ASA BARNES.
The name of Barnes figures prominently in the early history of Kansas and Atchison county, and the history of the family in Kansas dates from the spring of 1858 when Capt. Asa Barnes came from the ancestral home of the Barnes family in New Jersey, and settled in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county, and immediately identified himself with the Free State party.
Asa Barnes, the present representative of the family living on the old Barnes homestead in Mt. Pleasant township, five miles northwest of Potter, was born in January, 1854, in New Brunswick, N. J., a son of Asa and Harriet (Cook) Barnes, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of New Jersey of English descent. Asa Barnes, the father of the subject, was born in 1821, and became a papermaker in New Brunswick, where several of his children were born. In 1858 he disposed of his belongings and property in New Jersey and migrated to Kansas, settling in Mt. Pleasant township, Atchison county. His wife and children followed him in April, 1859. When he first came to Kansas he was a Democrat in politics, but changed his political belief soon afterward and espoused the cause of the Free State party. He took a prominent and active part in political affairs and became well known throughout the State as an able and influential champion of freedom. On two different occasions he was elected to represent Atchison county in the State legislature and served the people with distinction and ability. When the Civil war broke out between the States he organized Company A of the Twelfth Kansas cavalry and served as captain of the company; he also helped to organize a company for the Thirteenth Kansas infantry. He was further distinguished by his war service in a manner which reflected credit upon himself and his home county. Captain Barnes died January 12, 1889. Asa Barnes was the father of ten sons and one daughter, as follows: R. A., deceased; M. N., deceased; Enoch, deceased; Asa, Jr., Fillmore died in New Jersey; Frank, living in California; Laura (Willis), Corning, Kan.; Louis, living at Binger, Okla.; Harry, Bisbee, Ariz.; Orrin, of Nevada; Reuben C., deceased. The mother of these children died February 12, 1909, at the age of eighty-two years.
Asa Barnes, the younger, was one of three sons of Capt. Asa Barnes, and grew to manhood on his father’s farm in Atchison county. He remained at home and assisted his father in the management of the home farm until he attained his majority. After his marriage in 1874 he rented land on his own account for six years and then bought the home farm of 207 acres from his father and the heirs, part of which is now owned by his sons. He has followed a plan of general farming and has prospered to a considerable extent. Mr. Barnes was married November 5, 1874, to Miss Kate Thompson, of Atchison county. This marriage has been blessed with five children, as follows: Fannie, deceased; Herbert, at home with his parents; Bertha, wife of A. J. Pease, of Atchison; Leola, wife of A. J. Saggs, of Falls City, Nebraska; Ernest L., at home; Dora, wife of Ed Lee, of Atchison county; Cora, deceased. The mother of these children was born October 2, 1854, and is a daughter of Hon. George W. Thompson, now living in Atchison, and who is probably the oldest living pioneer settler of Atchison county, and concerning whose career an extended review is given in this volume.
In political affairs Mr. Barnes, while favoring the Progressive party principles, is inclined to be independent in his voting. He is a member of the Christian church, and is well and favorably known throughout this section of Atchison county, being rated as a substantial well-to-do farmer, who is deserving of considerable credit for what he has accomplished.