William H. Barber
William H. Barber, president of the Tarbox Lumber Company of Cedarville, a former trustee of Cedarville township and the owner of a farm just west of the village of Cedarville, was born on the farm now owned by John Taylor on July 10, 1853, son of John Alexander and Eliza (Galloway) Barber, both of whom also were bom in this county, members of pioneer families, and whose last days were spent here.
John Alexander Barber was born on a farm northeast of the village of Cedarville, a son of John and Sarah (IMartin) Barber, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania after their marriage in the latter state and settled in Greene county, establishing their home on a farm in Cedarville township. John Barber spent the rest of his life on that farm and his widow, who survived him for some years, spent her last days in Cedarville. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom John A. was the tenth in order of birth, the others having been Samuel, James, Martin, David, Hester, Sallie, Al G., Robert, Frank and one who died in infancy. The father of these children was a soldier of the War of 1812 and he and his wife were members of the Associate Reformed church, in the faith of which communion their children were reared, the family becoming connected with the United Presbyterian church after the union of 1858.
Reared on the farm on which he was born. John A. Barber remained there until after his marriage, when he established his home on a farm just west of the village of Cedarville and there he spent practically the rest of his life, his death occurring in Cedarville in 1892. John A. Barber was twice married. His first wife, Eliza Galloway, was bom in Xenia township, this county, a daughter of Andrew and Mary (Collins) Galloway, pioneers of that township, the former a native of York county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Bourbon county, Kentucky, whose respective families were among the earliest settlers in the region that later came to be organized as Greene county. Andrew Galloway and wife were the parents of ten children, Washington, Rebecca, Lydia, Eliza, Eleanor, William, Samuel, Isabella, Julia and Andrew H. Mrs. Eliza Galloway Barber died on July 16, 1866, leaving one child, a son, William H., the subject of this sketch. John A. Barber married, secondly, Sarah Townsley, of Cedarville township, also a member of one of the first families of Greene county, who survived him for years, her death occurring on March 15, 1915. To that second union were born two children, Eva, wife of Charles Ervin, of Xenia, and Florence, wife of Jesse Townsley, of Cedarville township. John A. Barber was a Democrat. He was a member of the United Presbyterian church.
Wiliam H. Barber grew up on the home farm in the vicinity of Cedarville and supplemented the schooling he received in the local schools by a course in Monmouth College. After his marriage in 1878 he established his home on the old home place a half mile west of Cedarville, one hundred acres of which he still owns, and there continued engaged in farming and stock raising for twenty-five years, or until his retirement from the farm m 1903 and removal to Cedarville, where he since has made his home. Mr. Barber is president of the Tarbox Lumljer Company, of Cedarville. He is a Republican and has served as township trustee, as township treasurer and as a member of the library board.
On January 17, 1878, William H. Barber was united in marriage to Lucv J. Tarbox, who also was born in Cedarville township, February 4, 1854, daughter of John M. and Rachel (Nichol) Tarbox, the latter of whom was born in Belmont county, this state. John M. Tarbox was born at Parsonsfield, in York county, Maine, December 3, 1829, a son of John and Lucy (Merrill) Tarbox, the former of whom was a soldier of the War of 1812. When John M. Tarbox was eight years of age he was bereft by death of his mother and two years later his father died. Thus orphaned he was early thrown on his own resources and when twenty years of age came West and presently located at Cedarville, this county, where he became engaged working as a carpenter and where in 1852 he married Rachel Nichol, whose parents had settled there in 1840. Mr. Tarbox later followed farming for four or five years and then began the operation of a savv-miil on the old McFarland place in Cedarville township, remaining there for fifteen years, or until the water-power became exhausted, afterward working for a time with the Jeffreys cabinet shop and then built a saw-mill at Cedarville, establishing there the business which has ever since been carried on there in the lumber line, now being carried on under the name of the Tarbox Lumber Company. During the progress of the Civil War Mr. Tarbox served as a soldier of the Union, a member of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infanitry. His wife died on February 24, 1901, she then being seventy-seven years of age, and since then Mr. Tarbox has made his home with Mr. and Mrs. Barber. He is a Republican and a member of the United Presbyterian church. To John M. Tarbox and wife were born six children, those besides Mrs. Barber being Maria, wife of Samuel K. Williamson, living south of Cedarville; Merrill, who died at the age of eighteen months; Mary Elizabeth, who died at the age of ten months; William J., who early became engaged in the lumber business with his father and is still thus engaged at Cedarville, a member of the Tarbox Lumber Company, and Thomas N., former postmaster at Cedarville, who also is a member of the Tarbox Lumber Company. Mr. and Mrs. Barber are members of the United Presbyterian church.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918