New evidence of a link between Maryland Barnharts and Ogle County.
This is a follow up to the message I posted some time ago. Here is a biographical sketch of a grandson of Henry Barnhart (1763-1831) and his (second) wife (name not stated) who "passed away in Mount Morris, Illinois at an advanced age." I've also discovered recently that Abram Misner married secondly to Eliza Ann Ream (Riehm) Finicle, in Carroll Co., Illinois on 26 Jul 1874; this suggests that Sarah A. Garvin Barnhart Misner died between 1870 and 1874. Eliza Misner is enumerated in the 1880 census with her son, George Finicle.
Here is the Barnhart sketch:
From the History of Clay County, Iowa, by Samuel Gillespie and James E. Steele (Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1909), pp. 294-296
W. ERNEST BARNHART.
W. Ernest Barnhart is an attorney at law of Spencer, with a large clientage, and in his chosen profession he has made that steady advance which results only from merit in handling important litigated interests. He is still a young man, with opportunity before him to attain still greater success, and his friends do not hesitate to predict for him continued progress in the field of his chosen profession. He was born near Pen Mar, July 16, 1877, his parents being David G. and Margaret Virginia (Frye) Barnhart, also natives of the Keystone state. The father was a son of Henry Barnhart, who with two brothers came from Germany, his native land, to America. Henry Barnhart settled in Pennsylvania, while one of his brothers became a resident of Ohio and the other of the west. He died in Pennsylvania in middle life, while his wife passed away in Mount Morris, Illinois, at an advanced age. They were the parents of three daughters: Susan, the wife of Joseph Boward ; Barbara, the wife of Joseph Kale; and Peggy. David G. was their only son. In early life David G. Barnhart learned the wagon maker's trade, which he has followed many years. For some time he has been a resident of Cavetown, Maryland, and is well known as a representative of industrial interests in that city. He wedded Margaret Virginia Frye, who was also born in Pennsylvania and was a daughter of David and Susan (Ridenour) Frye. Her father was a native of Maryland and was a carpenter by trade. He passed away when about sixty years of age and his wife was sixty-five years of age at the time of her demise. They had a large family, numbering seven sons and one daughter. The home of Mr. and Mrs. David G. Barnhart was blessed with eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, and their record is exceptional in that all are yet living, namely : Margaret, the wife of George Claybourne, a resident of Hagerstown, Maryland ; Anne, the wife of Charles Reynolds, whose home is in Cambridge, Iowa; Edward, a member of the United States navy on the battleship Minnesota ; George O., living in Champaign county, Illinois; W. Ernest, of this review ; Harry C., who is located at Hagerstown, Maryland ; Gertrude M., the wife of Harry Burger, of Baltimore, Maryland; William R., who is a soldier of the regular army stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas ; Lester H., of Cavetown, Maryland ; and Ura K. and Benjamin Franklin, who are also residents of Cavetown.
W. Ernest Barnhart resided in Funkstown, Maryland, between the ages of three and nine years and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Cavetown, where he spent seven years. On the expiration of that period the family went to Mount Aetna, Maryland, where W. Ernest Barnhart continued to reside until twenty-one years of age. In the meantime he acquired his education in the public schools, passing through consecutive grades and supplementing his grammar school training by the high school course. On the 4th of September, 1898, he left home and sought the broader business opportunities of the middle west, first making his way to Ogle county, Illinois, where he worked on a farm until the fall of 1900. Feeling the necessity of further educational training, if he would attain success in life, he then became a student in the Northern Indiana Law College, at Valparaiso, Indiana. While on the farm in Ogle county, Illinois, he had read law two years and continued his law studies in Valparaiso, being graduated from the law department of that school with the class of 1902. However, he practiced for a year before his graduation, having been admitted to the bar in 1901. There he remained until May, 1903, practicing with T. H. Hurd, at one time prosecuting attorney there. Later he returned to Ogle county, Illinois, where he remained until August, 1903, when he came to Spencer and entered into partnership with O. A. Thomas, a relation that was maintained until August I, 1905. Since that time Mr. Barnhart has been alone and has secured a good clientage, connecting him with much important litigation tried in the courts of the district. He also does a collecting and insurance business.
On the 4th of April, 1906, occurred the marriage of Mr. Barnhart and Miss Berta M. Roybar, a daughter of Frank and Lucretia (Lee) Roybar. They have two children, Harold Ernest and Margaret Helen. The parents are well known in the social circles of the city and their home is most attractive by reason of their warm-hearted hospitality. Mr. Barnhart holds membership in the Christian church while his wife is a member of the Presbyterian church. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias lodge at Spencer, in which he is serving as chancellor commander, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen camp. His political views are in accord with the principles of the republican party and in 1904 he was elected on its ticket to the office of city attorney. His first term received public indorsement in his reelection in 1906 and in 1908 he was elected to the office of county attorney. He is recognized as a strong and able lawyer, with thorough understanding of legal principles, while his application of the points of law is always correct and logical.
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Richard Cochran, Big Rapids, MI