Barbee, J. Clifford

BARBEE, SPARKS, NEWTON, PARKS, REDDICK, INGLIS

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/21/2009 at 10:32:33

Barbee, J. Clifford

Success in this life comes to the deserving. It is an axiom demonstrated by all human experience, that a man gets out of this life what he puts into it, plus a reasonable interest on the investment. The individual who inherits a large estate and adds nothing to his fortune cannot be called a successful man. He that falls heir to a large fortune and increases its value is successful in proportion to the amount he adds to his possession. But the man who starts in the world unaided and by sheer force of will, controlled by correct principles, forges ahead and at length reaches a position of honor among his fellow citizens achieves success such as representatives of the two former classes can neither understand nor appreciate. To a considerable extent J. Clifford Barbee, of Mingo, Jasper County, is a creditable representative of the class last named, a class, which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and added to the stability of our government and its institutions.

Mr. Barbee was born in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, December 26, 1884. He is the son of Christopher C. and Angeline (Sparks) Barbee, the father born in Hendricks County, Indiana, March 8, 1852, and the mother born in Minnesota September 11, 1859. When two years old, the father was brought by his parents, John and Ollie (Newton) Barbee, to Jasper County, Iowa, making the overland trip in wagons, before the days of railroads in this part of the country, and here Christopher C. Barbee grew to manhood and has continued to reside, devoting his life to farming and blacksmithing, now engaged as a hardware merchant in the town of Ira, this County. The mother of the subject was the daughter of Joseph and Amilda (Parks) Sparks, the father born in Kentucky and the mother in Indiana. They moved to Minnesota in an early day and there the mother died. The father was a soldier in the Union army and died while in the service.

Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Christopher C. Barbee, four of whom are living at this writing, namely: Bertie died in infancy; Mrs. Maude L. Reddick, born December 31, 1877, lives in South Dakota; Otis C., born December 21, 1879, and Clarence J., born January 4, 1882, were killed in a train wreck while journeying to Dakota several years ago; J. Clifford, of this sketch; Ray H., born February 9, 1889, lives at Ira; James Edward, born January 18, 1895, is assisting his father in the store at Ira. These children were reared and educated in Jasper County.

J. Clifford Barbee was six months old when his parents brought him to Rhodes, Marshall County, Iowa, from Jackson County, Missouri, and the family lived at Rhodes about four years, then moved to Independence Township, Jasper County, where they have since resided. The subject grew to manhood here and received his education in the local schools. He learned the blacksmith's trade when a young man and this has been his life work. He has become very skilled in his chosen vocation and enjoys an ever-increasing business, having followed his profession continuously for the past eight years, and in July 1911, he purchased a well-equipped shop in Mingo where he does a general blacksmithing and repair work.

Mr. Barbee was married in November 1904, to Lizzie Inglis, who was born in Illinois in 1884. She is the daughter of John Inglis, who was born in Scotland and is now living in Texas. There were twelve children in the Inglis family.

To Mr. and Mrs. Barbee three children have been born, namely: Zola, Fern, born in Melbourne, Iowa; Raymond Harold, born in Fairmount, Minnesota; Gladys, born in Webster City, Iowa. The two older children are attending school at Mingo. Politically, Mr. Barbee votes independently. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 1348.