From the
Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 697-698
JAMES BARRON is an example of what may be accomplished by steady perseverance and honest industry, as he came to America a poor boy, among strangers, and now is the owner of one of the finest farms in Wisconsin, with much other property, and every man is his friend.
Mr. BARRON was born in Cornwall, Eng., on Jan. 27, 1844, a son of John and Susannah (ENNOR) BARRON, who were born, reared and died in England. They reared a family of five children, of whom four left the old home in 1863, and came to America, landing in California, where our subject, with two brothers and one sister, located, and where the brothers worked in the mines for seven years prior to coming to Wisconsin. John and Thomas BARRON both died in California, and Catherine, now Mrs. TREMAINE, still resides in that State. Of the children of John and Susannah (ENNOR) BARRON, one daughter, Mrs. NETTLE, remained in England.
In 1871 Mr. BARRON, our subject, came to Grant county, where he purchased his present farm, which is located three miles west of Georgetown. In 1871 he was married to Miss Mary J. KEMP, of Grant county, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (CHAMBERS) KEMP, old pioneers of Grant county, coming here previous to the Black Hawk war. Joseph KEMP, the grandfather of Mrs. BARRON, fought the Indians in this war. Both Mr. and Mrs. KEMP were natives of England, and their marriage occurred in Grant county, Wis., in 1847. They lived there until 1849, when Mr. KEMP crossed the Plains to California, and worked there in the mines some fifteen years. Removing his family to the West in 1851, he came back to Smelser township, in 1867, and remained until the time of death, which occurred in 1877. His wife died in 1896, leaving three children: John W., born in 1849, died at McPherson, some years ago, his children now living in Iowa; Joseph J., born in 1859, married in Smelser, and now lives on the old KEMP home in this township. Mrs. BARRON was born in California in October, 1853, and was partly educated in that State, although she attended school after the return of the family to Wisconsin.
James BARRON received a good education in the schools of his country, and after his marriage and return from the West settled on his present farm, in 1871, where he has made many improvements, which have enhanced the value of the property, and made it one of the attractive places of the county. To his first purchase of eighty acres, he, with the noble assistance of his wife, has added, until now he is the owner of 250 acres of well cultivated land, and also a farm near Ipswich, Lafayette county, and still another farm in Smelser. A family of eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. BARRON, the survivors being: Sarah J., born in March, 1872, educated in the Platteville Normal school, for six years one of the successful and acceptable teachers in the public schools, in 1898 married Everett LOUTHAIN, of Grant county, and they reside on his farm; Mary K., born Dec. 1, 1876, educated in the Platteville Normal, a successful teacher for two years in the public schools, married James SHEPHARD, of Smelser, and resides on a farm of our subject in Lafayette county (she has one daughter, Retta, born in August, 1900); Richard, born in September, 1878; Edith, born in October, 1880, is a student at the Normal; Bessie F., born July 23, 1887, and James E., born in June 1893, are students at school.
This family has been brought up in the M. E. Church, to which Mr. BARRON cheerfully contributes. Politically he has always been a Republican, and although he has a natural love for his own land, he is an American now and proud of her government and institutions. For some twelve years he has held the position of clerk of the school board, and at present is a member of the town board. In 1898 Mr. BARRON made a visit to his old house to gratify a longing to recall old associations, but came back with no desire to remain. The success which has attended him on this side of the ocean, the home he has earned, and the friends he has made, all tend to make him more American than English.
This biography generously submitted by
Carol Holmbeck