Enos (Enoch) Barkey

  Noted events in his life were:

• Moved, 1823. I was 8 years old when my family moved to Frederick Township where we lived seven years

• Moved, 1830. I had quite the adventure for a 15 year old when my family traveled from Eastern Pennsylvania to Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1830. We traveled by wagon over rough roads.

• Moved, 1830, Harmony Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania. ²⁸ The municipal history of Harmony Township began on April 3, 1851, when it was formed by an Act of the Legislature out of Economy Township. It included the village of Economy which was the home of the Harmony Society.

It was here that the Indian village of Logstown was located. The Indian name for the town was "Maugh-wa-wame" meaning broad plains or plateaus. Conrad Weiser and George Croghan signed the Treaty of Logstown with the Delaware, Shawnee, and Wyandot Indians in 1748, laying the basis of the English claim to the Ohio-Allegheny country. That this resulted in French counterclaims leading to the French and Indian War is only another way of saying that it was an attempt (ultimately successful) to save the Ohio Valley for the English-speaking people.

It was also at Logstown that the Reverend Joseph Peter Bonnecamps, a member of the Society of Jesus, performed the first public religious ceremony (a Catholic mass) in what is now Beaver County on the morning of August 9, 1749. Reverend Bonnecamps was chaplain to the French explorer Celeron de Blainville who was sent by the governor-general of all New France to expel the English traders from this region and to assert the French claim. To assert the English claims to the Ohio Valley, Virginia's Lieutenant-Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, sent George Washington to the French Fort LeBoeuf in the fall of 1753. Washington reached Logstown on November 26, conferred with local Indian leaders, and then pushed on to Fort LeBoeuf.

The year following Washington's visit to Logstown saw French and English armies and traders pass through the area, forcing the Indians to abandon the area by 1758. Colonel Henry Bouquet, in an expedition against the Ohio Indians, passed through the area and clearly located the remnants of Logstown on the north bank of the Ohio. After the American Revolution, Harmony Township was part of the Depreciation Lands and was surveyed by Daniel Leet in 1785. Issac Melcher (or Melchior) of Philadelphia acquired the site of Logstown in 1787 and laid out the plans for the town of Montmorin, but they were never carried out.

In the fall of 1792, the Logstown area of Harmony Township once again became the center of great activity. Major General Anthony Wayne, who had been asked by President Washington to organize and command an army against the Indians in the Northwest Territory, moved his troops from Pittsburgh in November, 1792, to a site just north of the old Indian village which he named "Legionville." During the winter and early spring of 1792-93, General Wayne molded his Legion of the United States into the first disciplined, efficient military unit of the United States Army under the present Constitution.

There was one more important chapter in the history of Harmony Township. In 1824, Father George Rapp, leader of a band of religious pietists known as the Harmony Society, purchased over 3,000 acres of land for the third and last home of the Society which he called Economy. Three years later, Economy Township, including the Harmonist lands, was formed out of New Sewickley Township. Then, in 1851, Harmony Township, consisting almost exclusively of Harmonist lands, was formed from Economy. The site of Economy village was lost in 1905, when Ambridge was incorporated from Harmony Township.

The community experienced its greatest growth following World War II as a result of a large number of residents from Ambridge and surrounding areas seeking a quiet escape from the more industrialized areas of the County.

• Heading Out, 1833. ²⁹ My older brother, Henry, assumed the care for Mary and John. Henry was a newlywed having just married Elizabeth Latshaw in 1833. I left Henry's home and headed for Beaver County, Pennsylvania in 1834. It was while living in Hammond Township that I began courting Eve Ziegler. The Ziegler and Barkey families had been friends since our ancestors immigrated to Pennsylvania.

• Occupation, 1835. ²⁷ I worked at the shoemaker's trade in Independence, Ohio for some years, and then removed to Elkhart county, Indiana, settling in the town of Elkhart, where I purchased eighty acres of timber land where I built a home and made some improvements. We sold this farm and moved to Illinois in 1851.

• Financial Crisis, 1837. ³⁰ In 1837 the nation faced a financial panic. The financial panic of 1837 was the result of land speculation that got out of hand and experiments with the nations finances that occurred during the previous generation. The first era of bank-expansion in the United States was due to the chartering of the National Bank in 1811, and to the business activity that followed the close of the second war with Great Britain. A second National Bank was instituted in 1817. The undue extension of banking facilities that existed during this period was followed in 1819 by a necessary contraction. The bank circulation fell from $110,000,000 in 1816 to $65,000,000 in 1819. This was followed by financial distress and a general depression of industry from which the country did not fully recover for several years.

