Henry Clay Barber

Henry Clay Barber is my 2nd great-grandfather on my father’s side – Glen, JM, Katie then Henry. He was born in Parishville, St. Lawrence County, New York on March 15, 1842. His parents were Jeremiah B. Barber and Catherine Sterner and he was a farmer. This information is found in the New York, Town Clerks’ Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War¹ which were compiled between 1861 and 1865. This and other sources show that Henry enlisted as a private in Company B of the 72nd New York Infantry on October 13, 1861 and was discharged with a disability on February 7, 1862 after having served only four months. He was “in the hospital most of the time”. His regiment was stationed near Washington, DC and did not see any action until after his discharge.

There is no indication of the nature of his disability and on the 1865 New York state census he records his service and indicates that his health is good. By this time he had married Marion Wight whose family lived near his parents in Gerry, Chautauqua County, New York. He was a farmer and had a one year old son, Clarence. The census shows that the family lived in a framed house valued at $100 (which was the low end for the neighborhood although two families lived in log or plank houses worth less). Five years later he is living near Ellington, still farming though not a land owner, and there is a one year old daughter, Lizzie. By 1875 he was living near Cherry Creek and owned land. There is one more child, my great-grandmother, Katie.

Soon after this the family decided to leave their families in New York and move around Lake Erie to north central Michigan. This journey of 500 miles may have been made by train but it is more likely they went by wagon. Their last three children, Clyde, Louise and Bessie were born in Reed City, Osceola County. It’s hard to know why the family would make that trip but a description from the Portrait and biographical album of Osceola County2 written in 1884 may give a clue…

No better location than this for a town could be found in the county, and none with superior advantages. …with the junction of the two great railroads that traverse the State, and the lovely rolling grounds formed to gratify every taste for the location of homes, and shaded with grand old forest trees, it would seem that nature had left nothing more to be wished for.

It is surrounded by a finely located and rich farming country, and these farms are yearly increasing their acreage of cultivated ground. …Liberal expenditures have been made in improving the streets, grading off the ground, laying sidewalks, etc. …There are also several quite fine church edifices, and a large and handsome school building.
 
The location is extremely a healthy one, and malarial and pestilential diseases are unknown. The people are wide awake and energetic, and endowed with that enterprise so essential to the building up of a great city; they are ready to take advantage of every opportunity that is presented which will increase their business or advance the interests of their town; they are also liberal-minded and hospitable. With these elements in her citizens, with her splendid location and fertile country surrounding her, with her extensive manufacturing advantages, and ready transportation facilities, Reed city can only look forward to a constant and rapid growth and a prosperous future.

Union Depot, Reed City

Henry continued to farm near Reed City probably until the death of Marion in 1892. Soon after, he moved north to Cheboygan, Michigan and married a widow named Flora Birdsall Woodmansee. Together they had a son they named Birdsall. Henry lived out his life in Cheboygan and died there in 1916 at the age of 74. He was typical of the pioneers who moved to new lands as the country expanded. He had survived the Civil War, where more men died of disease than in battle. He raised 7 children and probably knew most of his 21 grandchildren. He lived a modest yet productive life.

Henry's daughter Katie, her husband Dolph Remington and son JM @ 1896

¹Henry Clay Barber; New York, Town Clerks' Registers of Men Who Served in the Civil War; Collection Number: (N-Ar)13774, Box 9: Roll 6; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 22 Feb 2015). Rec. Date: 22 Feb 2015.

²Portrait and biographical album of Osceola County. Chicago, Illinois: Chapman Bros., 1884 Heritage Quest (accessed 22 Feb 2015)