Elihu Barber, an Early Settler in Pompey, Onondaga County

From "Re-Union of the Sons and Daughters of the Old Town of Pompey," Pompey, NY, 1875, pp. 283-286

BARBER FAMILY.

Elihu Barber was born at Hebron, Conn., March 17th, 1768, and was the seventh and youngest son of David Barber, who at that time was a rich merchant, buying his dry goods in Boston, but shipping potash, beef and horses, from New London, Conn., to the West Indies in exchange for rum, sugar and molasses for his trade; like most younger sons of rich men, Elihu was a petted, indulged and I might say, spoiled boy, thinking his father rich enough to suopply his every want, without any exertion of his own; and this state of things continued till the close of the Revolutionary War; when a consequence of a forced payment of a bill for several thousand dollars due a Boston house, for goods bought just at the commencement of the war, (the parties going to England during its continuance as they were Tories) he was irretrievably ruined; having armfuls of Continential money which at that time however was of very triffling value, as we read that Thomas Jefferson gave $6,000.00 of it for an overcoat.

A little farm of thirty acres, in the sterile town of Hebron, and a tract of two hundred and fifty acres of wild land in the extreme northern part of Vermont, was all that was left of his father's large fortune, and a life of toil and prviation was before him, where before, was ease and plenty. January 25th, 1791, he married Hannah Gott, and together they toiled on; her busy hands, ripe judgment and sterling good sense, helping to cheer and direct him, until in the early part of 1801, they sold out for $790, and start for Pompey, having all their worldly goods upon an ox sled drawen by two yoke of steers, all their own.

In the latter part of February they reached Pompey and moved into a log-house, on lot 84, and the property of Maj. Sherwood, where they lived three weeks; buying in the meantime one-hundred acres out of the north-west corner of lot 69, from Stutson Benson, paying therefore his hard earned seven hundred dollars, the deed bearing date March 7th, 1801. They almost immediately moved into their new home, and the ringing of his axe as he labored to increase his three acre clearing, and the clang of her loom as she wove woolen and linen cloth for the neighbors at the rate of ten yards a day, and doing her own work, soon began to tell in the way of bettering their circumstances, the clearing steadily enlargening, a fruit orchard of all kinds suitable to the climate soon in the bearing, with thrift and plenty everywhere. In a short time a large frame barn was built, and in 1810, a thirty by forty house after the pattern so common in dear old Connecticut is furnished, and moved into - that busy loom having paid for the brick in the chimney, the sawing of all the lumber, and the carpenters' wages for the labor in shingling and clap-boarding the house.

About this time, they began to enlarge their boundaries, adding piece after piece, until they had paid for, and owned, over five hundred acres; the request the active house-wife making when told from time to time, I can buy a hundred acres of Mr. ____; "can we pay for it?" always was "get me fifteen more cows and you may buy it."

This butter business was carried on until Elihu Barber was well known by the name of "Butter Barber;" for during the war of 1812, it was his custom to carry, on certain days of every week, three pails of golden rools of butter to market; one in each end of a bag across the saddle, and one in front of him, thus riding into Manlius, nine miles distant, and arousing the proprietor of the hotel from his slumber with his customary call of "halloo the house," and by nine o'clock he was back on his farm.

At intervals of a few years, now that want was no longer probably, they made their pilgrimage to the land of their birth, toward which, notwithstanding its roughness and sterility, their hearts turned as faithfully as the needle to the pole. When the First Baptist Church of Pompey was organized, and a house of worship erected, Elihu Barber took an active part in its construction, and gave liberally toward it, and his wife was one of its most zealous and influential members; showing her faith by her works, and being a constant attendant and worshiper until old age prevented-and truly it may be said of her, "she did what she could" for the glory of God.

This long walk together was sundered March 27th, 1848, by his death at the homestead, four score years of age. In 1857 she died at the house of their youngest son, David Barber, at Manlius, aged over eighty-eight years. The early years of their married life, were years of toil and privation; but industry, economy and an indomitable energy that knew no such word as failure, brought them while yet they were middle aged, to comfort and plenty. And although the monumental marble that marks their resting place records no victories won on tented field, still when in early life, grim want and pinching poverty threatened to assail and overcome them, they, by steady advances, utterly routed them. The forest that encircled their home, at first, echoed the howling of wild beasts; but soon was heard the looing of cattle and bleating of sheep, whose wool the humming spindle and clanging loom, transformed into clothing; and the forest itself melted away before the continuous strokes of the axe, and in place of it came luxuriant harvests. Plain and assuming people were they, in the front rank of pioneers, whose onward tread has carried civilization from ocean to ocean; by whose industry, the desert now blossoms like the rose; and by whose examples of stern integrity, unbending principle and Christian faith, towering temples and modest churches dot the land, spreading the gospel of peace. Truly their victory has proven greater than any record written in blood.

Four children were born to this couple, viz: Henry Barber, born February 13th, 1792, died in 1850; Lydia Barber, born June 6th, 1797, died in 1804; Hannah Barber, born October 14th, 1799, died April, 1872; David Barber, born September 8, 1802, died January 21, 1867. Henry Barber was some nine years of age when his parents moved into Pompey, and being a strong, vigorous boy, soon bore a hand in the labors of the period. About 1819, he married Sarah Shields, and lived about one mile from the old homestead until his death, which occurred in 1850, leaving four sons and two daughters. Hannah Barber was married about 1816, to Daniel W. Carver, living for a long period in the Valley, two miles north of Delphi, afterward removing to Saratoga Springs, where Carver died at the home of her son in Illinois in 1872. They had three children, two sons and one daughter. David Barber was married to Harriet Hinsdell, Oct. 6th, 1828, and settled close to the homestead, where he lived until 1852, when he moved near Fayetteville, living there until his death, which occurred Jan. 21st, 1867. His wife is still living, as also are their two sons and one daughter. Being possessed of a strong constitution, great energy and perservance, and a farsightednes and good judgment, that would have made him successful in any occupation or profession, it is not strange that David Barber succeeded as a farmer. earnest in purpose, when his decision was once made, nothing turned him aside from the prosecution of his plan, and he was often successful in an undertaking, in which a weaker man would have met with a disastrous defeat. He was proud of his occupation, and stood in the front rank of agriculturists. Firm and unyielding in what he thought right, still his social qualities were of a high order, his integrity unquestioned and his word as good as his bond.

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19 December 1996