THE GIPSY IN THE FAMILY

One of the items my Aunt Dorothy (West) Bargar gave me was the above photograph
 of my 2x great grandparents Amos Hastings Barker and Betsey Jane Moore
and their family. She also included a list of the children and their spouses. One part
in particular sparked my curiosity: “Gipsy wife of Arthur Barker”. This puzzled me
at first. Did this mean Arthur Barker had married a gypsy?  She’s the last person in
the back row on the right, standing behind the top hat on the ground.

I  started paying attention to my ancestors’ siblings and their families within
the past year.My Barker ancestry is one with a first cousins marriage: my great
grandmother Charlotte Barker (she’s the second person in on the left of the
back row, the lady wearing what looks like a man’s necktie.)was the daughter
of Amos and Betsey Barker, She married her cousin Frank Wesley Barker, the
son of Nathaniel Barker and Lucy Coburn. Nathaniel and Amos were brothers.
It turns out that Charlotte and Frank were not the only Barker cousins who had
married each other.

Gipsy Barker was the daughter of Daniel Barker, another brother of Amos and
Nathaniel. She was born 26 Aug 1870 in Weston, Aroostook, Me and her mother
was Roseanna Murphy. I’ve no idea why Daniel and Roseanna named their daughter
Gipsy. They seemed to have a penchant for unique names. They had, after all,
named their son Benedict Arnold Barker. Gipsy married Arthur on 11Nov 1888
in Weston and the couple took up residence there at first but by 1900 were living
in Bethel Oxford Me with their two daughters. On the 1900 Census Arthur’s
occupation was given as a sawyer at one of the mills but by 1910 he’s
a day laborer.

I haven’t fund the family on the 1920 Census yet and when  I found them on
the 1930 There were some big changes. For one thing, they were no longer
living in Maine, they were in Washington state and they were no longer living
together.  Arthur was living with their daughter Fannie and her husband Josiah
Remick in Port Angeles where he would die in 1934.His marital status is
“divorced”. Gipsy was living in another town, Sexton, Washington with  two
of her granddaughters Helen and Alice Fisher. The Census says Gipsy was a
widow but since Arthur didn’t die until 1934. Either someone gave the
enumerator the wrong information or it was a case of wishful thinking on
somebody’s part. Apparently daughter Natalie and her husband Floyd Fisher
had divorced  and Gipsy was watching the children while Natalie was off
looking for work or another husband.  

Natalie (Barker) Fisher married Frank Risley Barker in British Columbia on
31Mar 1931.He was a logger by trade, He was also Natalie ‘s first cousin.
His father was Gipsy’s brother, Benedict Arnold Barker!

Gipsy died in Snohomish Washington in 3Mar 1954. She certainly lived up
to her name, having started her life on one coast of the country and ending it
on the other,

((507 words for the Family History Writing Challenge))

THIS DAY IN MY FAMILY HISTORY: 5NOV

The anniversaries of two of my direct ancestors fall on November 5th:

Amos Hastings Barker (my great great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1907.
He was 79 years old.

Philip Jonathan West (my great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1954.
He was 86 years old.

I've posted pictures of both men in previous posts and you can see them by
clicking on their names in the labels below this post.

SATURDAY NIGHT GENEALOGY FUN: AHNENTAFEL ROULETTE

It's time for Randy Seaver's "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" over at his Genea-Musings
blog. This is this week's challenge:




Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music,
please!):

1) How old is your father now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this
number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette
number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the
person with that number in your ahnentafel. Who is that person?

3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or
as a comment on this blog post.

Alright, then:


1) Dad was born in 1924, which would make him 85 if he were still living today.
85 divided by 4=21.25. which rounds off to 22.


2) Person No. 22 on my Ahnentafel chart is my maternal great great grandfather
Amos Hastings Barker. He was born on 19Nov 1828 in Rumford, Me. and
his parents were Nathaniel Barker and Huldah Hastings. He was married
to Betsy Jane Moore (date unknown) and died on 7Nov 1907.

Three Facts:
1) On the 1900 Federal Census for Albany, Oxford, Me. he was 72 and his
occupation was listed as Farmer.

