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Please send comments to noarweb@mtnhome.com. Updated 14 May 1997.
5. Mary(2) Barr {William(1)} was born 26 April 1783 at Shippensburg, Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania.[1] On 5 October 1801 she married her first cousin, William Barr (see #9 below), the son of Samuel (#2) and Margaret (Robinson) Barr.[2] The family lived in Baltimore, Maryland, for a time, later moving to Cincinnati. For more information about Mary (Barr) Barr, see the complete text of Memoir of Mrs. Mary Barr, which appears in the appendix of this paper. Mary died 26 January 1863.[3] For the children of Mary and William, see #9.
6. John McKnight(2) Barr {William(1)} was born 14 February 1787 and died 10 August 1820[4] probably in Cincinnati. Because his wife's name was Maria, as shown by his father's will, it is believed that he is the John Barr who married Maria McCune on 22 July 1811 at the Middle Springs Presbyterian Church near Shippensburg.[5] It is likely that Maria remarried after John's death, but no record has been found to prove that. The McCune surname is frequently found in Cumberland County records, but there is no indication as yet who her parents were.
Issue:
i. Mary Jane(3) Barr {John McKnight,(2) William(1)} probably died young. Her date of interment is the same as those members of her family who were moved from the Baptist Cemetery.[6] She is the only known child of this marriage.
7. Jane(2) Barr {William(1)} was born 20 January 1789 and died 28 December 1857.[7] She married James Keys of Baltimore in early December 1807.[8] In the 1850 census of Cincinnati she was living with her sister, Mary (Barr) Barr. Her husband, James, had evidently died before that year. (Carol Willsey Bell's Ohio Wills and Estates to 1850: An Index, p. 192, says that there are estate papers (but no wills) in Hamilton County, Ohio, for men named James Keys in both 1826 and 1844.) James B. Keys is mentioned in conjunction with Barr & Keys in Chillicothe, the firm in which John T. Barr and John F. Keys were partners. After the firm was dissolved, debtors were asked to make payments to James B. Keys.[9] It is possible that he was a brother of John F. Keys (see Margaret Barr #12 -- One might speculate that if James is the brother of John his middle name might be Bayly.). The notice of the death of Jane (Barr) Keys appeared in The Cincinnati Daily Gazette on 30 December 1857. At that time, she was said to be "at Glendale." The funeral service was held at the home of her grandson, Jas. K. Wilson; and she was buried in the Catharine Street Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Issue:
i. William Barr(3) Keys {Jane,(2) William(1)} was born before 1816, when he was mentioned in his grandfather's will. He is the only child whose name is known.
ii. A daughter, who married a Mr. Wilson.
8. Susan(2) Barr {William(1)} was born 4 February 1794[10] and died 4 June 1826[11] in Cincinnati. She married John B. Enness (born about 1785 and died 2 October 1865[12] in Adams County, Ohio -- see information on the will of John B. Enness in the introduction and a copy of his will in the Appendix) on 20 August 1811.[13] He was a merchant in Cincinnati, having arrived in that city in 1800.[14]
The first volume of Ohio Newspapers mentions a story in the 15 September 1810 issue of The Western Spy and Hamilton Gazette which tells of "an account of the robbery of Maj. Halley, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Enness (John H. Piatt's partner), all of Cincinnati, while they were on their way to Philadelphia." The second volume, page 82, cites the 3 August 1811 issue of The Western Spy, saying "John B. Enness and John H. Piatt, in Cincinnati, have dissolved their partnership." The same volume cites a report from the same newspaper on 18 December 1813 that "Enness & Bayly have opened a new store in Cincinnati at the corner of Main and Lower Market Streets, where they will sell dry goods and groceries." The 1836-37 Cincinnati Directory Advertiser, located as so much of this information was by professional researcher, Carol, in Cinncinnati shows that John was "commissioner of insolvents" at that time. He is listed again with that title on page 48 of Charles Cist's 1841 publication Cincinnati in 1841: Its Early Annals and Future Prospects. In November of 1845 he contributed $50 toward the construction of the First Presbyterian Church.[15]
The 1850 Cincinnati census shows John's birth place as New Jersey, but other records (i.e., 1860 census of Manchester Township, Adams County, Ohio, and the 1825 Cincinnati City Directory) indicate that he was born in Maryland. Enness families appear in early records of both states, but his parents have not yet been identified.
