Jesse Barker (1828-1916)

BARKER, BROWN, BENNETT

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 3/6/2022 at 15:19:25

From Nevada Representative January 4, 1916 (page 1)

OBITUARY

JESSE BARKER

Jesse Barker, one of the oldest and best esteemed residents of Story county, died at the home of his son Eugene southwest of Nevada Monday afternoon as the result of the general infirmities of old age and after an illness the end of which brought regret but no surprise.

Mr. Barker was born in Greene county, New York, October 12, 1828, and died near Nevada, Iowa, January 3, 1916, aged 87 years, 2 months and 22 days. He removed as a young man to Steuben county, New York, where he married Miss Elizabeth Brown and bought and cleared a farm in the wilds of western New York. In 1866, however, he closed out his affairs there and with party of 52 neighbors, relatives and friends in seven emigrant outfit, of which two were his, started for Iowa. They came by wagon all the way through and passed through Nevada on their way to Kossuth county, where some relatives had been since before the Spirit Lake massacre. But after the party got beyond Nevada moving northwest they soon began to feel that they had passed the jumping off place, and Mr. Barker at the first camping place announced that he had had enough. The rest went on; but he and his family turned back and rented for a short time a house in Nevada. Then he bought through T. C. McCall for $5 per acre the farm where he soon afterwards settled, and which continued to be his home until the end of his days in the fiftieth year hereafter. Mrs. Barker died about three years ago, after their married life had extended over nearly or quite sixty years.

Mr. Barker was all his life a modest unassuming but competent and useful citizen. He liked apples and had bout his place a lot of seedling apple trees that for a long time afforded most of that sort of fruit to be had in this locality. He lived near the old state road from the railroad terminus at Nevada to Des Moines and the western world, and the freighting by his place in the old days beat automobile traffic down nearly same line over the Jefferson highway. Time and again the prairie fire swept the country from the Northwestern railroad south to Cambridge; but he saved his homestead, and prospered as the years moved along. He enjoyed life, and people about him were naturally inspired to be happy. He lived here from the pioneer day until there really was not very much more in this world for him to live for, and he has been gathered to his fathers as in the fulness of time all would wish to be.

Mr. and Mrs. Barker had nine children, of whom three died in New York and three in the early days in Iowa and the other three survive, to wit: Chas. D. and Eugene of Nevada and Mrs. W. C. Bennett of Jefferson. His funeral will be conducted from the Eugene Barker home Wednesday at ten-thirty o'clock.