Name: Benjamin
BARNES
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Birth: abt 1764
Death: 1827 Southampton Co., VA
Father: Jacob BARNES (~1735-1796)
Mother: Elizabeth (~1741-)
Richard BARNES (abt 1530 - )
Edward BARNES
(1563 - )
Edward BARNES
(8 Jun 1595 - )
Thomas
BARNES (bef 1640 - bef 9 Jul 1683) & Diana BRAGG (abt 1645 - )
James
BARNES (abt 1668 - ) & Sarah JONES (abt 1668 - )
Edward BARNES (abt 1699 - 16 Jul 1761) & Elizabeth (abt 1699 - )
Jacob BARNES (abt 1735 -
11 Feb 1796) & Elizabeth (abt 1741 - )
Benjamin BARNES (abt 1764 -
1827) & Linney LEE (abt 1780 - aft 1840)
Marmaduke N.
BARNES (abt 1815 - abt 1850) & Jane S. McMAINS (1811 -1872)
Linia Ann
BARNES (6 Mar 1840 - 5 Apr 1880) & Jacob Sylvester ARNEY (1839 - 1927)
Mary
Ellen ARNEY (1861 - 1935) & Joshua Newton MACHLAN (1859 - 1936)
Linnie Ellen MACHLAN* (1884 - 1974) & Everett Elmer WALKER (1882 -
1948)
Elsie Maureen WALKER (1903 -1983) & Leo Newton COFFEY (1901 -1998)
SOURCE NOTE:
Much of the
following is loosely extracted from “The Founding and Founders of Barnes
Methodist Church, Southampton County, Virginia” by Joe H. Drake. He sent me
(Fred Coffey) a copy of his article in response to queries about the Barnes
family. The complete paper is in my files.
The Barnes
Methodist Church was founded in 1803 (or earlier), and still exists. It is
located in Southampton County, VA, about 3 miles south of Newsoms, VA, and
about 3 miles north of the North Carolina border. If you are searching Google
maps, is is on Statesville Road near the intersection with Barnes Church
Circle.
(GPS 36.585924, -77.108039)
|
KEEPING
TRACK OF THE JACOBS:
In his
discussion, Joe Drake refers to “Old Jacob”, who is the father of our Benjamin
Barnes. And he refers to “Young Jacob”, who is a son of Old Jacob and the
brother of Benjamin. Also some of the following will refer to “Jacob D” or
“Jacob Davis”, who is a son of Benjamin and brother of our ancestor Marmaduke.
Got that?
CENSUS REPORTS:
“In the 1787
Census of Virginia, (a “census” based on the personal property tax records
which included non-residents), Ben Barnes is listed separately, although Old
Jacob is charged with the tax. (In all other census records he is referred to
as Benjamin.) This indicates that Benjamin was more than 21 years of age.
Jacob’s listing shows two white males between 16 and 21, no blacks, 4 horses,
mares, colts and mules, and 15 cattle. No such information is given for Ben.
“There were
two Benjamin Barnes in the 1810 census. OUR Benjamin had neighbors Reuben
Whitefield and Dixon Furginson. This places his residence around what today is
known as the Sunbeam-Mt. Horeb area, close to other Barnes families. In this
census, Benjamin was 45+ and Linney, 26-45 with three males under 10, two males
10-16, one female under 10, one female 10-16, and one female 16-26. (LFC NOTE: I found this census image on
ancestry.com, for Southampton County, VA. Benjamin was indexed as “Benja
Barner”. As an addition to the above info, I note there is also one person
entered for “other free persons” living in the household - - I interpret this
to mean that they employed one free black.)
“In the 1820
census the Benjamin Barnes household had two males under 10, two males 10-15,
two males 15-18, two males 18-26, and one male over 45, plus two females under
10, one female 15-26, and one female 26-45. (LFC
NOTE: I also found this one. Would add that there were two free colored persons
living in the household as well.)
“Linney. and
not Benjamin, was listed as the head of household in the 1830 census of
Southampton. (See notes with Linnie.)
OTHER DISCUSSION:
“Benjamin
Barnes, eldest son of Old Jacob, was an ordained Methodist Minister. Benjamin was admitted on trial to the
Methodist Conference in 1788. In 1789 he
was appointed to the Orange Circuit. In
1790 Benjamin was admitted to the Church with “full connections” and appointed
a deacon of the Church, in other words, Benjamin had now become a fully
ordained minister and Elder of the Methodist Church. He was appointed to the Bedford Circuit in
that year. In 1791 he was appointed to
the Sussex Circuit, to the Brunswick Circuit in 1792 and the Bertie, North
Carolina Circuit in 1793.
“In 1793 or 1794 Benjamin left the traveling
Methodist Circuit to come back to Southampton (County) to raise his family.
