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                          BARKER

James Barker of Shropshire, England, was born in 1617/18. He settled in Rhode Island in or about 1634, having come over on the ship Mary and John.  He married Grace Kilbourne (1613-1665)  At some point he moved his family to NY State by 1641. He died in 1678. He was a descendant of the ancient and honorable Barker family of Shropshire, England. This is an old English family. Those of its members in the United States who are of colonial ancestry may trace their lineage from four ancestors, all of whom left their English homes in the seventeenth century to try their fortunes in the splendid heritage then opening to the English race.

James Barker was born in 1641 in Suffolk County, NY.  On January 5, 1675, he married Mercy Jones (Massachusetts Town and vital records) who was born May 4, 1647, daughter of Griffith Jones (1614-Feb. 19,1676 in Springfield, MA) and Sarah.  They lived in Springfield, MA by 1676.  James Barker was a proprietor of Suffield, CT, and had some land there. Among the names of the first grantees and proprietors of Suffield, CT in 1682 (one hundred in number), many of whom were from Springfield and Windsor is James Barker: Mercy died May 27, 1717 in Springfield, Massachusetts at the age of 70.Their children were Samuel, Oliver (died in Suffield), Abiel and Joseph

Joseph Barker was born on November 7, 1676, in Springfield, MA, (VR), nine months after his father’s death. On January 31, 1712 (age 36), in Springfield, he married Elizabeth Lee (born in1678-). He died in 1737 (ancestry family tree).

Their children were: Elkahnah (1715-1715),Elizabeth (1716-1719),Joseph (1718- ),Elizabeth (1721- ),James (1723- ),Sarah (1725- ),Oliver (1730- ) named for his Uncle who died in 1727 in Suffield.,Mary (1734-1799)

Oliver Barker was born on September 12, 1730 in Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts. On April 13, 1757, he married Ruth Smith in Suffield, CT. She was the daughter of William Smith of Wallensburg (part of the town of Essex).

Their children were: (from ancestry.com),Ruth  b. Sept. 16, 1757 (died young),Anna  , born Feb. 16, 1759 in Suffield, CT, Elizabeth  born August 19, 1760 in Hartford, CT, Oliver  1760 in Suffield, CT., Reuben  December 17, 1764.Ruth  1766-1862

Oliver Barkerwas born on December 2, 1760 in Suffield Depot, Hartford, CT. as American colonists created the foundation of a burgeoning new country. On March 23, 1785, he married Ruth Barnard (1766-1851).  Picture is of early Suffield.
Birth:  December 2, 1760 (2 Dec 1760) - Hartford
Death:  July 26, 1849 (26 Jul 1849) - Minerva, Essex, New York, United States
Marriage:  23 Mar 1785 - Suffield Depot, Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Spouse:  Ruth 

By 1790, Oliver moved his family to Essex County, NY. Their children were

Ezrah Barker, born January 19, 1785 in Suffield, CT. died 1855

Sarah Barker, born 1789, who married Aaron Hayes. D. 1852

David (1790-1875) in Essex, NY

James (1794-1875) Essex, NY

Dorcas (1796-1866) Essex, NY

Henry Barker, born 1802 Essex, NY

Oliver Barker Jr.

By 1800, Oliver and his family lived in Willsborough, Crown Point, Essex, NY (Genealogical Register). He was a navigator on Lake Champlain. (See article in italics).

In 1810, Oliver was in Chesterfield, Essex, NY with 14 people in the household. (Census)

He was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. He served in the 121 Regiment (Stewart’s New York, Militia, as a private in the war of 1812 from 1812-1815. He was a NY pensioner in 1840. Ruth applied for his pension in 1850. (Widows pension Application File, M804, Archive Roll 143In 1840 Oliver lived in Essex County, New York (census) He was 78 years old.

