Howard-Wayne County IN Archives Biographies.....Barnes, William Wilson 1819 - 
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Author: Jackson Morrow (circa 1909)

WILLIAM WILSON BARNES.

   A correct biography of this venerable citizen will show perhaps as much
variety of character and event as generally falls to the lot of one man. In
early life a merchant's apprentice, then successively a farmer, teacher,
mechanic, merchant, politician, public official, real estate dealer, grain
buyer, timber and lumber dealer, journalist, in all of which his success was
marked, while his influence as an energetic, progressive man of affairs made him
a leader among the people of the various communities in which he resided.

   William Wilson Barnes is a native of Connecticut, born in the old historic
county of Fairfield on the 12th day of November, 1819. His family has been
represented in America since the colonial period, his grandfather, Stephen
Barnes, an Englishman by birth, emigrating to this country prior to the war of
the Revolution, and settling in Connecticut, where he secured a large and
valuable estate and became one of the leading men of the community in which he
lived.

   Although a native of Great Britain, Stephen Barnes espoused the cause of the
colonists at the breaking out of the war of the Revolution and during the
greater part of that struggle served as commissary in the army of General
Washington. At the close of the war he retired to his estate and, as already
indicated, became a man of considerable local prominence, as well as one of the
largest land owners of the county in which he resided. He was married in his
native land, but several of his children were born after he came to this
country, among the number being a con by the name of William, the father of the
subject of this sketch. After the death of Stephen Barnes his estate passed into
the hands of his descendants, by whom it was held for many years and on which
several generations of the family were born and reared. William Barnes first saw
the light of day on this ancestral homestead and spent his entire life on the
same as an enterprising and successful tiller of the soil. In his young manhood
he married Susanna Fowler and in due time became the father of five children,
two sons and three daughters, of whom William W., of this review, is the sole
survivor. Like his father and grandfather before him William Wilson Barnes was
born, on the ancestral estate in Fairfield county and spent thirteen years of
his life under the parental roof, assisting with the work of the farm and
attending the schools of the neighborhood in the meantime. Mr. Barnes recently
accidentally discovered the whereabouts of the teacher from whom he was taught
his letters when a child. She is still living at the advanced age of ninety-nine
years in Connecticut, and Mr. Barnes has been in correspondence with her for
about a year.

   In his fourteenth year he was taken from school and put in a store to learn
the mercantile business, at which he served an apprenticeship of four years
without any compensation whatever, the knowledge derived during the period
indicated being considered equivalent to the services rendered. The clay on
which his apprenticeship expired young Barnes deliberately walked out of the
store and immediately thereafter went to northern New York, where during the
ensuing six months he lived with an uncle who paid him twenty dollars a month
for his services as a farm hand, this being the first money he ever earned. With
the proceeds of his labor, which he had saved with great care, Mr. Barnes, then
but eighteen years of age, started for the great West, going by canal to
Buffalo, thence by lake to Cleveland, where he expected to secure employment.
Finding nothing to do in that city he continued his journey on foot to Columbus,
a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, making thirty miles per day on this
part of his trip. Meeting with no success at the latter place he started on foot
for Cincinnati, and after another trip of one hundred and fifty miles arrived at
his destination only to meet with the same discouragement that he had previously
experienced. After spending ten days in a fruitless quest for employment he left
the city, and going about sixty miles to Highland county, passed the required
examination for a teacher's license and took charge of a country school which
ere the close of the third month had an average attendance of ninety-four
pupils. Although but indifferently prepared for this line of work, Mr. Barnes
succeeded admirably with his school and earned the reputation of a capable
instructor and strict disciplinarian. At the close of his term he purchased a
kit of tools and engaged in blacksmithing at the town of Centerfield, a trade in
which he had had no previous experience whatever but in which he met with fair
success by reason of his natural mechanical skill and for the further reason of
never giving up anything he undertook to do. To assist him in the shop, he hired
a first-class mechanic who taught him to shoe horses and do various other kinds
of work, and during the two years the establishment was in operation he
succeeded quite well financially, purchasing a good property in the town and
accumulating a considerable sum of ready money.

   Seeing as he thought a favorable opening for the goods business at
Centerfield, Mr. Barnes borrowed the sum of three thousand dollars, which, with
fifteen hundred dollars of his own, he invested in groceries and general
merchandise and in due time was in the enjoyment of a very liberal patronage. He
bought his first stock in Cincinnati, but subsequently went to Philadelphia,
where he found he could do much better, especially in the matter of dry goods,
which he purchased fifteen per cent, cheaper than in the former city and had
them shipped by canal to within twenty-five miles of his place, hauling the
latter distance by team. His success was such that within five years after
embarking in business he was free from indebtedness and had one of the largest
mercantile establishments in Centerfield, in addition to which he also bought
and sold land on quite an extensive scale, in this way more than doubling the
capital invested.

   Mr. Barnes early became interested in politics and shortly after locating in
Highland county was recognized as one of the leaders of the Whig party in
Centerfield. In recognition of his services to the party as well as by reason of
his fitness for the position he was appointed postmaster of his town by
President Taylor and filled the office for a period of seven years, discharging
his duties in an able and painstaking manner and proving a satisfactory and
popular public servant.
   