“Benjamin
was married to Linna Lee on January 22, 1795 in Gates County North
Carolina. It is not known at this time
if Gates were a part of the Berte Circuit to which Benjamin was assigned in
1793, but if it were it could well be that Benjamin met his wife to be while
ministering to that Circuit.
(MEMO:
Benjamin Barnes and his wife are mentioned in three deeds involving sale of
land inherited jointly by several of the children of Old Jacob. The siblings
are consolidating their interests under single owners, by selling their shares
to brothers. In the three deeds Benjamin’s wife’s name is spelled variously
Lenney, Linnea and Linney. (See Northampton Co. NC DB 12, pages 79-80, 80-91,
and 231-2.))
“On November
19, 1804, Young Jacob married Lucy Barrett, daughter of Benjamin Barrett, a
trustee of the church. Benjamin
Barnes performed the wedding.
“Oddly, Benjamin was perhaps the best educated of the first trustees of Barnes Church; probably better educated than his father or brother Jacob. Yet, Benjamin was the only one of the first trustees of Barnes Church who died intestate. Whether or not that fact reveals a sudden and unexpected death is not known.
“Benjamin
and Linna had either 8 or 9 children who survived to maturity. We are able to identify 8 of these thanks to
Peggy Vaughan McKinney whose research revealed a chancery case to divide
Benjamin’s estate.
“Like their
father, Jacob D. and Robert S. Barnes also became Methodist Ministers. Jacob removed to Iowa, while Robert served
more than 18 years as an assistant pastor to Barnes Church. In addition, Robert was also a trustee to
Mount Horeb church. (Memo: Jacob D. will
be discussed farther in the notes with his brother, Marmaduke. All census
reports list his occupation as "farmer", but he could have been
preaching as well.)
THE CHURCH:
(Benjamin
Barnes was closely involved with the Barnes Methodist Church, and is referenced
in the deed. Joe Drake has constructed the following PROBABLE scenario
regarding The Founding of Barnes Methodist Church:)
“The Founding of Barnes Methodist
Church
A Probable Scenario (by Joe Drake)
“In 1790 Old Jacob Barnes made out his will. His eldest son Benjamin was in Bedford County on the Methodist Circuit, so Old Jacob named his next eldest son, Josiah, executor, and named his wife Elizabeth co-executor.
“In 1793 Benjamin Barnes left the Methodist
Circuit, and would marry a bit more than a year later.
“1793, Benjamin Barnes and Exum Everett were
ministers with a church (the congregation), but without a church building. Looking about the neighborhood they found an
ideal site for a meetinghouse. The point
selected was where the Fish Road (now Statesville Road), the Boone Road (now
Rochelle’s Swamp Road) and the Cypress Road (now Sands Road) converge. The land was owned by Benjamin’s father, Old
Jacob Barnes.
“Old Jacob committed to giving the land and
construction began, but Old Jacob passed away before he could change the will
or convey the land to the Church. (This paragraph is a bit speculative but
based on known facts.)
“The land upon which the Church was built was
devised to Young Jacob. Under the law of
the period, the title to the land could not vest in Young Jacob until he
reached his 21st birthday. Thus it did
not matter what anybody intended or hoped, until that date the property could
not be viewed as belonging to the Church, though it is suspected that the
congregation occupied and used it as a church meetinghouse.
“In late 1800 or early in 1801, Young Jacob
reached the age of 21. The following
year Young Jacob’s brother and executor of their father’s estate, Josiah,
settled the estate. The year after, on
January 22, 1803, Young Jacob conveyed the property by the deed discussed to
the trustees of Barnes Methodist Church.
“Note that the deed that conveys the property
to the church does not appoint Benjamin Barrett, Benjamin Barnes, Exum Everett,
Nathan Britt and Evans Pope as the trustees to the church. In the latter part of the deed, after the
bounds of the property were given, it was implied that these men had been
nominated or elected as the trustees previously, thus their participation in
the deed. Such a nomination or election
prior to the making of the deed would most likely have been by the members of
the congregation of the church. This
indicates an active congregation before the January 22, 1803 date of the
deed. Young Jacob would have had no
authority to appoint the trustees for the church, and the wording of the deed
seems to verify this.
“The deed concludes by establishing the
governance for the trustees of the Church.
It is believed these guidelines reflected Methodist Doctrine of the era. A clause was also added to the deed that
required those who would preach there be Methodist Ministers. It is doubtful that Young Jacob having just
attained the age of 23 would have had the presence or maturity of mind to
include such a statement in a deed. It
is, however, exactly the type wording an ordained Methodist Minister, Deacon,
and Elder of the Church of age 42 would include in to a deed. Benjamin Barnes was the likely driving force
behind the deed to Barnes Methodist Church.