In 1829, when Jackson became President, he very quickly manifested an enmity to the National Bank, which he declared to be corrupt, dangerous, and unconstitutional. His first measure was to remove from the National Bank all government deposits, which he distributed among the State banks. This measure produced a storm of opposition, greatly disturbing the conditions of business communities and causing general distress in the industrial centers. Jackson was unyieldingly in his opinions which he displayed when he vetoed a bill to renew the National Banks charter, which was due to expire on March 3, 1836. The State banks took advantage of this condition of affairs by expanding greatly their discounts and by creating new banks.

The summer of 1836 our nation was involved in a series of wild speculations, foreign goods were heavily imported and the government invested enormous amounts of money into government lands. This created a large flow of paper money into the treasury. The Secretary of the Treasurey determined that a check needed to be in place to keep these operations accountable. He required payment for government lands to be made in gold and silver after August 15, 1836. The effect of these executive decisions and the fever of speculation were disastrous. The gold and silver that were expected to flow into the treasury in payment for public lands failed to occur. The banks refused discount and called in their loans. Land was sacrificed and prices declined. In 1837, came the business crash and panic which caused the financial ruin of thousands. During the first three weeks of April, two hundred and fifty business houses failed in New York alone. Within two months, the failures in that city alone aggregated nearly one hundred millions of dollars. Throughout the whole country, the mercantile interests went down with a l crash affecting the lives of the mechanic, the farmer and the humblest laborer. Bankruptcy prevailed, forcing the sacrifice of valuable merchandise. Eight states failed financially which dominoed in that even the general government could not pay its debts. Trade stood still, business confidence vanished, and ruin stalked unchecked over the land. Out of eight hundred and fifty banks, three hundred and forty-three closed entirely, sixty-two failed partially, and the system of State banks received a shock from which it never fully recovered

• travels, 1843. In 1843, news spread across the nation of the first wagon train leaving Independence, Missouri for Oregon. The Oregon Trail starts to take shape as more and more people make their way West.

• Moved, 1845, Defiance, Defiance, Ohio, USA. ² In 1845, Eve and I along with our three children started west in a wagon. Susan was 8, Judith was 3 and Ziegler was around 1 year old. We bought land in Defiance, Ohio, which we farmed. To make ends meet, I also worked at the shoemaker's trade.52

Early country roads were trails and paths that were widened. We followed the rivers and streams where mills had been built. Roads were windy to avoid steep slopes. Some roads were lined with trees or fenced with stonewalls. Roads were cut through forests by sawing trees low enough for the wagons to clear the stumps. The roads, at best, were crude and filled with ruts causing many an axle to break. During rainy seasons these roadways turned into quagmires and became impassable. To solve part of the problem, tree trunks were laid side-by-side in places. These were called corduroy roads. Charcoal and plank roads began to appear in the countryside as we made our way west.

The charcoal road was built with timber cut six to eighteen inches thick and twenty-five feet long. The timber was stacked lengthwise in the middle of the roadbed and covered with straw. After setting fire to the timber, it was covered with dirt allowing the wood to char rather than burn. The dirt was then removed and the charcoal was raked into a smooth road fifteen feet wide.

The plank road was laid over a foundation of wood rails called sleepers. The rails were approximately four by twelve inches and thirteen to twenty feet long. Long stonerollers pushed the sleepers into the dirt and leveled the roadbed. Then planks three to four inches thick and nine to sixteen inches wide were laid loose across the sleeper. Sand or wood shavings were poured over the planks to smooth out the road. The finished plank road was eight feet wide. Every other board projected four inches from the edge. The projection caused the wagon to bounce and warned the driver when the wagon came too close to the edge of the road. The projection also enabled the wagon wheels to climb back onto the planks after the wagon was pulled onto the dirt "turn off" which allowed the traveler to pass another wagon. When a sharp curve was needed, the planks were set a small distance apart to produce a rumble and alert the driver of the curve. An oak road would last twelve years and pine road four years. The plank road ended at the town limits.

Plank roads were good for both the horses' hoofs and the wagon wheels. The planks never broke up in winter thaws nor washed away in spring rains. So desirable and cost efficient were these roads that the people continued to build them until late in the 1800s. Many of these roads were privately built for profit and anyone who used them had to pay a toll. Tolls varied according to the number of horses drawing a vehicle or the number of animals being driven over the road.

After 1800, bridges began to be closed in to look like barns. The reasons for covering the bridges varied. One reason was to strengthen the structure. Another was to allow the floor timbers to season properly and consequently last longer. The cover also protected the floor timbers from moisture that caused rot. Still another reason was for appearance. Often covered bridges were built for resale and were made as attractive as possible. Also, because tolls were charged for crossing a bridge, a covered structure seemed to make the passage worth more. Toll amounts were listed on a toll board that hung on the side of the portals. Ohio, having 349 covered bridges, ranked second among the states in the number of bridges.

