Elijah Barnes was born July 30, 1797 in Vermont. According to the entries on his death certificate
he was the son of W. Barnes. He married Diantha Drake, the daughter of Daniel and Patience (Perkins) Drake about 1835. He was
probably married once before but nothing is known of this first marriage outside what is given in the 1830 census for Trumbull Co., Ohio.
Elijah is said to have operated the first general store in Tyrell Hill of Fowler Township where he settled when he first came to Trumbull Co., Ohio.
He later lived in Johnston Township, Trumbull Co., and from there he moved to Newaygo Co., MI. His wife Diantha was born in 1815 in Vermont. She moved
with her parents to Ohio prior to 1826 and settled in Hartford Township, Trumbull Co. After Diantha's marriage, her parents with her brothers and her only sister,
Sarah, moved to Hancock Co., IL, where her parents and brothers became Mormons and took part in the
great Mormon treck to Utah in 1846-1847.
Elijah and Diantha and their children probably came to Newaygo County in 1863 with their son-in-law and daughter, William and Sarah
Dickinson. They settled on Section 35 of Denver Township. Here Elijah died on Oct. 1, 1874 and Diantha died Nov. 28, 1889. They are both buried in Bull Cemetery,
Denver Township near William and Sarah Dickinson graves.
The Barnes had a large family. Son, John, inherited half of his father's farm upon Elijah's death in 1874. Daughter, Sarah A., born Oct. 24, 1836, married William
Dickinson. Son, George, born, 1838, married Helen Stone on February 16, 1864 and he died a month later in the
Civil War. A son, Carlo, a daughter, Classessa who married Alvin Dake (Classessa, her husband, Alvin, and their small son all died on the same day, February 5, 1871). Son, Daniel,
born on March 8, 1944, married his brother George's widow, Helen (Stone) Barnes on Sept. 24, 1865. Rhoda, born about 1845, married George Mosher on Dec. 31, 1865 in Newaygo Co. Olive A., born, 1849, married
Elisha Gidding in Feb. 1867. Calvin M., born Oct. 24, 1853, married Araminta A. Perkins. Roxey, born about 1856, married Joseph Westbrooks on March 29, 1874 at Atena, Newaygo Co., MI.
There are not many descendants of Elijah and Diantha (Drake) Barnes with the Barnes name, but there are several hundreds of their descendants from the Stone, Westbrooks and the Dickinson lines, living in and around
Newaygo Co., MI.
|
Return to Family Tales
Return to Home Page