John L. Barnes
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their own way to success through unfavorable environment we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which can not only endure so rough a test, but gains new strength through the discipline. John L. Barnes, of Fayette county, Ohio, was not favored by inherited wealth or the assistance of influential friends, but in spite of this, by perseverance, industry and wise economy, he has attained a comfortable station in life and made his influence felt for good in his community. Additional honor should be accorded him because he is numbered among those patriotic sons of the North who assisted in saving the integrity of the Union in the dark davs of the sixties.
John L. Barnes, the son of David L. and Margaret (Shannon) Barnes, was born September 14, 1843, in Pickaway county, Ohio. His father was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Quaker extraction, and, when a young man, left his native state and settled in Pickaway county, Ohio, near Williamsport. He first followed the blacksmith trade and later, after moving to Fayette county, in 1857. engaged in the buying and shipping of live stock. Nine children were born to David L. Barnes and wife, John L., George, Edward. Joseph, Mrs. Catherine Kerney. William. Garry. Mrs. Flora Flower and James.
John L. Barnes attended school in Pickaway county and received most of his education in Circleville, the county seat of that county. He was nineteen years of age when his parents moved to Fayette county and here he has spent the remainder of his life. He enlisted in 1864 in Company C, One Hundred and Sixty-eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served as second lieutenant, but saw active service for only a short time. He was captured by the Confederates at Cynthiana, Kentucky, but afterwards released by the enemy and returned to his company before the close of the war. He was mustered out at Camp Denison, Ohio, in the summer of 1863. Immediately after the close of the war he returned to Fayette county and after his marriage, in 1857, began farming in Jasper township, where he has since resided. He has a fine farm of two hundred acres, which is well improved and one of the most productive farms in the township. This was all covered with woods when he settled here.
Mr. Barnes was married May 7, 1867, to Sarah L. Ford, the daughter of E. L. and Martha (Snider) Ford. E. L. Ford was a native of Cumberland county, Maine, where his birth occurred September 20, 1819. After receiving a good common school education he began teaching school at the age of fourteen and continued to follow that profession until 1841, when he left his native state and removed to Ohio, where he taught school in Hamilton county until 1843. He was married to Martha M. Snider, the daughter of Gen. John Snider, of Hamilton county, June 4. 1843, and to this union seven children were born, Mrs. Sarah Latham. Mrs. Lucy Miller. Mrs. Mary Tichoir, James, Charles, Frank and William.
Mr. Barnes and wife are the parents of ten children, Estella, Roscoe, Clara, John L., Pearl, F. H., W. F., Grace, Harry and Lillian. Estella is the wife of Jerry Acton and has four children. Arnot, Carl. Harry and Eugene; Roscoe married Jessie Jenkins and has one son, Harold; Clara is the wife of Allen Ferguson and has one son, John; John L.. the fourth, child of Mr. and Mrs. Barnes, is the only one of the family who is deceased; Pearl is the wife of Lares Compton Spitler; F. H. is unmarried; W. F. married May Carr and has one son, Howard; Grace is the wife of John Cannon and has two children. Robert and Dorothy ; Harry married Ruby Weimer; Lillian, the youngest of the familv, is still single.
Mr. Barnes and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and have always been prominent workers in the church and Sunday school. He is a member of Millikan Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and is very much interested in everything pertaining to the welfare of the old soldiers. The fifty years which Mr. Barnes has spent in Fayette county have given the people an excellent opportunity to know him in his every-day life, and the fact that he is held in universal esteem and respect is indicative of the clean and wholesome life he has led.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)
John L.Barnes, farmer and stock dealer, is a native of Pickaway County, and a son of David and Margaret {Shannon) Barnes. He was born September 14,1843, and was reared and educated in Pickaway County, and came to Fayette in September, 1857, where he married Miss Sarah L. Ford, daughter of E. L. Ford, whose biography appears in this work. May 7, 1867. Seven children are the result of this union: Estella, Roscoe, Clara, Pearl, John L. (deceased), Harry, and an infant yet unnamed.
Mr. Barnes has a farm of two hundred acres, well improved, situated on the south of Milledgeville, on which he lives, and farms to both grain and stock. He is a member of Washington Lodge, F. & A. M. He served in the one hundred days' service during the late war. Politically, he is a Democrat, and has served as trustee of this township since 1879. Some years since he was engaged in shipping live stock to New York and Philadelphia, but of late has done comparatively little shipping.
From R. S. Dills' History of Fayette County