Thomas Barber - A Paradigm Shift

    ©  Kathy Duncan, 2021

After spending a few hours searching Onslow County, North Carolina tax records for Thomas Barber, father of Joseph Barber of Pulaski County, Georgia, I came to the conclusion that something was off in my calculations. Only one Thomas Barber turned up in those records from 1804 to 1815. By at least 1810 or 1811, there should have been two Thomas Barbers paying at least a poll tax each - Thomas who was on the 1810 census and the Thomas who married Sarah Mashburn and had three surviving sons with her Onslow County before 1817. But there was only Thomas Barber, and that meant something was off in my calculation that Thomas Barber was living with his father-in-law Thomas Mashburn 1810. 

As near as I can tell, Thomas Barber first appeared on the 1804 tax list of Capt. John Dunn. He had one poll tax and 250 acres. 

By the following year, 1805, he had 325 acres. He was still in Capt. Dunn's district and was listed next to Thomas Mashborne. I am guessing this is the Thomas Barber I am searching for and this is the same Thomas Mashborne who was his father-in-law. Also in the district that year were Thomas Barber's brother-in-law Mason Kimmey along with Daniel Mashborne and James Mashborne.

In 1806, Thomas Barber was still in Capt. Dunn's district, but now he had 525 acres. Thomas and Daniel Mashborne were also still in the district.

In 1807 and 1808, everything remained constant with Thomas Barber still owning 525 acres and his in-laws still nearby.

I did not find him 1809 and 1810, but that may just indicate a record loss.

Thomas Barber reappeared on the 1811 tax list, but that year he only had one poll and no land! What happened to his land? 

From 1812 through 1815, he had one poll and 100 acres of land. The 1815 tax list described his property as "pine land." Then records are spotty until around 1821 when Thomas Barber cannot be found in the same tax district with his Mashburne in-laws. That would fit since Thomas Barber was in Georgia by then. 

These records made me go back to the 1810 census with Thomas Barber's entry.

A closer look at that census revealed why I misread it: 

I counted the dashes across instead of the actual columns. An accurate reading of Thomas Barber's entry is this:

Thomas Barber 1001 - 02021

One male 0 - 9

One male 26 - 44 = Thomas Barber

Two females 10 - 15

Two females 26 - 44

One female 45 and older

On this census, Thomas Barber is in the same column that he is in on the 1820 census. Since he did not age out of this bracket, I would say that in 1810 he was 26 to 34 years old, born between 1784 and 1776 and that in 1820 he was 34 to 44 years old, again born between 1784 and 1776. If I add to that my findings from the Onslow County, North Carolina, tax lists, I would say that at the time he first acquired land in 1804, he was at least 21 years old, which is very young, but would make his birth by at least 1783 although he could be a little older. 

The boy under ten on the 1810 census could be my Joseph Barber. His birth year alternates from 1810 to 1811 on various census years. 

The women on this census are a mystery. I would guess that Thomas Barber's wife would also be in the 26 - 44 age column. At this point, the three other females are a mystery. I would think that since Thomas Mashborne was still living in 1810 that the older woman would not be his wife. She could be Thomas Barber's mother, or she could be an aunt to either Thomas and his wife. She could even be a grandmother. 

The next thing to study would be Thomas Barber's land deeds.