“Among the first five trustees of the new
church were Old Jacob’s son (Benjamin Barnes), Old Jacob’s son-in-law (Evans
Pope), and the son of Old Jacob’s brother-in-law (Benjamin Barrett). Exum Everett and Nathan Britt may have also
had family connections with Old Jacob that are not now apparent.
“Church lore has it that the Church was named
for Jacob Barnes who donated the land.
Research shows this is likely true.
What has been lost through the last two centuries is the proof that the
Jacob who gave the land, and the Jacob who conveyed the land by deed, were not
necessarily the same Jacob, but rather father and son.
“In his will of 1856, Young Jacob did not
refer to the land of the Church as “the one acre I gave to the Church”, nor
“the one acre I sold to the Church”, but rather “the one acre I deeded to the
Church”. The semantics of this statement
have significance. Such a statement in a
will worded in such a way is very rare, but if it was Old Jacob who had given
the land for the church, and Young Jacob fulfilling his father’s intentions (by
“deeding” the land), how else could he have described the land upon which the
Church stands?
“Human nature being what it is, it is hard to
imagine Old Jacob’s son, son-in-law, and son of his brother-in-law naming the
Church after the baby brother of the family nearly 20 years or more their
junior. It is very easy, however, to
accept the likelihood that they would name the church for a recently departed
father figure – Old Jacob Barnes.
TEXT OF THE CHURCH DEED:
The text of
the deed to the Barnes Church Property, from DB 10: 119
This
Indenture made this 22nd day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and three between Jacob Barnes of Southampton County and State of
Virginia on the one part, and
Benjamin Barrett, Benjamin Barnes, Exum Everett, Nathan Britt and Evans
Pope, of the same County and State, aforesaid on the other part.
Witnesseth that in consideration of one
dollar by said Benjamin Barrett, Benjamin Barnes, Exum Evertt, Nathan Britt,
Evans Pope to the said Jacob Barnes truly paid before sealing & delivery
hereof the receipt whereof the said Jacob Barnes doth hereby acknowledge and
for divers other consideration (to) him thereunto moving the said Jacob Barnes
hath granted, bargained and sold and by these presents doth bargain and sell
unto the said Benjamin Barrett, Benjamin Barnes, Exum Everett, Nathan Britt and
Evans Pope their heirs and assigns forever one acre of land with a meeting
house thereon situated in the County and State aforesaid and bounded as
follows,
Beginning at
a pine tree being a corner tree between Jacob Barnes and Benjamin Barrett,
Thence a straight line 70 yards to a lightwood post, thence North by West 70
yards to a lightwood post, Thence south by west 70 yards to a lightwood post,
thence to the beginning. Together with all the ways and privileges to the said
premises appurtaining thereunto, and all the profits there of with all the
right titledge and interest in law and equity.
To have and to hold the said land and other premises to the said
Benjamin Barrett, Benjamin Barnes, xum Everett, Nathan Britt and Evans Pope
their heirs and assigns forever.
Nevertheless upon special trust and confidence and to the interest that
they and the survivors of them and the Trustees for the time being do and shall
permit the preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and no other persons to
have and enjoy the free use and benefit of the said premises that they may
therein preach and expound Gods Holy Word from time to time and at all times
forever; and upon further trust and confidence that as often as any of these
trustees shall die, remove, or cease to be members of the Methodist Society,
the Trustees for the time being as soon as conveniently may be, shall and may
choose another Trustee or Trustees in order to keep up the number of five
Trustees forever.
IN WITNESS whereof the said Jacob Barnes
hath hereunto set his hand and seal the day and year above written.
Signed: Jacob Barnes
The above
shows the church as it appeared in early years, and as it appears now.
Marriage: 22 Jan 1795 Gates Co., NC
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Spouse: Linney
LEE
Birth: abt 1780
Death: aft 1840 Parke Co., IN
1830 CENSUS, SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY, VA:
Linnie Barnes is found as the head of the family with males 10-14, and 15-19 and females 10-14, 15-19, and 40-49. Linnie was indexed as Pennie Barnes. Note that the slave schedule also shows four free colored persons living in the household, two under age 10 and two ages 24-36. I believe the male age 10-14 would be Jacob, and the male 15-19 would be Marmaduke.)
AN HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE: 14 AUG 1831
Benjamin BARNES was involved with the founding of the Barnes Methodist Church. And in 1831 this church merited a footnote in American history. Benjamin was gone by then, but his wife Linnie, and their children, would have been there – and quite likely all attended church on a fateful day:
Nat Turner was an American slave who led a slave rebellion that resulted in 55 deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising in the antebellum southern United States. He gathered supporters in Southampton County, Virginia. On Saturday, 13 Aug 1831, there was an atmospheric disturbance that Turner interpreted as a final signal from God. Next day (Sunday) he preached to a crowd of people outside of Barnes Methodist Church, while Reverend Richard Whitehead, a slaveholder, preached inside. And the next Sunday, on August 21, he began his rebellion. (Whitehead was among those killed.)
