{"id":14649,"date":"2015-11-07T07:32:09","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T12:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/?p=14649"},"modified":"2024-11-19T13:08:10","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T18:08:10","slug":"the-two-john-barbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodspeedhistories.com\/the-two-john-barbers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Two John Barbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the early 1860s, two men named John Barber got involved on opposite sides of the question \u2013 should the country support Lincoln’s prosecution of the Civil War,\u00a0or should it not?1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At the Union Convention held at the court house in Flemington in October 1861, John Barber was chosen as one of two vice presidents from Delaware Twp. (The other was A. K. Wagner.)2<\/a><\/sup> In 1862, John Barber, Esq. was named to represent the Vandolah School District (along with George Runk), \u201cto solicit aid to enable the county to pay the volunteers an extra Bounty for their services to their country.\u201d3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

And in 1863, a man named John Barber was designated to be a vice president of the Democratic Club for the 11th<\/span>\u00a0school district at Mount Airy.\u00a0The Democrats were appalled at the idea of going to war over slavery, and at the war measures of Lincoln\u2019s administration.\u00a0The Mt. Airy\u00a0school district covered parts of Delaware and West Amwell Townships, and was not far from the Vandolah School District, so I had to wonder\u2014could these John Barbers be the same person?<\/p>\n

The name John Barber was not uncommon in the 18th<\/span>\u00a0and 19th<\/span>\u00a0centuries. Besides the ones living in Hunterdon, in 1860, there was a John Barber living in Hopewell Township, another one in Trenton and a third in Hamilton, NJ; there were also a few in Pennsylvania. But I doubt that those men had anything to do with Hunterdon politics.<\/p>\n

I have only two candidates for these opposing positions (supporting the volunteers v. membership in the Democratic Club), and they were quite different: John Barber, Esq. who was 74 years old by 1861, and John V. C. Barber, who was only 22 in 1863. Taking a look at their histories tells us who supported which cause. So let us consider our two John Barbers. First of all\u2014<\/p>\n

John Barber, Esq.<\/h3>\n

When I began looking into the life of John Barber Esq. I did not realize how extensive his political involvement was, especially in the 1830s. And since we\u2019ve just had an election, it seemed appropriate to study politics in mid 19th<\/span>-century Hunterdon.<\/p>\n

He was born in August 1787, the first child of Samuel Barber (1756-1847), a Revolutionary War veteran, and Anne \u201cNancy\u201d Hoppock (1762-1797, daughter of another veteran). Anne Hoppock Barber died when her son John was only ten years old; she had had five children altogether. Three years later, in 1800, Samuel Barber married Anne\u2019s sister Mary Hoppock (1766-1813), who gave him four more children.<\/p>\n

The Barber family had long resided on property along the Lambertville-Headquarters Road. The first to settle there was Samuel Barber, Sr. (c.1690-bef. 1751) and his wife Eliada or Alida Johnson (c.1695-bef 1782). They had 7 children, son John (Sr.) being the eldest. (The Barber genealogy is extensive and is interwoven with the other families who first settled in the southern part of Delaware Township. The interrelationships are very intriguing, but to plot them out soon turns into a tangled web. However, I have made an attempt: see Barber Family Tree<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Samuel Barber wrote his will on December 11, 1750, leaving his \u201cvast estate\u201d to his wife during her widowhood. His vast estate was located along the Lambertville-Headquarters Road, and part of that acreage was dedicated to a family burying ground, now known as the Barber Cemetery. This early Samuel Barber was no doubt buried there, although his gravestone is missing.<\/p>\n

Their son John Barber died in 1795, leaving a large plantation to his son Samuel, and \u00a350 to grandson John when he turned 21. (The repetition of given names makes it a little more challenging to clearly explain this family.)<\/p>\n

On December 19, 1812, John Barber married Anne Skillman (1790-1867), daughter of John T. Skillman and Mary Veghte, and had 13 children from 1812 to 1832. As far as I can tell, only two died as children, but another four died in their 20s. It was a perilous time to be young.<\/p>\n

John Barber was a very successful farmer and businessman; he ran a tannery as well as managing the large acreage he had inherited, although by 1850 he had sold or given much of it away. The 1850 Agricultural Schedule gives us some insight into\u00a0Barber\u2019s farming operations. He was listed with the following:<\/p>\n