   In the year 1846 when Howard county, Indiana, was surveyed and the land put
upon the market, Mr. Barnes with his two brothers-in-law made a tour of
observation through the new country with the object in view of purchasing land.
The party drove through to Anderson, thence through an almost impassable
wilderness to Kokomo, at that time a backwoods village of less than a thousand
souls, and from the latter place visited various parts of the county, looking
for favorable locations. Being pleased with the prospect, he purchased eighty
acres in what is now Howard township at five dollars per acre and later added to
this from time to time until his holding's in this county amounted to over six
hundred acres, much of which he afterwards disposed of at handsome profits.
About the year 1850 he bought for two hundred and fifty dollars a lot on the
public square in Kokomo, which he subsequently sold for five hundred dollars,
and the original eighty for which he paid the sum of four hundred dollars was
sold within a short time for one thousand dollars in excess of the purchase
price. Meantime he continued to reside in Ohio, where he made his home until
1864, when he traded his store at Centerfield for three hundred and sixty acres
of Iowa land and a liberal sum in money. This, like his other transactions
redounded greatly to his financial advantage. He also dealt quite extensively in
Illinois lands, purchasing several tracts in the county of Saline, which he
traded for a hotel and gristmill, the latter of which he operated for several
years with most gratifying success, in addition to which he also bought and
shipped a large amount of grain, continuing both enterprises until embarrassed
by a panic, which caused him a heavy loss, although he went right along with his
business without letting his financial condition come to the knowledge of the
public. By filling a large contract for flour he obtained sufficient cash to
relieve his embarrassment, soon after which he disposed of his business and the
greater part of his real estate and in 1864 came to Howard county for the
purpose of engaging in the timber and lumber business, purchasing in the spring
of 1865 a saw-mill which he located in Howard township, where during the ensuing
five or six years he manufactured a large amount of the finer grades of lumber,
which he sold at handsome prices. He also dealt in all kinds of building
material, which he manufactured and marketed in Kokomo, and while thus engaged
continued to trade in real estate in Howard county and elsewhere and seldom, if
ever, failed to realize handsomely by his transactions. In addition to his
lumber and other interests he cleared and reduced to cultivation a farm of two
hundred and seventy-five acres which he purchased originally for one thousand
dollars, but which he sold after an occupancy of forty years for the sum of one
hundred dollars per acre, besides buying and improving other land in the
vicinity and contributing much to the material advancement and prosperity of the
county in various ways.

   Mr. Barnes was an active and influential worker in establishing the Patrons
of Husbandry or Grange movement throughout Howard county, and when the store
under the auspices of the organization was started in Kokomo in 1873 he was
placed in charge of the same, and the first year did a business amounting to
considerably in excess of sixty thousand dollars. A public-spirited man in all
the term implies, he kept in close touch with the trend of thought and events
and for a number of years wielded a strong influence for the Republican party,
of which he became an earnest and loyal supporter when it came into existence
and to which he continued his allegiance until 1876, when he severed his
connection therewith and accepted the principles of the Democratic party. In
partnership with a friend, he established a political sheet under the name of
The Democratic Protest, which he published during the campaign of 1904 and also
edited the organ of The Patrons of Husbandry while acting as agent for that
organization, displaying marked aptitude as a newspaper man and considerable
ability as a clear, forcible and pungent writer, whose editorials on the leading
public questions and political issues of the day gained for him much more than
local repute.

   Mr. Barnes has been married twice, the first time in Highland county, Ohio,
to Eliza J. Littler, who bore him three sons, two of whom are living. She
departed this life in 1890, after a long, mutually happy and prosperous domestic
experience. John W. Barnes, one of the offsprings of this union, is one of the
best known and most highly esteemed citizens of Howard county and a man of
influence in public affairs, both locally and throughout the state. He served
fourteen years as superintendent of the public schools of the county and for six
years was editor and proprietor of The Richmond Item, during which time he
became as widely and favorably known as an able journalist as he had previously
been known as an educator. Returning to Kokomo in 1903, he took charge of The
Alhambra. which he still manages and now stands in the front rank of the city's
enterprising, representative men.

   The subject's second marriage was solemnized in December, 1893, with Minnie
Justice, a native of Ohio and a lady of sterling worth and high social standing
whose courtesy and kindness have become proverbial, and whose numerous acts of
charity and benevolence have endeared her to a large circle of friends and
acquaintances.

   Mr. Barnes united with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows a number of years
ago in the state of Ohio and is still identified with the organization, though
not as active in its works as formerly. Although a member of no church, he has
great respect for religion and inclines to the beautiful and consistent faith of
Universalism.

   He has always given his aid and influence to enterprises for the public good,
and since becoming a resident of Kokomo has contributed largely to the material
advancement of the city and to the social and moral welfare to repletion with
good to his fellow men, and now at an advanced age of eighty-eight years he
still retains to a marked degree his physical and mental powers, being as keen
and alert as in the days of his prime, and keeping abreast of the times in all
matters in which the public is interested. He has been a close observer as well
as an active participant in the world of affairs, has made his influence felt
wherever his lot has been cast and in many respects has been a leader of thought
and moulder of opinion among his fellow men. In his beautiful and commodious
home on the corner of Jackson and Kennedy streets in the city of Kokomo, he is
spending the evening of a long and useful life surrounded by a host of friends
whose ardent wish is that his days on earth may yet be many and that his
presence may long continue to be a blessing to the world and an incentive to
those whose careers are matters for the future to determine.


Additional Comments:
From:

HISTORY OF HOWARD COUNTY INDIANA
BY
JACKSON MORROW, B. A.
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. II
B. F. BOWEN & COMPANY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA

(circa 1909)



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