CHARLES F. J. BARTH.

CHARLES F. J. BARTH.—In connection with the pioneer development of the state Charles Frederick Jacob Barth, now deceased, is worthy of honorable mention. His name is inseparably interwoven with the early history of Allen county, and through the years of his residence here he was a valued citizen who contributed in appreciable measure to the upbuilding and progress of his community.

A native of Germany, he was born in Udenheim, in Rhine-Hessen, January 18, 1837. His father, Charles Frederick Barth, was principal of the high school of that city, and was a man of strong character and marked intellectuality. His eldest son, George Barth, is a banker in Frankfort-on-the-Main, in Germany. Another son, Philip, is a carpenter of New York City. Their mother was Phillipena Barth. Charles F. J. Barth, of this review, spent his early boyhood in his native land, and there served an apprenticeship to the cabinet-making and upholstering trades. At the age of fourteen he became a member of the German Reformed church and for a time served as its pianist, having been well trained in music. At the age of fifteen he secured his father's permission to come to America and sailed for New York city. There and in Passaic, New Jersey, he followed the pursuits with which he had become familiar in his native land, and as he journeyed westward he followed various occupations. In Missouri and Wisconsin he engaged in farming. He was in the former state at the time of the Civil war. He responded to the first call for volunteers and served for several months in the Missouri State Militia. He afterward enlisted in Company I, Sixth Kansas Cavalry, and was a comrade of Dr. Gillihan, of Iola. During the early part of his service he was at the front on the field, but afterward was promoted to hospital steward. He had previously studied medicine and had been clerk in a drug store and those qualifications secured him his positions in the hospital. He received an honorable discharge at Leavenworth, Kansas, at the close of the war, and immediately afterward went to White county, Illinois, locating there in August, 1865. The following year he came to Allen county, and in 1868 took up his residence on the farm where his family now reside.

At Duvalls Bluff, Arkansas, he had made the acquaintance of Miss Martha J. Rice, of Carmi, Illinois, who was engaged in teaching at the former place, and on the 13th of September, 1865, they were married. The lady was born in Kentucky, December 15, 1843, and is a daughter of Henry F. Rice, of Carmi, that state. Her father was born in Marion county, Kentucky, and died near Iola in 1880, at the age of sixty-two. His wife was, in her maidenhood, Mary Kertley Thompson, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She died in Marion county, Kentucky, in 1852. Unto our subject and his wife have been born five children: Margaret A., deceased; George H., of Iola; Willie C., who is agent of the Rock Island Railroad, at Broughton, Kansas; Charles F. and Anna H., who reside with their mother.

After coming to Allen county, in 1868 Mr. Barth homesteaded the east half of the southeast quarter of section twelve, Iola township, and through

out his remaining days he devoted his energies to farming, cultivating his fields and improving his place until his life's labors were ended in death, January 29, 1900. He was a member of the Presbyterian church, in Iola, and possessed sterling principles of character which were manifest in his integrity and positive convictions of right and justice in his associations and dealings with his fellow townsmen, among whom he lived for thirty-two years. He was a man of domestic tastes, faithful to every home duty, and he considered no personal sacrifice too great which would enhance the happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. His Christianity was manifest in his interest in the intellectual and spiritual development of his children, in his faith and trust in God through life, and in his resignation to the Divine will at death. His life stands in exemplification of the power of integrity and uprightness in the affairs of life and his memory remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him.

Previous | Home | Next