LAND PATENTS, INDIANA:
On 10
September 1838, land patents were taken in Indiana under the names Benjamin N.,
Jacob D., John E., Linnea, and Marmaduke. This would have been coincident with
the family's move to Indiana. See notes with son Marmaduke for further
discussion.
1840 CENSUS, PARKE CO., IN:
Indexed as
“Sinneary” Barnes, next door to son Marmaduke. One male 20-30 (Jacob), one
female (20-30), and Linnie is “50-60”.
MEMO: A LEAD TO THE FAMILY OF
LINNEY?
I received
an interesting note from Mr. Wayne Modlin, who said he descended from a sister
of Benjamin Barnes’ wife Linnia. And he argues that her birth name was not
“Lee”, as shown in the abstract of the marriage records for Gates County, but
“See” or “Seay”. His story is interesting, and maybe plausible. Let me offer
his note, and then comment at the end:
Wayne Modlin:
“It is certainly easy for me to understand why her name was
incorrectly transcribed from the handwriting of the day. For one thing,
neither she nor her husband were from Gates County, and therefore she was not
known to the clerk who wrote her name. For another, an L and an S with
bold flourishing swoops look very much alike, and Lee is a fairly common name
in that area. SEAY is not a common name, and when spelled as SEE, it
would not likely be a name familiar to Gates County folks. Seay is the
correct spelling, but it was a name sometimes written as it was pronounced,
which is See or Sea.
“Linnia Seay was born in Bertie County, NC, the daughter of
Isaac Seay, who died in 1788/1789 (an inventory of his estate was prepared in
Feb. 1789) in that county. Her mother's name is not known to
me. It is possible that she may have been a Baker,
though. Linnia's younger sister was named Judith Baker Seay. She had
as her middle name the Baker surname. A William Baker was a bondsman
for Linnia's marriage to Benjamin Barnes. Judith Baker Seay (c1782-c1835)
was my ancestress. She married Dempsey Peele in 1799 in Southampton
County, Virginia. He lived in Bertie County, NC, and must have known her
there. They returned to Bertie County to live after the marriage.
She may have been living with her older sister Linnia at that time of her
marriage (they were orphans after their father's death in 1788/89.)
“Isaac Seay was born about 1748, either in King William
County, Virginia, or Bertie County, North Carolina. His father was Dr.
James Seay, born about 1715-20 in King William County, Virginia. His date
of death was approximately 1745 in that county. James Seay moved to
Bertie County in the late 1740s apparently. His wife is also unknown at
present.
“James Seay was the son of Isaac Seay of King William
County, Virginia. Isaac Seay was born in the 1690s in King William
County. His father was Matthew Seay, who was apparently the immigrant
ancestor. The first record of his existence in Virginia was a court
record dated 1685. His date of birth is estimated as around 1660, but
that is only very approximate. His death was apparently sometime in the
1720s in King William County. Since King William County early records
burned, it is harder to be more definite.
“Since most persons who immigrated to the Virginia colony
during this period were from England, it is assumed that he was from
England. There are plenty of folks on the Internet who think he was a
French Hugenot, and some who think he was Irish”
MY COMMENTS:
I went to
the Clayton Library, and studied the estate and court records for Bertie
County, NC. And it would appear that what Wayne says about Isaac Seay, and his
father Dr. James Seay, is indeed well supported. There are many references to
them and to their estates.
But there
are also several references therein to the ORPHAN CHILDREN of Isaac Seay. And
since Isaac Seay died in about 1789, one would expect to find Linney (born
about 1780) and Judith (about 1782) to definitely be among the listed orphans.
In various
places it names guardians (John Granberry and Reuben Norfleet), and names
orphans William and Robert Seay. But there are NO references to any other
children.
So until I
see some evidence that Linnie is a daughter of Isaac Seay, I will leave this as
an interesting and plausible, but UNPROVEN idea.
Children
Benjamin BARNES (abt 1764 - 1827) & Linney LEE (abt 1780
- aft 1840)
Richard BARNES
Benjamin H. BARNES
Robert S. BARNES
(1804 - ) & Matilda WORRELL
Martha F. BARNES
John E. BARNES
Marmaduke N. BARNES (abt 1815 - abt 1850)
& Jane S. McMAINS (15 Dec 1811 - 6 Aug 1872)
Mary BARNES &
Edmund GARRETT
Jacob Davis BARNES (abt 1820 - aft 1870)
& Catherine McMAINS (abt 1826 - )
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