David  Elmore  Barnard

          The thriving and hospitable village of Manilla includes among its residents many who have stepped aside from the paths of labor to allow to pass the younger generation with their high hopes and ambitions.  Among these retired residents none is more highly esteemed than  David E. Barnard,  a highly respected octogenarian, who for many years was engaged in agricultural pursuits in Posey township, this county.  Mr. Barnard was born in Wayne county, Indiana, November 2, 1840, a son of  Barzillai G.  and  Rachael (Robert) Barnard, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Virginia.  The parents were married in Fayette county, Indiana, and the father followed farming throughout his life, for the most part in Rush county, where he owned about 300 acres of land.  There were eleven children in the family of whom five are living,  Ambrose,  Herman J.,  Mary E.,  Helen G.  and  David E.  David E. Barnard received his education in the public schools of Posey township, this county, to which community he had [been] taken by his parents when six years of age.  He began working on his father's farm, but at this point the peaceful routine of his life was disturbed by the advent of the Civil war, and on July 21, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army, and was mustered into the service on August 16, 1862, as a member of Company C, Sixteenth regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served nearly three years, being mustered out on July 20, 1865.  During his service in the army Mr. Barnard showed himself a valiant and faithful soldier and rose in rank, eventually receiving an honorary commission as first lieutenant from Governor Morton.  After leaving the army, Mr. Barnard worked at several different occupations, principally farming, until his marriage in 1869, at which time he became the proprietor of a county store in Posey township, which he conducted for three years.  He then turned his attention again to farming, which he followed with success in Posey township until 1920, when he retired from active pursuits and took up his residence at Manilla.  At this time he and his wife are the owners of 122 acres of valuable land in Posey and Walker township.  Mr. Barnard was married on October 28, 1869, to  Jennie Swain,  who was born in Walker township, this county, daughter of  Prior and  Louisa (Coffin) Swain, native of North Carolina, who followed agricultural pursuits in Walker township for many years.  Of their two children, Mrs. Barnard survives.  Mr. and Mrs. Barnard have had four children, of whom three are living,  Omar P[rior]., a traveling salesman living at Charlottesville, Indiana, who married  Lulu Macy  and has four children,  David I[saac].,  Glenn R[obert].,  Kenneth S[wain].  and  Perry L[eon];   Marshall S[wain]., a telegraph operator for the Pennsylvania railroad at Franklin, Indiana, who married  Pearl Taylor  and has one child,  Dorothy A.;   and  Dr. Roy F. Barnard, a dental practitioner of Shelbyville, Indiana, who married  Minnie Schliessmann
[The article continues on page 176.]
Centennial History of Rush County, Indiana, Ed by A. L. Gary and E. B. Thomas, 1921, pg 175-6.
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