Turnpike roads were built by companies but owned by private businessmen. The turnpike roads connected one town to another. One such road was the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati highway that was built in 1820, which linked Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati. The name turnpike originated from the turnpike or turnstile that was a pike that turned on an axle to admit travelers after they settled their toll. These tolls were payable at tollgates along the way. The rates varied with wagons and pleasure vehicles, the season of the year, and the number or kind of animal pulling the wagon. The width of the wagon wheels also determined the amount of admission to turnpikes because the narrow wheels caused ruts and the wider wheels helped to flatten the road. Six to eight inch wheels and wide detachable tires for the thin wheels were designed to save tolls. Some drivers attached the wider tires and then removed them when out of sight of the tollgate. Scouts would watch for these cheaters and fine them an additional toll. Often those who knew the countryside made "shunpike" trails around the tollhouses to avoid paying the tax.

Zane's Trace was constructed in 1798. The Ohio section of the National Road that was used from 1825-1840 were two main highways in Ohio. Congress authorized Ebenezer Zane to construct the Trace. It was only a trail through the forest at first but later was widened to accommodate wagons. The Trace provided a route for mail, a way for settlers to move into the interior and an overland road for travel from the Ohio Valley settlements. Towns sprung up along the road. The Trace joined the National Road at Zanesville.

The National Road was built by the government and began at Cumberland, Maryland. The National Road helped open up the eastern markets to the Ohio interior. This backcountry road attracted streams of traffic and "looked more like the avenue of a great city than a trail through the country." Conestoga wagons carrying heavy freight shared the road with droves of cattle, sheep, hogs and turkeys on their way to market. Many an argument broke out between the teamster and the drover over who had the right of way! Passenger coaches were often called “fast coaches.” They were usually drawn by as many as eight horses to help pull the weight of cargo, mail or passengers over the National Road. Sometimes the coaches would travel at high speeds of up to ten miles per hour. Tolls were charged according to the amount of damage each vehicle or animal might be expected to do to the road, to help pay for the upkeep of the highway.

There were exceptions for paying tolls on all of the roads and bridges. Preachers, funeral processions, people who were traveling to church or to vote in an election, people going to or returning from military service and children going to school were never charged tolls. Farmers traveling less than four miles on business were also exempted. Local farmers helped each other build many of the early country roads and bridges. Crews of workers constructed the highways. Their tools were a shovel, wheelbarrow, an axe and a saw. The latter two were used for cutting through the forest. Wagons and sleds were used to haul wood and stone. Road surfaces were dirt, wood, gravel, or small broken stones. City streets were surfaced with cobblestones, wood blocks, granite blocks, and later with bricks.

The farmers waited until the winter snows to haul heavy farm loads. Timber and stone loads on sled runners could be slid across the snowy countryside with little effort. To preserve the snow on country roads, the snow was rolled or packed down with snow rollers. The farmer also covered the floors of bridges with snow. Sleds of all kinds such as stone boats, lumber sleds, punts, pungs, and sleighs were found on the farm. With the snow we didn't need to worry about getting bogged down in the mud or of having a broken axle.

At first the only signs on the roadside were milestones to tell the traveler the distance to the next town. It was the postal service who was responsible for measuring the miles because postal rates were set according to mileage. The first advertisements were seen on covered bridges. Posters promoting Kickapoo Indian Oil or Dr. Flint's Powders were made to fit the eight by eight bridge timbers. Barn advertisements took over since railroad passengers could see these. The entrance walls of the covered bridges were theft relegated for local announcements. Itinerant sign painters were hired to paint the barn signs. In their spare time they made signs denouncing drink on abandoned houses and barns. Some of these sign painters were evangelists who would add a line or two from the Bible instead of signing their names to the advertisement. Large rocks along the roadside became another medium on which these sign preachers could deliver such messages as "Repent," "Jesus Saves," or "God Is Love." In a small village the sign painter would contract with as many shopkeepers as there were letters in the town's name and make a "spreader-sign." Each poster had one large letter on the top of each shop's advertisement and when the posters were seen in a line, the letters spelled out the name of the village.

Traveling about the countryside was done on horseback or by carriage and wagon. If the distance was long, travelers went by stagecoach. Farmers like me used their wagons to carry produce locally but used the Conestoga wagon when we wanted to ship our produce overland to distant markets. Farmers, teamsters and travelers depended on horses, oxen and mules to draw these vehicles.

