More Stories of Joseph Barker, Jr.'s Family

Harry Whitney received an envelope. The envelope had a very, very old letter in it.

The very old letter wrote about the family ancestors that went back more than 200 years!

This is what the letter said:

Edwin Barker Whitney

(his relatives)

Barker

(great great Grandfather)

JOSEPH BARKER (Senior) born 10/27/1721, died 4/12/1821 Age 99 years, 6 months his wife Anna (White) Barker, born 4/23/1724, died 7/6/1804, age 80 years+

JOSEPH BARKER (Junior) born 5/20/1744 (great Grandfather) He was an Acton MinuteMan, and was with them in the fight at Concord ( Old North Bridge ) April 19, 1775. This was the first fight against the British in the Revolutionary War. His wife Ruth (Fletcher) Barker, born 1/25/1749, married 1768. She was the daughter of Capt. Daniel Fletcher and Sarah (Hartwell) Fletcher of Littleton, Mass. They had 10 children.

Mehitable, born 1/24/1771, died 3/25/1872, age 101 years, 2 months

Jonathan, born 8/6/1777, died 10/21/1855

Ruth, born 1780, Married Lemuel Dole

Abel, Married Nancy P. Dodge, 2 nd wife, Mary Brown

Cyrus

Rebecca

Reuben

Betsey, born 9/24/1791, died 10/7/1863, married John Hoar, 5/23/1821

Salley, Married Joseph Cole, 2 nd Joseph Fletcher

Anna

Hoar

John Hoar (our Grandfather), Son of Paul and Sarah (Prentice) Hoar, was born in Littleton , Mass July 18, 1791, and died in Boxboro (Boxborough) Mass June 18, 1872.

He was born and lived on the same farm all his life. This farm was originally in Littleton , but was annexed to Boxboro, as a part of that town April 24, 1827.

There home was on a rise of ground about 500 ft. from the Railroad Station, a beautiful spot.

They had 4 children who lived to grow to Manhood and Womanhood. Aunt Louisa who married Jerome Priest, Uncle Cephas who was married, and Father John Sherman Hoar. He married Mother Lydia Parker Whitney. They had 7 children

Arthur Cephas Hoar (Whitney)

Katie Louise Hoar

Ellen Gertrude Hoar we always called her Nellie

John Sherman Hoar

Crosby Abner Hoar (Whitney)

Edwin Barker Hoar (Whitney)

Alice Josephine Hoar

Then Father had a younger brother, Forestus D. Hoar

To: Edwin and Harry Whitney

I think this sheet (2 sides) will explain where your father got the name Barker from.

I was always very fond of your Father and was very sorry when he decided to make his home in St. Louis ; But I guess he had a fuller life there with your Mother and you boys.

My love to you all,

Uncle John S. Hoar

Aunt Minnie sends her love.

Some of our ancestors had very funny names. Those were the names that they used a long, long time ago: Mehitable, Abel, Cyrus, Reuben, Crosby, Forestus. They sound funny now. Edwin Barker Whitney was Pawpaw Harry's grandfather. So that makes him your GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER. Wow! That's old. But then John Sherman Hoar was your GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER. WOW! And there are people in the story that are even older than that!

But there are some other parts of the story that are really interesting. Your GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER—whose name was Joseph Barker, was in the very first battle of the American Revolution against the English that won America its freedom. He was in the Battle of the Old North Bridge in Concord , Massachusetts on April 19, 1775.

This is what the Old North Bridge looks like:

It is not a very big bridge. But the English soldiers wanted to cross the bridge to fight the people of Concord and Acton . Joseph Barker was one of the people who would not let them cross the bridge.

And this is a statue they put up to remember the people who fought there:

If you look really close, you can see that it was just a farmer walking away from his plow to go to the fight at the Bridge.

And this is a plaque the people of Concord put up to remember the fight that took place there:

This was the kind of rifle that Joseph Barker probably carried that day:

Here is what Joseph Barker's daughter, Mehibable said about that day. She was 5 years old then:

Mrs. Mehitable Barker Piper.

She saw her mother 'weep in her father's embrace when he tore himself from the bosom of his family to take the part of a patriot in the Concord fight. She was living at the time where Moses Taylor, Esq., now lives, and went up to the top of Raspberry Hill, back of Rev. F. P. Wood's present residence, to see or hear something from Concord . . . .Her father stood beside Captain Davis after he fell, and exclaimed to his comrades, "Boys, don't give up!"

Mehitable Barker, daughter of Joseph and Ruth (Fletcher) Barker, born January 24,1771; married Silas Piper, June 7,1791; died March 25,1872, aged 101 years, 2 months, 1 day.

Your ancestor, Joseph Barker, came back home and he and his wife had 9 more children besides Mehitable. One of them, Betsey married a man named John Sherman Hoar, your GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER. (I think it is fun to count the GREATS!) He had a son who was also named John Hoar. This John Hoar was your GREAT, GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER, and he married a woman named Lydia Whitney. And they had a Son named Edwin, who is your GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER. He was the first one to move away from Massachusetts to live in St. Louis . (See if you can find Massachusetts on a map.)