A. A. Barber
A resident of Nishnabotny township whose energies have been confined to general farming and stock-raising, in which he has met with lucrative returns is A. A. Barber, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 13th of August, 1857.
He is a son of Rockley and Sarah Anne (Tomlinson) Barber, natives of England, from which country they emigrated to the United States during childhood with their respective parents, who settled in Pennsylvania. In 1849 Mr. Barber migrated to Ohio, going back to the Keystone state the following year to be married, after which, accompanied by his bride, he returned to his western home. The first twenty-one years of their domestic life were spent in Ohio, following which they removed to Iowa and located in Muscatine county, where they resided until 1874. They then bought some prairie land on section 11, Nishnabotny township, Crawford county, in the cultivtaion of which Mr. Barber engaged until he passed away in 1903.
He was a shoemaker and had always either followed that trade or worked in the woolen mills until he removed to Iowa, but thereafter his activities were entirely devoted to agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Barber survived her husband for four years, her demise occurring in 1907. Five children were born unto them: E. W., who is a resident of Manilla, Iowa; A. A., our subject; Carrie, the wife of F. A. Brown, of Manilla; Mary, who is the wife of Isaac Hird, of Manilla; and G. E., of Ogden, Utah.
The first thirty-one years of A. A. Barber's life were spent in the paternal home, his education being acquired in the common schools. Subsequent to his marriage he rented a farm of his father-in-law, William Flint, in the operation of which he engaged for three years, and then bought three hundred and twenty acres on sections 11 and 2, Nishnabotny township. The land is highly cultivated and contains two full sets of improvements, all of which are substantially constructed buildings and are in good condition. Although he engages in general farming he makes a specialty of breeding blooded stock and is meeting with gratifying success in his ventures. In addition to his property interests in Crawford county he also owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Hyde county, South Dakota.
In 1888 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Barber and Miss Addie Flint, a daughter of William Flint. and they have reared two children, one being Maybel Myrtle, who will graduate from the Manilla high school with the class of 1911.
The religious views of the family coincide with those of the Presbyterian denomination, with which they affiliate, while politically Mr. Barber is identified with the republican party, for whose candidates he always casts his ballot. He takes an active interest in local affairs and served his township as trustee for nine years and has also acted as school director. Both he and pis family are well regarded in the community where they reside, and in the social life of which they take a prominent part.
Source: History of Crawford County, Iowa. Vol. II. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1911.