Traveling about in an open wagon or carriage could be very cold in the winter. We dressed in great fur coats and used lap robes. A small portable charcoal foot stove placed under the lap robe on the floor by our feet helped to make the ride more comfortable. A foot stove is square in shape and is made from curly maple. A metal drawer held the hot coals and the heat radiated through the punched holes in side panels of the stove. Sleigh riders used foot warmers that held either hot water or hot coals. These were made of tin.

A stagecoach ride did not match the gaiety of its colors. It was a bumpy, dusty, long ride. If the trip could not be made in one day, the passengers would sleep at inns along the way. The custom was to sleep in one's clothing to be ready to start out very early the next morning. The passengers would travel as long as eighteen hours a day crowded into a compartment of two 36 inch, thinly cushioned benches facing each other. One moveable seat contained a chamber pot. The tired horses were changed frequently at stages along the way. The weary travelers, bruised from constant jostling, suffered through to their destinations.

The German farmers in Conestoga, Pennsylvania, developed the Conestoga wagon. This "inland ship" carried cargoes weighing six to eight tons. The long deep-bedded body resembling a boat was curved up at both ends to keep the cargo from shifting. Its wheels were covered with heavy iron tires; its top was homespun. Wrought iron work reinforced the structure and the toolbox. The bodies were painted blue and the wheels vermilion. Large wagons pulled by six well-matched horses stretched sixty feet along the road. The teamster sat on the left side of the wagon and pulled to the right, thus traveling on the right side of the road. This was the same basic wagon we used to push westward.

• Moved, 1850, Baugo Township, Elkhart County, Indiana. In 1850 we were registered in the census in Elkhart, Indiana. We purchased eighty acres of timberland in Elkhart where I built a home and made some improvements. We sold the farm and moved to Illinois in 1851.

Wild animals were plentiful. One of my fellow settlers wrote: "I was sent on an errand once, and wild hogs gave me quite a chase, but I managed to keep out of their way by climbing a fence. There were woods for miles, which were inhabited by bears, wolves, and deer. We lived on deer and bear meat until we were tired of it. The wolves used to howl around our house at night so we couldn't sleep-we would have to make a fire out of doors to keep them away. We lived mostly on wild meats. It took energy and push. The trees were not felled by sawing, but cut down with the ax. The rails were split from good oak trees. An experienced rail-splitter could tell by the looks of the tree that one would split well and he had plenty to select from; he would cut down the timber and split 350 to 400 a day. If the trees were cut down beforehand one man could split 450 a day.

Rude huts were built with logs hewed flat on the inside; the corners were hewed down in just the right shape to fit down tight on the lower log. It took a pretty good workman to make a nice corner. The cracks between the logs were then chunked and plastered with a mortar made of yellow clay, straw and water. The hut often had but one door and one window; dining room, sitting room, bedroom and parlor were all combined in one good-sized room. At one end was a chimney with a hearth laid of flat stones which extended quite a ways into the room so the shower of live sparks that would continually fly far and near would not reach the board floor. It was a common sight to behold the floor somewhat charred next to the hearth. The beds and clothing were at the farther end of the room to make safe against fire.

The farmer who was careful with his stock usually built his barn in like manner, with the exception of hewing the logs flat on the inside. There was no sale for timber and after taking what was needed for buildings and fences, the rest of the timber was cut down in such a manner as to form what they called jam piles, and was burned in order to get the ground cleared and the crops put out. Logging bees were numerous in which sturdy oxen were used to roll the logs together. Men and women wore home-spun clothing, for the thin, flimsy goods that were bought at the stores would not stand the wear and tear of those backwoods days and besides, calico was twenty-five and thirty cents per yard, and a spool of thread was twenty-five cents.

The farmers were very scarce that owned a spring wagon. For going visiting, the riding was done in a lumber wagon often minus a spring seat, on horse back, or walking. People in those days never dreamed that the roads would ever get in shape for a top buggy. Driving through the dense forest was very inconvenient and dangerous even with a lumber wagon; over swampy places which were numerous at that time, corduroy bridges were made of round logs; these were often not substantially placed, and would float on top of the water. Wheat and other grain had to be hauled fifteen miles to market and exchanged or ground into flour.”

