Edward Barber, 1819 - 1901

  ©  Kathy Duncan, 2021

In a previous post, I was able to link the Edward Barber who died in Jonesboro, Georgia to his father Thomas Barber, who died around 1829 in the portion of Lee County, Georgia that became Sumter County. Edward Barber was probably the oldest of the middle set of children. The three older Barber brothers, of whom Joseph was one, were the children of Thomas and his first wife Sarah Mashburn. The older boys were the heirs of their grandfather Thomas Mashburn of Onslow County, North Carolina. Edward Barber was the son of Thomas and his second wife Elizabeth. They seem to have had six children: Edward and five girls, only two of whom I have identified. When Thomas Barber died, Elizabeth married John Bowen, and they had children, so Edward also had a set of younger Bowen half-siblings. 

Since I highly suspect that my Joesph Barber was the same Joseph who was an older half-brother of Edward's, I have been trying to gather as much information on Edward as possible. I was hoping Edward would lead me to his siblings, but so far, that has not happened.

Still, Edward Barber was an interesting individual, and newspapers led me to most of what I have been able to learn about him.

In 1850, thirty-two-year-old Edward Barber seems to have been a boarder in the household of Warren Dikes of Dooly County, Georgia. Edward's occupation is listed as "merchant."

In 1852, Edward Barber of Dooly County, Georgia swore that he would not sell alcohol to slaves or free persons of color. This affidavit seems to have been a legal requirement of merchants rather than a voluntary action. 

By 1854, he was in Doughtery County, Georgia, where he married Martha Giles on 12 February 1854.

They were found on the 1860 Worth County, Georgia, census, but there is reason to think that Edward Barber was established there before they married. By August of 1854, Edward was the Deputy Sheriff of Worth County. That would seem to indicate that he was in the county well before he married Martha Giles.

Edward was responsible for publishing numerous sheriff's sales in Worth County. This seems to be the beginning of his political career. In May of the following year, Edward Barber represented Worth County at the Democratic Convention in Macon County, Georgia.

By 1856, Edward Barber was referred to as a lawyer in connection with the Worth County Democratic Meeting, but on the 1860 census, his occupation was "farmer."

In late 1856, Edward Barber transitioned from being a Deputy Sheriff to the Clerk of the Superior Court. He served as Clerk of the Superior Court from 14 July 1856 until 27 February 1860.

[Source: Worth County, Georgia History For the First Eighty Years, 1854 - 1934 by Mrs. Lillie Martin Grubbs]

By May of 1860, Edward Barber had opened a dry goods store in Isabella, Worth County, Georgia.

On the 1860 Worth County, Georgia census, Edward and Martha had three children: six-year-old Elizabeth, who was probably named after Edward's mother; three-year-old Preston; and an unnamed baby girl, probably Emma Jane.

From 15 October 1862 until 21 January 1865, Edward Barber served as an Inferior Court Judge of Worth County.

[Source: Worth County, Georgia History For the First Eighty Years, 1854 - 1934 by Mrs. Lillie Martin Grubbs]

Sometime near the end of the 1860s Edward and Martha Barber divorced and both of them remarried in Worth County, so the divorce was probably filed for there. Martha married A. W. Shaw on 5 June 1870 and took the youngest Barber child, Mary Della Barber, with her. Edward Barber married Sarah (Ford) Tison on 30 March 1869 in Dougherty County. She was a widow with small children. Her first husband, Francis Marion Tison, was killed during a drunken quarrel over a can of sardines. After the death of Edward, she sued his son Preston Barber for the property that she brought into the marriage. 

In 1870, Edward Barber was still in Worth County, Georgia with his family. The older Barber children were with him that year: Preston, age 13; Emma, age 11; Edward, age 9; Silvia, age 9; and William, age 4. Silvia and William have the surname Barber on the census, but they were the children of Sarah and Francis M. Tison. 

The family can be found in Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia by 1880. Several children were still living in the household: Preston Barber, age 22; Emma J Barber, age 20; Edward R. Barber age 18; Letice Tison, age 18; Welice W Tison, age 14. 

In 1886, Edward Barber purchased another dry goods store, this time in Jonesboro.

Edward Barber remained in Jonesboro until his death in 1901.