JOHN R. BARNHART
JOHN R. BARNHART, of Worthington, Armstrong county, has been engaged in the blacksmith business in West Franklin township for the last twenty years, having had a shop at Craigsville for ten years before he came to Worthington, in 1902. He is serving his second term as justice of the peace of that borough, and is one of its most respected citizens.Mr. Barnhart was born in Washington township, this county, Feb. 25, 1869, son of William G. and Margaret Ann (Whitehead) Barnhart, the father a native of Allegheny county, Pa., who settled in Washington township in 1855. He followed boating until after the breaking out of the Civil war, in which he enlisted, Sept. 17, 1862, becoming a member of Company M, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, for a term of three years or during the war. He was honorably discharged at Alexandria, Va., by reason of expiration of his term, May 13, 1865. After his return home he engaged in farming in Washington township until 1884, when he removed to Butler county, Pa. He lived there for five years, in 1889 settling in Sugar Creek township, Armstrong county, and a year later in Westmoreland county, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying Dec. 15, 1905, in his eighty-first year. He married Margaret Ann Whitehead, a native of Armstrong county, whose father, Daniel Whitehead, was an early settler in Armstrong county, and for many years was engaged in the hotel business above Kittanning. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart, nine reaching maturity: James; Daniel; William H.; George; Charles; Clarinda, wife of Lewis McDonald; John R.; Harvey, and Warren Wesley.
John R. Barnhart was reared in Armstrong county and moved with his parents to Butler county. He received a common school education, and began his apprenticeship to the blacksmith�s trade with his brother Charles, in 1889, finishing with S.P. Yockey, of Sugar Creek township, this county. In 1892 he embarked in business for himself, at Craigsville, in West Franklin township, where he remained for ten years, in 1902 coming to Worthington, where he has since been established. He has a thriving custom, and is a substantial citizen, one who holds the confidence of his fellow men by his integrity of purpose and honorable methods in all his transactions. In 1903 he was elected justice of the peace, to which office he was reelected in 1908, and again in 1913. In politics he is a Republican. He holds membership in the Presbyterian Church, and is well known in the fraternal organizations, belonging to Craigsville Lodge, No. 836, I.O.O.F., the Royal Arcanum, the I.O. of A., the P.O.S. of A. and the Ridgeley Protective Association.
In 1892 Mr. Barnhart married Anna B. Welton, daughter of Samuel D. and Priscilla (Dible) Welton, of West Franklin township, and of the children born to this union three are living: Edith, Margaret and Anabel. The mother died in 1904, and in 1906 Mr. Barnhart married (second) Sidney Campbell, daughter of Amos and Anna M. Campbell, of Sugar Creek township.
Warren Wesley Barnhart, youngest son of William G. and Margaret Ann (Whitehead) Barnhart, is also in the blacksmith business at Worthington. He was born at Sherrett, in Washington township, this county, Aug. 7, 1878, and grew up in Washington and Butler counties, receiving a public school education. He learned the blacksmith�s trade as an apprenticeship in the shop of his older brother, John R. Barnhart, beginning in 1894. During the Spanish-American war he enlisted at Kittanning, Sept. 26, 1899, becoming a member of Company G, 45th United States Volunteers and saw service in the Philip[pine Islands. He was honorably discharged at San Francisco, Cal, May 30, 1901, and since his return home has worked continuously at his trade. He has followed the business in various parts of Pennsylvania, and for a time was in partnership wit his brother John at Worthington, where he located permanently in 1908. He is an industrious and intelligent tradesman, and has built up a good business, his reliable work and satisfactory services winning and holding trade. He is a member of the Independent Order of Americans and P.O.S. of A. In politics he has been connected with the Republican party.
On Feb. 13, 1902, Mr. Barnhart married Margaret F. Welton, daughter of Samuel D. and Priscilla (Dible) Welton, of West Franklin township, and of the children born to this union two survive: Samuel R. and Lola Belle. Mrs. Barnhart died June 30, 1912.
Source: Pages 674-675 Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Lisa Strobel for the Armstrong County Beers Project
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