• census, 1850. CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: IN COUNTY: Elkhart DIVISION: Baugo Twp REEL NO: 144 PAGE NO: 2A REFERENCE: Baugo Twp ====================================================================== =================================================== LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE SEX RACE OCCUP. VAL. BIRTHPLACE MRD. SCH. R/W DDB ====================================================================== =================================================== 1 1 1 BARKEY Enos 35 M Farmer 300 PA 2 1 1 BARKEY Eve 33 F PA 3 1 1 BARKEY Susan 13 F PA X 4 1 1 BARKEY Judah 8 M PA X 5 1 1 BARKEY Zigler 6 M PA X 6 1 1 BARKEY John H. 3 M OH 7 2 2 WAGNER A. I. 31 M Farmer 2,250 VA 8 2 2 WAGNER Ellen 28 F VA 9 2 2 BECKNER Joel 13 M VA X 10 2 2 McMICHEL Mary 4 F IN 11 3 3 HARIS E. L. 47 M Farmer 1,000 MD 12 3 3 HARIS Kesiah 45 F PA 13 3 3 HARIS William 21 M Carpenter MD 14 3 3 HARIS Charlotte 24 F MD 15 3 3 HARIS Calvin D. 19 M OH X 16 3 3 HARIS Frillin 17 OH X 17 3 3 HARIS Elisha 15 M OH X 18 3 3 HARIS Edward 6 M OH X 19 3 3 HARIS Lethe Ann 23 F OH 20 4 4 WATSON Stephen 43 M Farmer 220 NY 21 4 4 WATSON Harrietta 39 F NY 22 4 4 WATSON H. 18 M Laborer OH X 23 4 4 WATSON Hiram 16 M Laborer OH X 24 4 4 WATSON Eliza 14 F OH 25 4 4 WATSON Jane 12 F OH 26 4 4 WATSON Charles 8 M OH 27 5 5 TRUE Elijah 32 M Farmer NY 28 5 5 TRUE Elisabeth 34 F KY 29 5 5 TRUE Frances 11 F OH X 30 5 5 TRUE John 9 M OH X 31 5 5 TRUE Selinda 7 F IN X 32 5 5 TRUE Charlotte 5 F IN 33 5 5 TRUE Clifford 3 M IN 34 5 5 TRUE Edward 1 M IN 35 6 6 DAVIS James 50 M Hotel Keeper 1,200 PA 36 6 6 DAVIS Mary A. 40 F PA 37 6 6 DAVIS Jane 20 F OH X 38 6 6 DAVIS Rachel 18 F IN X 39 6 6 DAVIS Harriet 14 F IN X 40 6 6 DAVIS Henry H. 7 M IN 41 6 6 DAVIS James F. 5 M IN 42 6 6 DAVIS Mallissa 3 F IN

CENSUS YR: 1850 STATE or TERRITORY: IN COUNTY: Elkhart DIVISION: Baugo Twp REEL NO: 144 PAGE NO: 2B REFERENCE: Baugo Twp ====================================================================== =================================================== LN HN FN LAST NAME FIRST NAME AGE

1850: (age 35)

In 1850 we were registered in the census in Elkhart, Indiana. We purchased eighty acres of timberland in Elkhart where I built a home and made some improvements. We sold the farm and moved to Illinois in 1851.

Wild animals were plentiful. One of my fellow settlers wrote: "I was sent on an errand once, and wild hogs gave me quite a chase, but I managed to keep out of their way by climbing a fence. There were woods for miles, which were inhabited by bears, wolves, and deer. We lived on deer and bear meat until we were tired of it. The wolves used to howl around our house at night so we couldn't sleep-we would have to make a fire out of doors to keep them away. We lived mostly on wild meats. It took energy and push. The trees were not felled by sawing, but cut down with the ax. The rails were split from good oak trees. An experienced rail-splitter could tell by the looks of the tree that one would split well and he had plenty to select from; he would cut down the timber and split 350 to 400 a day. If the trees were cut down beforehand one man could split 450 a day.

Rude huts were built with logs hewed flat on the inside; the corners were hewed down in just the right shape to fit down tight on the lower log. It took a pretty good workman to make a nice corner. The cracks between the logs were then chunked and plastered with a mortar made of yellow clay, straw and water. The hut often had but one door and one window; dining room, sitting room, bedroom and parlor were all combined in one good-sized room. At one end was a chimney with a hearth laid of flat stones which extended quite a ways into the room so the shower of live sparks that would continually fly far and near would not reach the board floor. It was a common sight to behold the floor somewhat charred next to the hearth. The beds and clothing were at the farther end of the room to make safe against fire.

The farmer who was careful with his stock usually built his barn in like manner, with the exception of hewing the logs flat on the inside. There was no sale for timber and after taking what was needed for buildings and fences, the rest of the timber was cut down in such a manner as to form what they called jam piles, and was burned in order to get the ground cleared and the crops put out. Logging bees were numerous in which sturdy oxen were used to roll the logs together. Men and women wore home-spun clothing, for the thin, flimsy goods that were bought at the stores would not stand the wear and tear of those backwoods days and besides, calico was twenty-five and thirty cents per yard, and a spool of thread was twenty-five cents.

