32 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT A
Thomas Barker and his wife, Sarah Barker, settled in Union l
r County in 1812. Thomas Barker, the son of a Revolutionary
V soldier, was born in Virginia in 1768. He came first to Fayette
County, Kentucky, and was married there about 1807. Mr. Barker
operated a blacksmith shop, was a wagonmaker, did some farm-
J ing and also cabinet work. The children of Thomas and Sarah
Barker were Parthenia, Ann Evans, Marshall Mason, Caroline
Walton, Sarah Isabella, Mary Ellen, Joseph Evans, and Thomas
Hardin Barker.
Thomas H. Barker was born October 19, 1820. Though his
schooling was very limited he appears to have succeeded in an
exemplary manner. A long term as magistrate earned for him
the nickname "Squire," which clung to him for the rest of his
life. Most of the cotton raised in the vicinity was brought to
Squire Barker’s gin. Other equipment was on hand at the Barker
place to card, spin and weave for patrons desiring these services.
Mr. Barker married Amelia Rachel Hosman, daughter of a
Union County farmer, on April 1, 1846. The couple had two chil-
dren, one of whom, William Thomas Barker, engaged in farming
in Union County.
. Benjamin Berry, a school teacher and farmer of Virginia and '
a Revolutionary soldier, with his wife came to Union County in
1800. Some years later he returned to Virginia and died there in
1814. His wife, Sarah, came back to Union County in 1819 or
1820, and died there in 1823. Their son, Martin Matthews Berry,
was born two and one—half miles from Uniontown, on August
10, 1805. His public schooling lasted only about six weeks, but `
being studious and ambitious he acquired a great deal of general
information, read law and established himself as a lawyer. At
various times he held the offices of constable, police judge, city
attorney, and magistrate of the Uniontown District. He built
and operated a large tobacco warehouse and also conducted a >
drygoods and furnishings business. The wife of Martin M. Berry
was Rachel Ferris Anderson, whom he married in 1826. Their i
children were Mary Morgan, William Franklin, John Thomas, j
Eliza, Sarah Ann, Helen Isabella, Nancy Emaline, Rachel Ferris,
Martin Van Buren, and Carrie Berry. >
Arnold Below, another early settler, was in Union County as t
early as 1820. He bought a lot in Francisburg at that time, and
the family then was known as old settlers in the Boxville and i
Bordley neighborhoods. John L. Below lived in that section for