2)He also went by the name Hastings A. Barker, which is how he is listed on the
1880 census. Probably he did this because there were other Amos Barkers in the
same region.

3) He and his wife were the parents of 12 children.


Obviously there's a lot of things I don't know about Amos H. But I look forward to
learning more about him.

4) And this blog post takes care of the 4th step!

AMOS HASTINGS BARKER FAMILY REUNION, 1896

This is one of the copies of family photos that Aunt Dot gave to
me when my sister and I visited her last week. It shows a
Barker Family Reunion at "Gibsons Grove at Norway Lake in
1896 ". A Google Search found that Gibson Grove is at Lake
Pennesseewassee in Norway, Oxford County, Maine which is
the area my Barker family ancestors hail from.

At the center of the first picture sit my great-great grandparents
Amos Hastings Barker and Betsy Jane (Moore) Barker while
gathered about them are their children and grandchildren.
The second image is of a letter sent to my Aunt Dorothy by a
Judy Barker who identifies the people in the photo as follows:

"First row children only L. to R. Everett Smith, Fannie and
Natalie Barker (Arthur's girls) Eva Smith (twin to Everett)
Merton Wyman,, Asa Smith, Oneal Mills.

Second row L to R. Fred and Leila Skinner, Amos Sr. holding
Bessie and Ella Skinner, Mable Wyman in back, Amy Mills in
front, Betsy Jane Barker holding Ervin Mills, Melinda and
Edwin Smith dau Alice between them, Arthur Barker.

Third Row L. to R. Earl Barker his sister Charlotte, Dora and
John Wyman, Olivia and Amos Barker jr. Mary and Zenas
Mills, Florence and Eben Barker, Gipsy wife of Arthur Barker.
John Barker was not in the picture."

Arthur's wife's first name is listed here as Gipsy but I've found
it on the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census images at Ancestry.com
as Gypsey. Interestingly enough, the transcription of the 1900
census gives her the name "Gregory"!

My great grandmother Charlotte didn't marry her cousin
Frank Barker (son of Nathaniel S. Barker)until two years after
this reunion but even if he were present it seems only Amos
and Betsy's immediate family posed for the picture.

Amos Hastings Barker Sr. died 5 Nov 1907 at age 79.
Betsy Jane Moore Barker died 12 Mar 1924 at age 83.

So at the time of the reunion they were 68 and 54 years old
respectively.

It's great to be able to put faces with names, and thanks to
my Aunt Dot, I can do that now with many of my Barker
relatives!

ADDENDUM: I've been looking at this picture a bit more since
posting it and the two top hats (one belonging to Arthur Barker
and the other to Eben Barker) has me wondering about their
owners' occupations. It would seem they might have been men of
means if those ahts are any indication. And at first I thought
that John Wyman in the back row was smiling but on a closer look
it's just the way his mustache frames the mouth.

MY BARKER LINE

Before I move on to Jesse and Benjamin Barker, I thought
I'd briefly list my Barker Line. I decided to just list my
direct ancestors because of the number siblings in some
generations. At some point in the future I might do a more
detailed generation by generation posting.

The only siblings listed here are Amos Hastings Barker
and Nathaniel S. (for Swan, I wonder?) Barker since
their children married each other in the next generation.



1. Richard Barker was born about 1618 in Holme-on-Spalding
-Moor, Yorkshire, England and died 18 Mar 1693 in Andover,
Essex, Ma.

He married Joanna UNK About 1644 in Methuen, Essex, Ma.
She was born 1632 in ? and died 11 Apr 1687 in Andover,
Essex, Ma.




2. Benjamin Barker was born 28 Feb 1663 in Andover, Essex,
Ma. and died 11 Oct 1750

He married Hannah Marston 2 Jan 1688 in Andover, Essex,
Ma. She was born 16 Feb 1667 in Andover, Essex, Ma and
died 14 Jan 1733 in Andover, Essex, Ma, daughter of John
Marston and Martha Fuller





3. Jonathan Barker was born 14 Jul 1706 in Andover, Essex,
Ma and died 20 Jan 1737 in Methuen, Essex, Ma.

He married Mary Abbott 26 Jan 1728 in Andover, Essex,
Ma. She was born 24 Apr 1709 in Marblehead, Essex, Ma ,
daughter of Joseph Abbott and Sarah Devereaux


4. Jonathan Barker was born 23 Oct 1728 in Andover, Essex,
Ma and died 29 Apr 1794 in Methuen, Essex, Ma.

He married Abigail Mitchell 13 Oct 1750 in Methuen, Essex,
Ma. She was born 23 May 1730 in Haverhill, Essex, Ma,
daughter of Andrew Mitchell and Hannah Ayer, and died 15
Feb 1806 in Methuen, Essex, Ma.