Very soon after Susan's death, John married (2) Susan Clingman on 11 October 1826.[16] She died 15 August 1831 and he married (3) Elizabeth Biddle on 8 August 1832.[17] By this third wife, he has a son, John Brown Enness, baptized on 9 September 1838. (See citation for baptism dates below.) He probably died before his father's will was written in 1849.
Issue:[18]
14. i. Rachel Ann Howard(3) Enness.
ii. Mary Jane (Jean)(3) Enness {Susan,(2) William(1)} was baptized 2 October 1814. She probably died before her father wrote his will in 1849.
15. iii. Ellen B.(3) Enness.
iv. Jane Keys(3) Enness was baptized 3 July 1819. She probably died before her father wrote his will in 1849.
v. John(3) Enness was baptized 30 September 1820. He probably died before his father wrote his will in 1849.
vi. Charles(3) Enness was born about 1821 and baptized 4 July 1824. At the time his father wrote his will in 1849, Charles was in St. Louis. He was married there on 26 May 1853 to Helen M. Bragg, [19] the daughter of Dr. A. G. Bragg. Charles died on 20 February 1855 in St. Louis.[20] No known issue. After Charles' death, Helen married a Mr. McMullens.
vii. William Barr(3) Enness was baptised 4 July 1824. He died before his father's will was probated in 1865. The 1844 Cincinnati City Directory lists him as boarding with J. B. Enness and being associated with "Enness & Cross, dry goods merchants, Main bet 5th and 6th." It is not known if he married or had issue, but no mention is made of a widow or children in his father's will, as is the case with his brother, Charles.
9. William(2) Barr {Samuel(1)} was born in August 1778[21] and married #5 Mary Barr on 5 Oct 1801,[22] probably at Middle Spring Presbyterian Church in Shippensburg. For a time, they lived in Baltimore, but then moved to Cincinnati.
William Barr was a well known man in Cincinnati, as many records attest. Much personal information is given in Mary Barr Memoir (see Appendix), but other information was available as well. He is frequently mentioned in Ohio Newspapers, both in connection with his business, William Barr and Company, and in relation to his civic activities. He seems to have been particularly active in the Ohio militia, as there are several entries which refer to that. The 20 April 1811 issue of The Western Spy says that he was elected an officer "of the Union Fire Company at a meeting at Goodwin's Inn in Cincinnati." Also listed among the officers with what may be family connections were James Findlay and Oliver M. Spencer. J. W. Leonard in The Centennial Review of Cincinnati (publication information not available) says under the heading of Insurance:
...In 1816...a company known as the Cincinnati Insurance Company was incorporated with a capital stock of $500,000, with William Barr as President, and a Board of Directors composed of ..., James Keyes, John H. Piatt,..., O.M. Spencer..., and John Buffum...This was a strong combination for those days, comprising men of the greatest prominence in the business life of the city, but the financial disaster which followed a few years after its organization seems to have been too powerful for the company to withstand, and it passed out of existence.
William died 18 March 1837[23] in Cincinnati, and is buried there in Spring Grove Cemetery.
Issue:
i. Mary M.(3) Barr {William,(2) Samuel(1)} was born 18 June 1803, probably in Baltimore, and died 4 February 1866.[24] She was unmarried.
ii. Samuel(3) Barr was born in August 1806 in Baltimore, died 23 February 1814 in Cincinnati.[25]
iii. Jean Finley(3) Barr, no date of birth known, but she was baptised by Rev. John Moody at Middle Springs Presbyterian Church.[26] She was probably named after her mother's aunt, Jean (McKnight) Findlay.[27] The Findlay name also appears in the line of Anna (Barr) Ellison (#11). She probably died young.
iv. Margaret Robinson(3) Barr was baptized 20 April 1812[28] and married William J. Van Horne. From Mary Barr Memoir, we knew that William and Mary had a daughter who married William Van Horne, but we did not know her name. That name was discovered when Jean Young Houston's article on Presbyterian Church Records was found by this compiler. The baptism of Margaret Robinson Barr is mentioned with the Barr records, and Margaret Robinson Van Horne is mentioned with the Van Horne records. While this is not proof, as such, it is evidence considered by this compiler to be strong enough to include here. [Note that her grandmother was Margaret (Robinson) Barr. See #2 Samuel Barr.]