The farmers were very scarce that owned a spring wagon. For going visiting, the riding was done in a lumber wagon often minus a spring seat, on horse back, or walking. People in those days never dreamed that the roads would ever get in shape for a top buggy. Driving through the dense forest was very inconvenient and dangerous even with a lumber wagon; over swampy places which were numerous at that time, corduroy bridges were made of round logs; these were often not substantially placed, and would float on top of the water. Wheat and other grain had to be hauled fifteen miles to market and exchanged or ground into flour."

• Moved, 1851, Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois. ^27,31 We settled in Mazon Township, Grundy County, Illinois where I purchased sixty acres of wild land, upon which not a furrow had been turned or improvement made, but by industry soon wrought a great transformation in its appearance. As my financial resources increased, I bought more land and engaged in the cattle business, driving my cattle from Indiana, where I purchased them very cheaply. I prospered in this undertaking and continuously added to my land until I owned about nine hundred acres, becoming one of the wealthy farmers and energetic stock dealers of Grundy County. I tried to be Straightforward in all my dealings and honest to a fault, which resulted in earning the respect by all whom knew me

• Property: a coal mine, 1851, Gardner, Grundy, Illinois, USA. ² I bought a coal mine in Gardner Illinois. The mine filled up with water and we were never able to recover the coal and took a loss financially

• Politically, 1851. ²⁷ I was a staunch Republican in my political views and an earnest advocate of the Union cause during the civil war. I had one son who joined the boys in blue and served throughout the war with an Illinois militia company, participating in a number of important engagements, but returned to his home in safety. I sold cattle to the government during the civil war.

• Moved, 1872, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ^2,27 In 1872, Eve and I traveled by train to Nebraska. Removing to Nebraska, I located in Gage County and purchased fifteen hundred acres of land, to the improvement of which I devoted my energies until my death. We lived with our son Ziegler for a short time until we could build a sod house on our land.

We found the trains convenient and fast. We used the trains for special excursions, to travel from town to town, and to commute from the suburbs to the city for work, shopping, and entertainment. The trains traveled at speeds of twenty-five to thirty miles an hour carrying passengers at a faster speed than we were accustomed to. However, we found train travel to be troublesome in other ways. The ride was rough. Soot, cinders, and the weather sifted through the poorly fitted windows. Eyeglass protectors were sold to passengers to keep the cinders out of their eyes. On long trips passengers slept on the train either in a sitting position or in a berth made from seats. One female, appalled at the lack of privacy in sleeping cars, wrote, "It is rather hard that young girls should have to be thus familiarized with that unattractive object, a sleepy and unwashed man. That trial should be postponed until marriage has rendered it inevitable."

Some travelers carried their own food while others purchased meals at stops along the way. Stops were brief and passengers often fought with each other to buy food. The coaches were heated by cast iron stoves and lit by oil lamps. The rate set in the 1850s for passenger travel was three cents per mile but again this varied with the railroad lines.

For light travel, we would carry carpetbags made from ingrain carpet. For longer trips trunks were packed. These came in a variety of shapes including the flattop, barrel top, pirate, camel back and Jenny Lind. Trunks with a domed top provided space for bonnets, parasols, and such and since another trunk could not be stacked on top, the dome served to protect these fragile accessories. Other trunks were built with compartments of various sizes for special garments and accessories. Trunks were made from leather, wood, iron and canvas or a combination of these materials. Because trunks had to be strong, the case was reinforced with wood slats or metal bands and metal corner braces.

Not everyone was happy with the railroad. We profited from new markets and better transport as farmers, however the trains hit and killed our cattle and belched sparks that ignited our crops. Small towns were by-passed by the railroad because the town hadn't purchased railroad stock or because the town favored the canals over the rails. To avoid economic disaster, these towns were forced to close down and join another town that did have a railroad. People were afraid of traveling at such fast speeds, religious groups objected to the railroad, and there were towns that refused passage because of the danger of flying sparks setting fire to their homes. Eight horse teams pulled the trains through these towns. Resident would, complain of the noise and cinders. People would take out their frustrations by sabotaging the trains. They shot holes in the boiler and covered the loose rails with leaves to hide the defective rails.

Trains were also plagued with mechanical, structural, and rail problems. Brakes failed, bearings burned out, car couplings broke, and boilers blew up. Locomotives with a small boiler capacity would have to stop to allow a new head of steam to form. Cold rain or sleet on the boiler would condense the steam. Bridges gave way. Ballast around the tracks washed away in flash floods. Trains jumped the tracks when a curve came at the bottom of a steep downgrade. The strap iron rails sprang loose from the oak runners tearing into the train car floor, wrecking equipment and injuring passengers. The engineer had to watch the track carefully and stop when necessary to spike the loose rail. Furthermore, men had to handshovel the snow off the track in front of a train that was snow bound during the night. Accounts of accidents resulting from these problems were related in detail over and over again among travelers.

