Barker, Corydon

BARKER, MURRAY, GRIER, BROWN, CRISWELL, CRESWELL, WOODFORD, ATHEY, NEWTON

Posted By: Gary Norris (email)
Date: 11/29/2012 at 06:55:59

A resident of Poweshiek county for fifty-seven years, Corydon Barker has had ample opportunity to note the wonderful progress and development it has made since he first located here in 1854. Mr. Barker was born in Grant county, Kentucky, on the 26th of October, 1833, and is a son of James and Sarah (Murray) Barker. The father was a native of New Hampshire, as was the grandfather, Ephraim Barker, but the mother was of Irish extraction, her father having emigrated from the Emerald isle to America. James Barker, who was a carpenter by trade, removed from Kentucky to Ohio, locating upon a farm which he cultivated while following his trade. He continued to reside in that state until October, 1854, when he came to Iowa, settling upon one hundred and thirty-four acres of government land which he purchased in Deep River and Lincoln townships, Poweshiek county. This he cleared and placed until cultivation gradually while engaging in carpenter work, having built many of the schoolhouses as well as residences in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Baker were the parents of seven children, four boys and three girls.

The elementary education of Corydon Barker was obtained in the common schools of Ohio, after which he was sent to a private school in Virginia. When he laid aside his school books he worked at the carpenter's trade in Virginia for a time and then returned to Ohio, where he lived upon his father's farm until 1854, when he came to Poweshiek county, Iowa. The trip from McCallsville, Morgan county, Ohio, was made with horses and wagon, several weeks having been consumed in the journey. Oftentimes the road were little more than wagon tracks across the prairie. He bought eighty acres of land in Lincoln township upon his arrival in this county, where he has ever since continued to reside. In 1863, Mr. Barker responded to the call for troops and enlisted in Company E, Eleventh Iowa Infantry, with which he went to the front. He spent considerable time in South Carolina, where he participated in some sharp skirmishes, later being sent to Fort McAllister, where he was taken ill. He joined the company again at Charleston, where they charged the fort. Later he was with Sherman's army on their famous march and was mustered out at Davenport on the 10th of May, 1864. He was in Keokuk on the day Lincoln was assassinated. At the close of hostilities Mr. Barker returned to his farm, where he is now living retired, his son having relieved him of the responsibilities connected with the cultivation of his property. He always engaged in general farming but made a specialty of the breeding and raising of Chester White and Poland China hogs and shorthorn Durham cattle. For fifty-five years and more Mr. Barker practiced in veterinary surgery, which he studied in New York city, during a large portion of that time being the only practitioner in his community.

On the 10th of March, 1856, Mr. Barker was married to Miss Jane Grier, a daughter of James and Jemina (Brown) Grier. The father was a native of North Ireland and the mother of Pennsylvania, although of Irish extraction, her father having been born on the Emerald isle. Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Barker's mother, had the distinction of being a cousin of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat. Four children, three daughters and a son, where born unto Mr. and Mrs. Barker; Lucy D., with the wife of Rean *Criswell, of Deep River where he engages in mercantile pursuits and they have one son, Truesdale, who is married and has a daughter, Doris, who is three years of age. Emma Jeannette married George Woodford, of Deep River, who has been a very successful farmer and they have two children, Ethel and Bert. Cora D. married James Athey, a farmer in Lincoln township. James William, who is operating the old homestead, married Charity Newton, of Morgan county, Ohio.

Ever since attaining his majority Mr. Barker has cast his vote for the candidates of the republican party. He has served as trustee, school director and constable in Lincoln township, and his father was for many years a member of the board of supervisors of Poweshiek county. Mr. Barker remembers well that when Lincoln ran for president the first time there were but twenty-two votes cast in the township which bears the name of the Great Emancipator. While living in Virginia he joined the Masonic fraternity, with which he continues to be identified through his membership in Golden Rod Lodge, No. 128, and he keeps in close relationship with his comrades of the war through the medium of the Deep River Post, No. 142, G.A.R. The methods of living have changed most wonderfully since Mr. Barker first became a resident of Iowa, the pioneer conditions which then existed having given way before the onward march of civilization, which has brought this county to the fore both as an agricultural community and educational center.

History of Poweshiek County Iowa
- A Record of Settlement, Organizations, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II
written by Prof. L. F. Parker.
Published by The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., in 1911
Pages 485-486

Assistant County Coordinator Note: Other sources give this name as *Creswell