16. v. Susan Sterrett Barr.
17. vi. Ann Ellen Barr.
18. vii. William V. Barr.
viii. John Keys(3) Barr was baptized 1 April 1820.[29] He probably died young. He is buried in Spring Grove Cemetery, but was moved there from the Baptist Grounds in Cincinnati at the same time as his grandparents and other family members (9 May 1855).
ix. David McKnight(3) Barr was baptized 30 June 1821[30] and died 26 November 1892.[31] His will was filed in Cincinnati on 11 January 1893.[32] This source states that the only beneficiary mentioned was Abby Eugenia Barr, probably his wife. From Mary Barr Memoir, we know that he served in the Civil War since he was the only son still living at her death. If he had issue, they are unknown.
10. John T.(2) Barr {Samuel(1)} was probably born about 1780 in Pennsylvania. He was for many years a merchant in Baltimore and, later, New York City.[33] He was in Chillicothe, Ohio, as a merchant in the early 1800's.[34] His partners, at various times in Chillicothe, were William Barr (his brother? or uncle?) and John F. Keys (his brother-in-law). Somewhere in my files (and piles -- all genealogists have "pile it" licenses, you know!), is a notation that John T. Barr married Jane Starratt. I had written a note beside it, "Could this be Sterrett?" As I compile this, of course, I can't find the reference; but in October of 1993 when I was in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, I remembered and looked at the Sterrett genealogy in the Historical Society library there. Jane Sterrett, the wife of John T. Barr, is mentioned in the will of her father, Benjamin Sterrett.[35]
26. Benjamin Sterrett (of Alexander,(3) Samuel,(2) Benjamin(1)). Married, at Big Springs Church, March 27, 1794, Peggy Bell. Had business interests in Baltimore, Md., and Cincinnati, Ohio. His will, dated Baltimore, November 1, 1824, after some bequests, among them one to "my nephew, Benjamin," leaves all "my houses and lands in the City of Baltimore, all my houses and lands in the City of Cincinnati, ...and after payment of all debts, -- balance, etc., etc., -- to my beloved daughter, Jane Barr, wife of John T. Barr." [36]
For other connections to the Sterrett family, see #26 Jane Buffum Keys and #27 Richard Wilson Keys.
John's date of death is not known, but what is probably his probate record was filed in Hamilton County in 1841.
Issue of this marriage, if any, is unknown.
11. Anna(2) Barr {Samuel(1)} was born 4 March 1789, probably near Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.[37] She was married to John Ellison [born in Ireland in 1779, the son of Andrew and Mary (McFarland) Ellison; died Adams County, Ohio, 10 April 1829] of Adams County, Ohio, on 6 February 1808.[38]
An Adams County history says of John and Anna (Barr) Ellison:[39]
John Ellison, Jr., was born at Almah, County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1779, son of Andrew Ellison who has a sketch herein. He came to this country with his father and mother when he was eleven years of age and located at Manchester, in the Stockade. He was elected sheriff of Adams County in 1806 and served until 1810, two terms. It was in December 8, 1808, while he was sheriff that David Becket was hung, the only legal execution which ever took place in the county.
On February 6, 1808, he was married to Anna Barr, who was a superior and most excellent woman... From December 10, 1811, until January 11, 1812, he served in the Ohio Legislature...Again from December 12, 1812, until February 9,1813,...From December 6, 1813, until February 11, 1814,...From December 5, 1814, to February 16, 1815,...from December 2, 1816, until January 28, 1817...
He bought the Buckeye Station farm in 1818 of Judge Charles Willing Byrd and paid $5,500 for it. At that time, there were 700 acres of it. This was his home until his death on April 10, 1829, in the fiftieth year of his age...
Note that it was Anna (Barr) Ellison who tells of her family's move from Shippensburg to Kenton's Station (later Maysville, Kentucky) in 1791 in the Draper Papers. (See #2 Samuel Barr above.) Anna died 2 September 1867 in Manchester and is buried there in the Presbyterian Church Cemetery.[40]
Issue:[41]
19. i. Andrew Barr Ellison.
20. ii. Sarah Ellison.
21. iii. Mary Keys Ellison.
iv. Ann(3) Ellison {Anna,(2) Samuel(1)} did not marry.
