Today’s writing will be a continuation of John and Elizabeth Barrow and their descendants who were introduced last week. John, the son of Reuben and Milbry Barrow, was born in 1763 in Pitt County, North Carolina, and died before October 16, 1829, in Walton County, Florida. He moved to Pulaski County, Georgia, around 1805. There is some difficulty in tracing his stay there, because there were two other John Barrows living in the same general area at the time.

It appears that John left Pulaski County soon after his father, Reuben’s, death in 1812. He was listed as residing on lot number 324 and that he received the other half of that lot in his father’s will. During the years from 1812 t 1818, there was a number of families who moved from Pulaski and Washington Counties, Georgia, to the Alabama and Florida Territories to make a new life for their families. The move would have taken several months as the covered wagons would have traveled along the rough Federal Road. They most likely entered Alabama at Phenix City and followed the road to an area south of the modern Montgomery and then took a southern route toward Pensacola. They were entering the Spanish lands that were about to be possessed by the United States.

John Barrow’s family would have been among these settlers. He was most likely a farmer, but it is believed that he established and operated the Barrow Ferry across Yellow River and the Barrow Gristmill in Oak Grove, which was in Walton County.

John was married to Elizabeth, whose surname is unknown, and who was a native of South Carolina. She died during the 1840s in Walton County, Florida. The 1820 census for Conecuh County, Alabama, shows the family with seven boys under 20, six girls under 20, and 30 slaves. They reared the following children: Reuben N., b. 1805, d. ca 1855, m. Mary ?; James, b. ca 1806; Mary, b. ca 1807, d. ca 1860, m. 1825 Charles Archileus; John Jr., b. ca 1809, m. Mahala ?; Tabitha, b. ca 1812, d. after 1860, m. ca 1830 Absolom Fuqua; Richmond, b. 1813, d. 1896, m. 1840 Martha Senterfitt; Huldah, b. ca 1816; and Jeremiah, b. ca 1820.

John Barrow, Sr.’s brother, Richmond Barrow, resided in the same community as John Sr. He was a farmer with 225 acres in 1885 and owned a grist mill in Oak Grove. He served in the Second Seminole War in Long’s Company, 5th Florida Militia in 1836 and in Captain Barrow’s Mounted Company, 1st Florida Militia 1837-1838. He voted in the first statewide election in Florida in 1845 in Walton County.

Richmond Barrow was married in 1840 to Martha Senterfitt, daughter of Jesse and Mary (Faircloth) Senterfitt. She was born in 1821 in Pulaski County, Georgia, and died in 1874 in Oak Grove, Santa Rosa County, Florida. They were both buried in the Stewart Cemetery, Yellow River Church Road, Oak Grove. They reared the following children: Mary Rebecca, b. 1841, d. 1911; Michele Angeline, b. 1843, d. 1940, m. Robert C. Moore; William Lafayette, b. 1845, d. 1918, m. Mary Jane Campbell; Sarah Elizabeth, b. 1847, d. 1950; Martha Jane, b. 1849, d. 1934, m. William Flavius Helms; Nancy Adeline, b. 1851, d. 1917, m. Thomas Jefferson Stewart; Robert David, b. 1954, d. young; John Jesse Sr., b. 1857, d. 1932, m. Jucenia Hinote; Mark Richmond, b. 1860, d. 1945, m. Mary Caroline Turner; Reuben Joshua Sr., b. 1864, d. 1950, m. Sarah C. Harrison; and Flora Ellen, b. 1869, d. 1893.

There is another connection between the above Barrows and the John Gray Barrow who was an early settler at the Montezuma settlement. John Gray’s oldest son, Julius Green, who was born in 1824, was first married to Julia Emily Archilles/Archileus, a daughter to Charley and Mary (Barrow) Archileus. They had two sons, Solomon, b. 1849, and James, b. 1850.

Charley and Mary (Barrow) Archileus, who was a daughter of John Barrow, Sr., were residing in Covington County in 1850. They were 65 and 43 years old respectively. Charles R. Archileus was born circa 1785 in the State of Pennsylvania. Census records state that Mary was born in Georgia, but it is not known when or where they died. No graves have been found for them. (It is this writer’s thinking that they would have been buried in unmarked graves in the Jordan Cemetery in the community in which they lived.)

This family was enumerated in the 1930, 1950 and 1960 censuses as residing in Covington County. The family appears to have been in Pike County in 1840. Charley purchased from the government 80.04 acres of land at the headwaters of Coker Mill Creek in the Montezuma Township on November 13, 1855, and he owned one slave. A year later, his son-in-law, William Wesley Fuqua, purchased land next to his. Charley was listed as a registered voter on the supplementary list for the county in 1868.

They had the following children in their home at the time: Huldah, b. ca 1830, m. (Fuqua ?); Caroline (Nancy Caroline), b. 1832, m. William Wesley Fuqua (1832-1897); George, b. ca 1834, m. Martha Lavina Cross; Gulia (Julia Emily), b. ca 1836, d. 1882, m. Julius Green Barrow (1798-ca1874); Almeda, b. ca 1841; and Sarah Catherine, b. ca 1845. Charley and Mary were married in 1825 in Florida. It would be interesting to know why Charley had migrated to Northwest Florida from Pennsylvania before 1825. Also, it is understood that the Barrows may have been of Indian heritage. Some family records indicate Charley was the son of a Dutchman and an Indian in Pennsylvania. Other records mention his and Mary’s children being of “Dutch and Delaware Indian extraction.”

Once again the sources for this writing were the family records of Barbara Martin, Sharon Marsh and Pauline Barrow. These Barrow descendants and others have done extensive research on the Barrow genealogy, which is appreciated by their kin.

Anyone who might find any errors in the above information or hopefully anyone who might have additional data on any of the Barrow families is requested to contact this writer and write Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; call 334-222-6467; or e-mail: cthomasson@centurytel.net.

RESTORATION REQUEST:

“The Good Hope Baptist Church is located five miles northwest of Dozier, Alabama, just inside Covington County. The church was first constituted in 1828. The doors have been closed and locked and services have been discontinued due to the need of restoration. For those of you interested in seeing this historical church brought back to life again, please join in raising money to make this possible. It is a gorgeous sanctuary that makes you want to sing “gimmie that ole time religion, it’s good enough for me.” So let’s all put this song in our hearts and make it our theme song as we work toward restoring this beautiful historical building.

The outside dinner-on-the-ground table still stands, but is deteriorating fast. At the edge of the woods is an historic concrete pool about 3 or 4 feet deep and 6 or 8 feet square where baptisms took place. There are hundreds of graves in the well-kept cemetery across the road, some dating back to the 1800s.

A group of carpenters called “Carpenters for Christ” has offered to do the labor at no charge. Now it’s up to all of us to raise enough money to supply the materials needed in this restoration. A fund has been set up at the First National Bank of Dozier in Dozier, Alabama, to help with this project. If you would like to make a donation, please mail it to: The First National Bank of Dozier, 7825 South Main Street, PO 68, Dozier, Alabama, 36028. All checks are made payable to Good Hope Primitive Baptist Church.” Fran (Wall) Davidson

HISTORICAL

MEETING:

The Covington Rifles Camp of the SCV will be meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, in the Dixon Memorial Room at the Andalusia Public Library. The program will be a viewing of the second segment of a special DVD covering the life of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.