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BARNES
James Barnes the founder of Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio was born in 1768 on his father David Barnes' farm in Montgomery County, Maryland.
David and his two brothers Richard and William "embarked at Liverpool and landed in New York." The three brothers settled at different locations within the American Colonies. One in the New York colony, another in the Pennsylvania Colony and David in Baltimore County, Maryland, outside Baltimore City.1
It is believed the Barnes ancestors were of English in origin. "They had resided in the northern part of England, and a tradition is that they held important positions in the government, and the name was then Bairnes"1
David Barnes' failing health required his sons David (1761-1833) & James (1768-1843) to become responsible for supporting the family when they were young. "When James arrived at his majority, he had not one cent with which to begin the battle of life. But he rented farm of others on the shares, and raised crops during the summer, and in the winter made shoes for the neighbors, having taken up the trade of cord-wainer [shoemaker / cobbler] without the assistance of a regular apprenticeship"2
David Barnes (Jr) was born in Frederick County, Maryland in 1761 he married Elizabeth Hall ( -1841) on 30 Aug 1787 at Frederick, Maryland. Elizabeth's half-sister, Nancy (Elizabeth) Harrison (ca 1754-1841) married David's brother James in the same church in Frederick, Maryland on Christmas Eve, 1795. David seems to have inherited his father's farm with James likely living with him until his marriage. David and Elizabeth Hall Barnes are believed to have had seven children: John (1788- ); Susan (1789- ); Israel (1790- ); Dorcas, Henry (1805- ), Ann; & Allen (1807).
The Barnes' were members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) and James migrated west to St Clairsville, Belmont Co., Ohio in 1803. In St Clairsville, James was a tavern keeper and later traded in dry goods. David Barnes appears to have followed his brother to St. Clairsville and later Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio where he was a mill-wright.
In 1806, James "entered the lands then entirely in the woods, on which Barnesville now stands. In 1808 he associated himself with Rev. James Rounds in the tanning business and Mr Rounds removed to the lands to open up the tan yards." Later that year, James Barnes, laid out the town of Barnesville, and offered all the lots for sale except for one fronting Main & Church Street that he reserved for his family.2
Once settled in Barnesville, Ohio, James "went to work promoting and developing various enterprises that tended to make the village grow and flourish." "He engaged largely in the ginseng business, built a flouring mill and woolen factory and various other industries. About 1823, the leaf tobacco business having assumed much importance, Mr. Barnes became a, large handler of the product, buying large quantities of it"2 It was the tobacco business that would cause the James Barnes' financial ruin. The 1830s saw a an overproduction and this coupled with the Panic of 1837 (financial crisis due in part to the closing of the Second Bank of the United States). "Mr. Barnes became insolvent and gave a mortgage on their home as well as the store and everything they had. Before the case was settled in 1841, Mr. Barnes had died."2
James had gone to Baltimore on tobacco business and died while returning home by stage coach. He died on 8 Mar 1843, near Grantsville, Garrett Co., Maryland. James was originally buried in Grantsville, Maryland. Some eighty years later he was rediscovered by his granddaughter, Vina Barnes Kidd and later reinterred at Southern Cemetery in Barnesville. His brother, David Barnes had died in 1833 and is buried at Stillwater Meeting House, Belmont Co., Ohio.
James & Elizabeth Harrison Barnes had four children:
Isaac (1800-1848) married Elizabeth Bradfield (ca 1810-1892) on 23 Oct 1828 in Warren Township, Belmont Co., Ohio. Isaac the first Mayor of Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio and had seven children: Clara; Webster (c1831- ); Mary (ca 1836- ); Almira (ca 1838- ) who married George Bulger; William H. Barnes (1839-1914) who married Orrell Vance (1846-1924), fought in the Civil War and was a photographer in Barnesville; Isabella Barnes (1843-1931) who marred Joseph Thomas Fred (1840-1909) and moved to Kansas City, Jackson Co., Missouri circa 1880; and Alvina E Barnes (ca 1847-1937) who married Walter Kidd (1874-1919)
Vachel (ca 1806- ) who married Anne Harriett Mackrell (ca 1810 - ) on 13 Aug 1829 in Belmont County, Ohio. They later moved to Washington County, Ohio to take up farming. Their three known children were: James M. (ca 1830- ); Anne (ca 1833- ); and Vachel N. (ca 1841- ).
James: little if known
Harriett who married William G. Shankland and had three known children: William P. (ca 1835- ); Theodore G. (ca 1841- ); and Thomas C. (ca 1841- )
Nancy Harrison Barnes and her sister Elizabeth Hall Barnes died within three days of each other in Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio. Nancy died on 7 May and Elizabeth on 10 May 1841. Nancy (and likely Elizabeth) was buried in the Church Street Cemetery which was later abandoned and the graves reinterred at Southern Cemetery (aka Lincoln Street) in Barnesville. A gravemarker survives for Nancy but no record can be found for Elizabeth.
James Barnes was described as a tall & portly man who dressed in the the "simple garb of the Quaker." "He was generous to a fault, and ever helpful to the poor."3 There are several short biographies of James Barnes the founder of Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio. Several of them have been duplicated here and can be found below in the attachments section.
William H. Barnes & Home
(Historical & Pictorial Barnesville, 1906)
Barnesville Ohio Postcard
Footnotes
(1) Sheppard M.D., Dempsey O., The Story of Barnesville (Columbus: F.J. Heer Printing Co., 1942), page 8 & 9
(2) Caldwell, J.A., History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, Historical Publishing Co. (Wheeling WV : 1880)
(3) McKelvey, A.T., Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co. (Chicago : 1903), page 222
Attachments
References
Cruth, Jim, The Barnes Family, manuscript, compiled from Daughter's of the American Revolution Application, Edna Barnes Losh, Barnesville Hutton Memorial Library, Barnesville, Ohio.
Taneyhill, R. H., History of Barnesville, Ohio (Barnesville, Ohio: The Leatherwood Printing Co., 1899).
Sheppard M.D., Dempsey O., The Story of Barnesville (Columbus: F.J. Heer Printing Co., 1942).
McKelvey, A.T., Centennial History of Belmont County, Ohio, Biographical Publishing Co. (Chicago : 1903)
Caldwell, J.A., History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, Historical Publishing Co. (Wheeling WV : 1880)
Barnesville Hutton Memorial Library, Barnesville, Belmont Co., Ohio. Several sources were identified during a library visit.
1810-1930 U.S. Censuses