22. v. Esther Ellison.
vi. William Barr(3) Ellison was born 25 May 1819. "In early life, he merchandised in Manchester. In 1849 he visited California, and followed the mines until his death, which took place in Boise City, Idaho." He did not marry.[42]
23. vii. John Ellison.
viii. Samuel Barr(3) Ellison was born 29 June 1824 and died 10 March 1827.[43]
24. ix. Jane Ellison.
25. x. Margarete Amelia Ellison.
12. Margaret(2) Barr {Samuel(1)} was born 17 January 1792,[44] probably in the area of Maysville, Kentucky. She married John Findlay Keys [born 3 March 1786, the son of Richard and Mary (Bayly) Keys; died in Glendale, Ohio, 16 April 1865[45] of Baltimore in Chillicothe in late August or early September 1810. Their marriage was announced in the Scioto Gazette and Chillicothe Advertiser on 5 September 1810.[46] She died 25 Nov 1832 in Cincinnati.[47]
Issue:
26. i. Jane Buffum Keys.
27. ii. Richard Wilson Keys.
iii. Samuel Barr(3) Keys {Margaret,(2) Samuel(1)} baptized 25 July 1824.[48]
13. John Barr(2) Mewhirter {Jane(1)} was born 1797, married Mary Ann Reed on 30 January 1821, and died in Harrison, Ohio. Robert L. Gibbs provided all information on this family in a letter of 17 October 1992.
John Barr Mewhirter, who married Mary Ann Reed in Harrison County, Ohio in 1821, died young. On his death bed, he made her promise never to remarry. She and her two sons went on to Illinois for a short time, and then to Griswold, Iowa, where she died in 1885. Some Mewhirter cousins who still live there sent this information to me just a couple of weeks ago...Issue:
i. Frederick(3) Mewhirter {John Barr Mewhirter,(2) Jane(1)} was born 25 April 1823 in Harrison, Ohio, and died 14 December 1897 in Griswold, Iowa. His wife was Elizabeth.
ii. William(3) Mewhirter was born 10 December 1825 in Springfield, Illinois and died 22 October 1905 in Silverton, Oregon. His wife was Elizabeth L. Walters.
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Footnotes:
[1] Mary Barr Memoir, page 1.Back
[2] Ibid., page 4.Back
[3] Ibid., page 1.Back
[4] Mary Barr Memoir, page 4.Back
[5] Middle Spring, page 107.Back
[6] Spring Grove Records.Back
[7] Mary Barr Memoir, page 4.Back
[8] Robert Barnes, Marriages and Deaths from Baltimore Newspapers 1796-1816 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1978), page 183. Quoting Baltimore Federal Gazette, 8 Dec 1807: "James Keys, Balto. merchant, and Miss Jane Barr of Shippensburg, Penna., were married at the latter place last Thurs. by Rev. Mr. Moody.Back
[9] Ohio Newspapers, page 26.Back
[10] Mary Barr Memoir, page 4.Back
[11] From her tombstone in the old Presbyterian Cemetery in Manchester, Adams County, Ohio. Her age is given there as 31, so there is a one year discrepancy between that and her birth date in the Mary Barr Memoir.Back
[12] Jeffrey G. Herbert Index of Death Notices and Marriage Notices Appearing in the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, 1827-1881 (Cincinnati: Hamilton County Chapter, The Ohio Genealogical Society, 1992), page 136. Hereafter, Cincinnati Daily Gazette Notices.Back
[13] Ohio Newspapers, second volume, page 83, citing The Western Spy, Cincinnati, 24 August 1811. "Marriage: John B. Enness married Miss Susan Barr, both of Cincinnati, on Tuesday evening, 20 August 1811, by Rev. J. L. Wilson."Back
[14] Charles Theodore Greve, Centennial History of Cincinnati and Representative Citizens (Chicago: Biographical Publishing Company, 1904), pages 355 and 356.Back
[15] Charles Cist, The Cincinnati Miscellaney or Antiquities of the West (Cincinnati: Caleb Clark, Printer, November 1845), pages 169-170.Back
[16] From Hamilton County, Ohio, marriage records researched by Carol Mahan, Vol. 3, page 102. Hereafter, Hamilton County Marriage Records.Back
[17] Cincinnati Daily Gazette Notices, page 577.Back