Railroad companies had to deal with problems of another kind. Tracks around the country were laid in twenty-three different gauges or track widths from three to six feet. This meant that cars of one railroad line built to run on one size track could not operate on a different gauge track of another railroad line. In 1870, the width of the gauge was standardized at four feet eight and one-half inches. Another difficulty was that every community followed its own sun time. Railroads set up their schedules on the time standard used by their headquarters or their principal city along the route. This resulted in approximately one hundred different railroad times. You can imagine the confusion when passengers changed from one line to another. A standard time schedule was set up in 1883 for all railroads based on four time zones across the country differing by one-hour east or west.

HIGHLAND TOWNSHIP Postoffice, Cortland

+ Alfers, Gerd
+ Alberts, J.B.
+ Alvord, George
+ Alvord, W.H.
+ Bailey, J.
+ Balderson, A.G.
+ Balderson, George
+ Balderson, J.E.
+ Barkey, Enos
+ Barkey, E. Jr.
+ Barkey, J.H.
+ Barkey, Z.
+ Bintz, John
+ Blakely, W.
+ Bowen, M.
+ Boller, Henry
+ Chittenden, W.E.
+ Clapine, G.A.
+ Clifton, S.S.
+ Clough, H.P.
+ Clough, H.J.
+ Clough, M.M.
+ Clough, O.R.
+ Clough, W.W.
+ Cook, Halsey
+ Corkhill, Wm.
+ Cremer, Ese
+ Cremer, G.H.
+ Cumpton, W.F.
+ Danner, Jacob
+ Day, A.E.
+ Day, N.G.
+ Demming, C.E.
+ Demming, O.
+ Dodge, J.H.
+ Doyle, Edward
+ Eckel, Angust
+ Foelix, John
+ Forhan, thomas
+ Galbreath, M.A.
+ Gallagher, P.
+ Gansemer, Peter
+ Geiser, F.
+ Geiser, L.
+ Gifford, C.J.
+ Gillmore, R.G.
+ Glessner, Ira
+ Goodban, J.S.
+ Graham, J.W.
+ Goggins, W.
+ Harms, Charles
+ Haupt, Julius
+ Holly, M.A.
+ Huston, H.J.
+ Idinex, F.
+ Jackson, G.W.
+ Jackson, J.L.
+ James, P.H.
+ Jones, G.H.
+ Jones, H.H.
+ Karb, Jacob B.
+ Klauer, J.W.
+ Krabb, A.M.
+ Lamb, James
+ Malone, M.
+ Marsh, Wm.
+ McCormac, E.
+ Miley, J.
+ Morris, A.L.
+ Muller, John
+ Oberman, F.H.
+ Otmans, Anton
+ Ottmans, Otman
+ Paige, R.A.
+ Peick, H.H.
+ Pfieffer, Henry
+ Reuben, Albert
+ Robinson, R.B.
+ Roelfs, T.J.
+ Saylor, J.L.
+ Scanlan, M.
+ Smith, Fred
+ Sowers, George
+ Stewart, C.E.
+ Stewart, Nancy
+ Stockmeyer, August
+ Taylor, D.F.
+ Tramblie, Julius
+ Uplinger, F.B.
+ Uplinger, J.
+ Walters, David
+ Williams, P.J.
+ Wenzil, Henry
+ Yarnell, M.
+ Young, Edward
+ Young, Wm.

• lived: in a sod house. The flat, treeless grasslands in Nebraska made a durable building material. The Buffalo grass was short and tough with a dense tangle of roots; it held its shape when cut. Using a special plow I could shave enough sod from half an acre of prairie for a 16-by-20 foot house.

There was an advantage to having sod homes. "Nebraska Marble," as the sod was called, lasted long after lumber was available for housing. Soddies were inexpensive, quick to build, well insulated, tornado -proof, and did not burn. On the other hand, they needed constant repair, especially after rainstorms when the roofs dropped dirt, water and sometimes snakes.

Sod was cut with special plows, or by hand, with an ax and/or shovel. Roofs were made from timber, rough or planed, and covered with more sod. If timber was not available, roofs were built up with twigs, branches, bushes and straw.

Eve would water down the floor every week or so and smooth it out to make a new floor. Our furnishings were very basic. We installed a stove. We noticed some of our neighbors used wooden barrels as stovepipes if more expensive metal pipes weren't available, or affordable to them. Fire wasn't much of a problem with a dirt roof and walls. But ventilation and smoke drafts could be very troublesome, especially in winter.

