He was son of peasant farmer and beer brewer Hermann Nanckemann and his wife Elisabeth Gansevorth.
After his father has died in 1652, Harmen moved to the region's main city, Groningen, Dutch Republic, to learn beer brewing.
1646/50–1743), she was daughter of beer brewer Leendert Phillipse Conyn (1620–1704) and his wife Agnietje Casparse Stynmets, of Albany.
By the time of 1697, he had become a member of the Dutch Reformed Church of Albany, previously he had been a Lutheran.
[2] Harmen died on July 23, 1709 (other sources say January 23, 1708) in Albany, he was ca.