[18] Baptism dates from: Jean Young Houston, "Covenant - First Presbyterian Church Records, 1790-1840, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio," National Genealogical Society Quarter, Vols. 63-64 (1975-76), pages 28 ff. Hereafter, Cincinnati Presbyterian Records.Back
[19] Index of St. Louis Marriages 1804-1876, Vol. 1 (St. Louis: St. Louis Genealogical Society), 1973, showing that the marriage was recorded in Book 6, page 217.Back
[20] Death Records from Missouri Newspapers, Jan. 1854 - Dec 1860 (St. Louis: St. Louis Genealogical Society, 1984), page 72. Citing The Missouri Republican of 21 February 1855, the notice indicates "Enness, Charles, 20 Feb., age 34. Funeral from home of Dr. A. G. Bragg. Interred Bellefontaine Cemetery." Probate records of John B. Enness indicate that Helen (Bragg) Enness married (2) Mr. McMullens.Back
[21] Spring Grove Records.Back
[22] Mary Barr Memoir, page 4.Back
[23] Mary Barr Memoir, page 6, and Spring Grove Records.Back
[24] Spring Grove Records give her birth and death dates. This record says she was born in Cincinnati, but it was almost surely Baltimore, or possibly Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.Back
[25] Ibid.Back
[26] Middle Spring, page 66.Back
[27] See the McKnight section in the Appendix.Back
[28] Cincinnati Presbyterian Records, page 31.Back
[29] Ibid.Back
[30] Ibid.Back
[31] Spring Grove Records.Back
[32] Lois E. Hughes, Compiler, Wills Filed in Probate Court, Hamilton County, Ohio, 1791-1901, Vol. I A-K (Cincinnati: Archives and Rare Books Department, University Libraries, University of Cincinnati, 1991), p. 23.Back
[33] Mary Barr Memoir, page 4.Back
[34] Ohio Newspapers, various pages.Back
[35] T. Woods Sterrett, The Sterrett Genealogy - Families of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Canada & Others (New Haven, Connecticut: The Tuttle Morehouse & Taylor Company, 1930), p. 22. Hereafter, Sterrett Genealogy. For more information on the Sterrett line, see the Appendix.Back
[36] Ibid.Back
[37] Her tombstone is cited in Manchester Twp. Cemeteries, Adams County, Ohio (West Union, Ohio: The Adams County Genealogical Society), p. 146. Hereafter, Manchester Cemeteries. Also cited in this work is the tombstone of John Thompson, born 1750, died 16 September 1836. This is probably the second husband of Margaret (Robinson) Barr, Anna's mother, since the graves seem to be listed in order and it is right next to hers among the Ellisons.Back
[38] Robert Henry Nixon, Nixon-Ellison Genealogy (Cincinnati: Privately printed, 1970), page 121. Hereafter, Nixon-Ellison Genealogy. For more information about the Ellison family, see the Appendix.Back
[39] Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers, A History of Adams County, Ohio, From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (West Union, Ohio: E. B. Stivers, 1900), pages 280-281. Hereafter, Evans and Stivers.Back
[40] Manchester Cemeteries, page 146.Back
[41] This list of children is from Nixon-Ellison Genealogy, pages 121-122, taken from a sketch on Robert Hamilton Ellison in Biographical Sketches of the Scioto Valley (no publication information given). The sketch is reprinted on pages 175-183 of Nixon-Ellison Genealogy.Back
[42] Nixon-Ellison Genealogy, pages 122 and 176.Back
[43] Manchester Cemeteries, page 146.Back
[44] Sterrett Genealogy, page 23.Back
[45] Ibid. "Richard Keys, 3d Lieut. in the First Pa. Battalion of the Flying Camp, Revolutionary Army. He was b. 1756; d. Cincinnati, April 27, 1830, and his wife, Mary Bayly, d. Dec. 25, 1829...[both] buried Spring Grove cemetery."Back
[46] Ohio Newspapers, page 313. "Marriage: John F. Keys, of Baltimore, to Miss Margaret Barr, of Chillicothe, on Wednesday evening last, by Rev. Mr. Wilson."Back
[47] Cincinnati Presbyterian Records, page 217. Sterrett Genealogy, page 23, gives the date of her death as 12 November 1832.Back
[48] Cincinnati Presbyterian Records, p. 217.Back