the larger towns where a lot of river men were assembled, and among them was a man named Tom Pelt.  This man was acknowledged to be the champion and bully of the Ohio River.  He was always abusing and picking on anyone he came in contact with at the slightest resentment he would knock them down, etc.  The men were mostly seated around a large hall, and Pelt was going around slapping first one and then another in the face with his slouch hat.  Finally, he tried this on Jim Harrington, with the result that he jumped and resented it.  Pelt said maybe you consider yourself a man, and the reply was that he did not know about that but advised him not to repeat it, and to the surprise of everyone Pelt walked away, but later he came back, for this was the first time he had been know to walk away from a possibility of trouble, and walking up to Father, he said Harrington, I believe you said you were a man, and no one has ever said that to me and got away without proving it.  He was not anxious to mix with Pelt for he knew he had a danger and super rival to deal with and tried to parley and talk him out of making trouble, but Pelt was insistent and the result was that he had to have it out or apologize to Pelt.  They agreed to go out in the open and have it out.  The word was hurriedly passed around that Harrington and Pelt were going to fight.  A ring was formed by several hundred men present, and stripped they made for each other rather realizing that he must play for every advantage he could gain, and when they come together (being an expert wrestler) quick as lightening he clinched Pelt around the waist, raised him off his feet, they fell between two small logs or timbers, with Pelt on his back and Dad on top, and as soon as they struck the ground he caught Pelt in the face with his right, this he followed rapidly with blows to the face and head as he realized that now was his time while he had this advantage.  Some of Pelt's friends rushed forward to interfere, but a young fellow who had been abused by Pelt, stepped forward with a gun, saying this man has been bullying everyone on the river for years and I will shoot the first man that interferes, let him get what he deserves.  But in a few moments some of Dad's friends stepped forward and told him to quit as the man was helpless.  He was carried away unconscious and it was weeks before he was able to get around.  But he never was known to have another fight.  A short time after this, some New York sports hearing of this affair came to Tionesta and tried to get him to train for the prize ring.  But such things were distasteful to him and although they offered all kinds of inducements he would not consider it.

I remember when we first moved to Ida County, Iowa.  I was a little fellow and accompanied Father to Ida Grove.  There was a store, court house and few other buildings there then but it was several years before the railroad.  Among the early settlers was a man by the name of John Kephart, who was a fine physical speciman and a sort of a bully, in in some way he picked a quarrel with dad in Tinkle's store.  I was a little fellow standing by, and I remember that the two men were standing each with a right foot on a chair.  Suddenly, he called Dad a dam liar and the words were hardly out of his mouth when he caught a right hander in the eye that sent him back against the counter.  He grabbed a chair and held that in front of him while he backed down the store, Dad trying to get at him from both sides when a by-stander interfered and stopped it.  A few days later, Kephart apologized and they became good friends.  A few years later, an Uncle of mine happened to be in Ida Grove.  He wandered down near the big corn cribs where a crew was shelling corn and they were fixing something about the and with others standing around they got to talking about sports, good men, etc., and several present stated who they thought was the best man, and that included several well known characters there, finally one man got up and said boys I am here to tell you that Jim Harrington, is the best man that ever walked these streets, and about that time the sheller started up, and my uncle being a stranger to all of them asked one man who that fellow was, and was told that it was John Kephart, and he knowing of the former incident remarked to himself that he thought Kephart had a license to know what he was talking about.

After the war, he returned to Pennsylvania where he remained for little over a year, then he returned to Iowa.  And June 18, 1867, he was married to Margret McCabe (a native of that place at Galena, Ill.).  Father Powers officiated and Bridge Burke was a witness.  Six children were born to the union as follows:  Daniel B., born June 17, 1868; Charles A.., born Sept., 20th 1869; James P., born Aug. 12, 1871; Andrew, born March 27, 1873; Arthur B., born Nov. 9th  1881 and Frances B., born January 20th, 1888.  The four older boys were all born at Green Island, Iowa; Art in O'Brien County, Iowa and Frank at Wichita, Kansas.  In 1873, they moved to Storm Lake, Iowa, and a year later they moved to Ida County and settled on a farm west of Ida Grove, in fall of '75 they returned to Green Island until spring of '76 they returned to Ida County again and settled north of Ida Grove.  The railroad was built through Ida Grove during the summer of 1877, before that time settlers were compelled to go to Storm Lake or Denison to market produce necessities could be purchased at the store at Ida Grove.  In the spring of 1883, they moved to O'Brien County on a farm near Southerland and a year later they moved to Wichita, Kansas.  When 3 years later, they moved back to Ida County and settled on a farm near Correctionville, Iowa.  Three years later, they moved back near Ida Grove and a year later they moved to Ida Grove.  Father had a very good education, was well red and qualified to fill most any position in life.  He was County Supervisor of Ida County for a number of years and Post Master at Ida Grove under the Cleveland administration (second term) after that he retired from active life.  Living most of the time with his son Charles, and Arthur, while a part of the time he stayed at the soldier's home at Marshalltown, Iowa.  On different occasions, he had visited Fort Leavenworth home in Kansas and Hot Springs, South Dakota for short stays.  His health was always very good up to the last year of his life when he became quite feeble.  The last year of his life he made his home with his son Andrew at Sioux City, Iowa.

He passed away on the 9th day of September, 1926, apparently without a struggle.  He had been in his usual health and during the fore part of the evening previous he had seemed a little restless but did not complain and off and on the family went to his room to see how he was and entering the room about 1:30, they found him dead.  There was no signs of a struggle and apparently he just went to sleep without any effort and passed out on his journey to that great beyond from whence borne no traveler ever returned.  He was buried in Graceland Park Cemetery, Sioux City, Iowa.  He was a member of Mason Fraternity and G.A.R.