Oliver died on July 26, 1849 in Minerva, Essex Co., NY and was buried in the Essex Cemetery in Essex, NY. Ruth died in 1851 in Minerva, Essex Co., NY.Information from the “Find-a-Grave” Index on the web

Henry Barker was born in 1803 in Essex, Essex Co., NY

In 1805 Essex was formed from the town of Willsborough.

He married Jane who was born about 1806. She died in January of 1870 in Willsborough, Essex, NY.  By 1820 they lived in Watertown, which is near Lake Ontario. Daughter Ann Eliza was born about 1820 in Watertown, NY. Henry was about 17.

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The 1850 Census of the town of Essex says that Henry, age 48 lived with his son James (another report reads Jane) 34,  Ruth (84), who would be his mother who died in 1851.Also listed are children Helen Drew 13, and Mary Drew, age 11. Another report of the same census lists “James” as “Jane” and does not list Helen Drew.

 He was a “pilot” (boatman) on Lake Champlain

1855 census has Henry Barker as 53, in Essex. Ann Eliza was not listed, as she was married. There was an infant, William H. Barker (0) listed, and one Mary Drew, no age given.

The 1863 tax rolls of NY has Henry listed as a Wholesaler.

The 1865 census of Essex has Henry as 62, Jane as 47, and “Mary Drew” age 24.

Family Religion

The family belonged to the Episcopal Church: St. John's Church, Essex, (Episcopal,). - The church was organized March 21st, 1853, the missionary in charge being Rev. F. C. Putnam. The persons present at the first meeting were, Rev. F. C. Putnam, Henry H. Ross, William H. Low, Henry N. Gould, Ezra Parkhill, H. A. Palmer, Elihu Gilbert, Seth Crossman, Peter Chamberlain, William Buch, Henry D. Edwards, Henry Barker, Charles A. Martin, William E. Sayward, Asa P. Hammond, and George E. Atwater.

Children of Henry were:

Ann Eliza Barker, born 1820, Watertown, NY

William H., born in 1850. Probably from second wife, Jane.

Ann Eliza Barker was born in 1820 in Watertown, NY. She married Benjamin J. Bull (see Bull)



Lake Champlain boating commerce.

The opening of the Champlain Canal fundamentally affected the economic development of the Champlain Valley. Extractive industries experienced a surge of activity as entrepreneurs hastened to take advantage of the new unrestricted domestic market for their products. Agricultural surpluses could be shipped quickly and inexpensively to urban centers along the Eastern Seaboard. The Champlain Canal also provided residents of Vermont and northeastern New York with manufactured goods and raw materials that had previously cost a great deal to ship overland or import from Canada. The year 1823 marked the end of the Champlain Valley's relative isolation from the outside world and its entry into the national economy. The opening of the canal created a demand not only for canal boats, but also for vessels to transport cargoes between Whitehall and other ports on the lake. Lake sloops and schooners initially met this demand, as cargoes were transferred from standard canal boats to conventional sailing lake craft at each end of the Champlain Canal. The capacity and number of sloops and schooners increased dramatically after the opening of the canal, and small-scale shipbuilding operations were set up at many of the smaller lakeside towns. The number and types of vessels that passed over Lake Champlain’s waters greatly increased after 1823. The canal's shallow channels, low bridges, and narrow locks were too restrictive for nearly all of the existing lake merchant craft, so large numbers of long, narrow, shallow-draft boats were constructed for canal service. Three types of canal vessels were employed during the early years of the canal: standard canal boats, sailing canal boats, and packets. All of these craft were towed through the canal by teams of mules or horses. By 1833, there were 232 cargo- and passenger-carrying canal boats registered at towns along Lake Champlain and the canal. Shipyards that specialized in the building of standard canal boats and packets appeared in the southern portion of Lake Champlain and at towns along the Champlain Canal. Shipbuilders at the northern end of the lake occasionally constructed sloop- or schooner-rigged canal boats that could sail up to Whitehall, unstep their masts, raise a centerboard or leeboards, and pass through the canal.

                                                         - Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Era of Waterborne Commerce