5. Jonathan Barker was born 26 May 1754 in Methuen,
Essex, Ma and died 11 Jul 1824 in Newry, Oxford, Me.

He married Nancy Swan 14 Jun 1788 in Fryeburg, Oxford,
Me., daughter of James Swan and Mary Smith She was born
22 Sep 1765 in Methuen, Essex, Ma .


6. Nathaniel Barker was born 31 Jan 1794 in Newry, Oxford,
Me ( or 31 Jan 1794 in Ma)

He married Hulda Hastings 31 Jan 1819 in Bethel, Oxford,
Me. She was born 17 Mar 1798 in Bethel, Oxford, Me. ( or 17
Apr 1798 ), daughter of Amos Hastings and Elizabeth Wiley.

Children of Nathaniel Barker and Hulda Hastings:


7. Amos Hastings Barker was born 19 Nov 1828 in Rumford,
Oxford, Me and died 5 Nov 1907.

He married Betsy J Moore . She was born 16 Aug 1842 in
Waterford, Oxford, Me and died 12 Mar 1924 in Newry,
Oxford, Me.



7 Nathaniel S. Barker was born 13 Mar 1830 in Newry,
Oxford, Me and died 20 Mar 1884.

He married Elizabeth Coburn . She was born 10 Aug 1842
and died 15 Nov 1904, daughter of Westley Coburn and Lucy
Stowe. (Stow?)


8. Frank W. Barker was born 20 Apr 1865 in Albany, Oxford,
Me and died 21 May 1905 in Bethel, Oxford, Me.

He married Charlot Lovenia Barker . She was born 3 Aug
1879 in Albany, Oxford, Me. daughter of Amos Hastings
Barker and Betsy J. Moore, and died 1944 in Bangor, Oxford,
Me.


9. Cora Berthella Barker (aka "Cora Bertha Barker") was
born 27 Oct 1899 in Bethel, Oxford, Me and died Jun 1987.

She married Floyd Earl West Sr. 24 Mar 1919 in Errol, Coos,
Nh. He was born 14 Apr 1893 in So.Paris, Oxford, Me and
died 28 Jan 1970 in Dumaway, Me., son of Philip Jonathan
West and Clara Ford Ellingwood.

The last are my grandparents.

A JOKER IN THE FAMILY TREE?

Randy Seaver’s post about the databases at the LDS Family
Search Record Search site prompted me to make a return trip
over there. I ran searches on the names of a few relatives and
came up with images from the 1900 census for Asa Ellingwood,
Frank Barker, Amos Hastings Barker and John Phelps West and
their families.


I also came up with two errors, one correctable, the other not.


The first one is the correctable one. I originally searched for my
great grandfather Philip Jonathan West and when I found the
index entry for him it listed his father as a “Jonathan D. West”.
Looking at the image of the census page I can understand how
that “P” could be mistaken for a “D”. So I clicked on the Feedback
tab and sent an email to the FamilySearch Lab to point at the
mistake and explain how I knew it should read “Jonathan P.
West”. I also thanked them for making it possible for me to even
see that image!


The other error…well, this is something that can’t be fixed and
it certainly isn’t the fault of Family Search. I think it instead
might be my ancestor Asa Freeman(or Freeland) Ellingwood
playing some some sort of prank.


You see, on the 1900 Census he gives his father’s birthplace as
England. Since it’s pretty well documented that John Ellingwood
Jr. was born in Maine I can only guess as to how or why “England”
would be entered.Perhaps Asa was tired of answering questions
and made that answer up to see if the census taker would accept
it?


At any rate, it’s there on the census to confound his descendants
and creat a genealogy mystery!