The walls also provided wonderful housing for longtime prairie residents. October was “mouse season.” Prairie rattlers would sun themselves on the eastern window ledges during the early morning hours. They would den up in the walls.

• Accepted Christ, 1874, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ^2,32 I never united with any church until 1874, when with my sons John and Ziegler, I went forward during a revival led by E.D. Aller. We united with the Church of God soon after. Organization took place at the Barkey School house and consisted of about 50 members

• Organized, 1874. I worked with the postal service to try to bring mail service to Nebraska. I was thrilled to be an instrumental part in getting better mail service. Through this effort, the first mail routes were established. The first post office was called "Barkey Post Office". Charles Dorsey was the first mail carrier. The first school in Gage County was called Barkey School because there were so many Barkey's in the neighborhood. Mr. Bennet was the first teacher of the Barkey School. Celesta Clough and Laura Roberts (later Stanley) taught at the Barkey School until they were married. Celesta married my son Enos Barkey, Jr. and Laura Roberts married Monroe Stanley a neighborhood farmer.

• census, 1880, Highland Township, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. Barkey Burton w m 4 Highland Barkey Clithro w m 1 Highland Barkey Cora w f 10 Highland Barkey Enos w m 64 Highland Barkey Enos w m 27 Highland Barkey Eve w f 65 Highland Barkey Eve w f 7 Highland Barkey Hattie w f 30 Highland Barkey Onie w f 27 Highland Barkey Stella w f 2 Highland Barkey Ziegler w m 35 Highland

• Property: 1440 broad acres, 1888, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ³³ In 1888, I bought 1440 broad acres of land.

In an album dated 1888 and titled "Gage County, Nebraska" I was quoted on page 325 making a statement regarding my paternal Great-Grandfather. I told how he crossed the Atlantic prior to the Revolutionary war coming from a German family in Switzerland. In addition, I shared the fact that my ancestors were Mennonites or Dunkers..

• death, 15 Jan 1895, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ^27,34 Enos's Obituary in the Herald of Truth:

On the 15th of January 1895, in Gage County, Nebraska of old age and paralysis, Enos Barkey, aged 80 years. He was born in Pennsylvania, and in 1834 he married Eva Ziegler who died about 14 years ago. They moved to Ohio in 1840, where he cleared up a timber farm, and some years later moved to Indiana and from there to Grundy County, Illinois. For the past 26 years he was a resident of Gage County, Nebraska. He leaves three sons and two daughters. Deceased was highly esteemed by a large circle of relatives and acquaintances for his sterling qualities as a Christian, and his death is universally mourned in the vicinity, which he for so many years made his home. The remains were laid to rest on the 16th in the Highland cemetery, ten miles north of Beatrice, Nebraska. Peace to his ashes.

In the Biographical Report of La Salle the following statement was made:

Enos left to his children a good property and the more desirable heritage of an honest name.

• Biography: Beaver County, Pennsylvania. ^35,36 We received a journal which included copies of a German family Bible owned by Abraham Birchi and his third wife, Catherine Bornemanim. We can trace our line to Johann(John or Hans) Bergey who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1700 and lived in Franconia, in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Johann had a son, John, his son Abraham moved to Harmony, Pennsylvania in 1832 to be the schoolmaster at the Mennonite Meeting House there. His son, Enos, married Eve Ziegler and moved through Defiance County, Ohio to Elkhart County, Indiana. He cut timber in Elkhart County and moved to Grundy County, Ilinois to farm and raise his family. During the Civil War he sold beef to the Union Army. His son, Ziegler Barkey, brought home a good friend from the Civil War in 1864 named Francis Marion McGirr who was from Portadown, Ireland. Frank McGirr fell in love with Zig's sister Judith and they married. They moved to Kankakee County, Ill in 1866. Enos followed sons Ziegler and John to Gage County, Nebraska in 1873. Judy, Frank and their four sons soon followed

• burial: Highland Center Cemetery, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska. ²⁶ HIGHLAND CENTER CEMETERY - GAGE COUNTY - NEBRASKA
The legal Location of the cemetery is the South East corner of Section 20, Highland Township, and Range 6 east, Gage Co. Nebraska. The cemetery is located 3 miles south and 3 miles west of Cortland or 5 miles east of Clatonia, NE on Highway 41

Enos married Eve Ziegler, daughter of Christopher Ziegler and Susannah Shelly, on 23 Aug 1835 in Hammond Township, Beaver County Pennsylvania ^22,23.^,24 (Eve Ziegler was born on 15 Dec 1814 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,³⁷ died on 18 Mar 1884 in Beatrice, Gage County, Nebraska and was buried on 18 Mar 1884 in Highland Township, Cortland, Gage County, Nebraska ³⁸.)