Green Berry Barnes

While the Stringers were my father’s maternal grandparents, his paternal grandparents were Jacob Jones (1866-1951) and Nancy Rosanna “Rosa” Barnes (1872-1948).  The subject of this post is Rosa’s father, Green Berry Barnes (1838-1891), farmer and Civil War veteran.  “Green Berry”, or alternatively “Greenberry” as one word, seems to have been a common name in the early part of the 1800’s right up until about 1900, based on what I’ve seen in my own searches of the census records, though some seemed to have settled on just “Green” as a first or middle name.  Supposedly the name originated before the revolution, as families named sons after Colonel Nicholas Greenberry (1627-1697), a popular and effective Indian fighter who became governor of Maryland.  I can’t vouch for that, but it does appear to have been prevalent in some families throughout the South through the end of the 19^th century.

I wish I had pictures of Green Berry and Missouri Barnes, but apparently this is yet another branch of the family tree that didn't go in for new-fangled ideas like photography.  If there were any photos, they were passed down through another line.  Maybe one will show up some day.

Green, as he seems to have been known, first shows up in the record in the census of 1850, living with some of his siblings in “Subdivision 6”, Bulloch County, Georgia.  Their parents are not in the household, instead they are living with the Newsom family, Jesse (49), Mary (60), Joseph (29) & James (14).  The Barnes children are given the surname “Bonds”, which if you think of “Barnes” being pronounced as “Bahnz”, a perfectly reasonable assumption for the South, certainly not as nasal as a Bostonian, but otherwise similar, and you could get that spelling.  The “Bonds” children listed are Dempsey (16), Sarah (14), Green (13), “Ebinezer” (12), Zilphy Ann (5), “Alferd” (3), Remer (2).  Based on later censuses, the Barnes children would have been Dempsey (16), Sarah (14), Green (12), Ebenezer (8), Zilpha Ann (4), Alfred (2), Remer (1).  It’s certainly within the margin of error for a  census, so it’s currently my working hypothesis.  I don’t know who the Newsom’s were, possibly relations of Green’s mother Thaney or Saney (possibly Bethany?).

Census images courtesy of Ancestry.com (subscription required)

In any case, according to the 1860 census, the family is living together in the Statesboro district of Bullloch County, Georgia.  The family members are Thaney (45), Sarah (24), Greenberry (21), Ebenezer (18), Zylpha (14), Alfred (12), Reamer (10), Viney (6) and Ann (4).  There is no mention of Green’s father on this census, and on the 1870 census, when “Saney” is living with Remer, she is listed as a widow.  (Marital status and family relationship were not indicated on the 1850 or 1860 census records.)  When war came, Green enlisted as a private in Company I, 9th Georgia Infantry Regiment on 10 Jun 1861.  According to Missouri Beasley Barnes' Confederate Widows Pension Application of 1910, which was the first record I found (on the Georgia’s Virtual Vault website), his wife says he was wounded “at Gettysburg, I think, or maybe at the Second Manassas.” 

GB Barnes Service
Record: Fold3.com

GB Barnes Service
Record: Fold3.com

Recently though I found Green Berry's Confederate Service Records on the Fold3.com website (subscription required).  Fold3 is the rebranded Footnote.com, which was purchased by Ancestry.com last year and refocused on military records.  The name of the site refers to the third fold of an American flag, and is a tribute to the one who gave a portion of his life in service to his country (see the Wikipedia article for more information).  According to those records he suffered a severe leg wound at Second Manassas (also known as the Second Battle of Bull Run) on 30 August 1862.  He spent months recovering, first at the CSA General Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia, then at the “Receiving and Wayside Hospital, or General Hospital No. 9” in Richmond, Virginia.  In January 1863 he was given an extended furlough by the surgeons at the Oglethorpe Barracks in Savannah on account of his leg wound, but by January 1864 he was serving the Cause as best he could, “detailed by Secretary of War in government shoe shop in Augusta, Ga.”   There are 20 “cards” in the file for Green Berry Barnes.  These cards are summaries of original records prepared by the War Department in the period from the 1890s through the 1920s.  They are often invaluable resources for information about Civil War soldiers.  There are separate sets for Union and Confederate forces.  Ancestry.com recently posted a "how-to" video as part of it's YouTube channel, where they have training videos and other info.  The video is called How to Find your Civil War Roots with Anne Mitchell @ Ancestry Day San Francisco (click on the name to access the YouTube video).

It was in Augusta that he finished out the war, with occasional leaves.  Probably on one of these leaves, on 21 Mar 1865, he married Missouri Beasley in Bulloch County (again according to her 1910 Widows Pension Application).  There are many missing records from around that time period, and the Barnes-Beasley marriage license appears, so far, to be one of them, for I have been unable to locate one.  Green and Missouri wasted no time starting their family, for by the 1870 census the family consisted of Green (27), Missouri (23), Ella (4), James (3) and Thomas (6/12).  In 1880 the family had grown, and the record shows the household to consist of Green B. (41), Masoria (37), Ellen C. (13), James H. (11), Willis R. (10), Rosa (7), Molly A. E. (5), Magga M. (4) and John G (1), plus Green's sister Sarah (44) and a white servant, John Jones (18).

Census images courtesy of Ancestry.com (subscription required)

Unfortunately, this is the last census in which Green appears.  The 1890 census, as I've said before, was lost in a fire, and Green Berry Barnes died on 26 March 1891, according to Missouri's Pension Application.  I found a record at the Family Search web site that has his date of death as 26 May 1891, but in this instance I choose to go with the widow's statement.  Once again I have been unable to find a tombstone.  Missouri's death certificate of 31 May 1925 indicates that she was buried at the Barnes Family Cemetery in Bulloch County.  I'm not entirely sure yet where this is located, and it's possible that both their graves are unmarked, but the search goes on.  Like Robert F Stringer, Green B Barnes shows up on the 1890 Bulloch County Property Tax Digest. In addition, as shown by the 1900 census, before Green died he and Missouri had another 3 boys.  The household consisted of Missouri (56), Millie A (25), John G (21), William B (18), Eli W (16), Robert C (12) and Green's sister Sarah (65), and Missouri still owned and farmed the property.

That’s about it for now.

 Later y’all,

*GeorgiaTim