Hezekiah Barker

Notes:

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Fredonia NY Censor 1959-1959 Grayscale - 0188.pdf http://www.fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%207/Fredonia%20%20NY%20Censor/Fredonia%20NY%20Censor%201959-1959%20Grayscale/Fredonia%20NY%20Censor%201959-1959%20Grayscale%20-%200188.pdf
What could be a more fitting
memorial to one of our most
g e n e r o u ; and visionary pioneers
than our beautiful twin parks
located in t h e center of the
village?! Hezekiah Barker who
bought a great tract of land in
180(5 gave acres of his' holdings,
including that land, for the
benefit and enjoyment of the
s e t t l e r s of Canadaway.
Mr. Barker was about 50
years of cge w h e n he came here
and built his cabin. The following
year he brought his wife,
Sarah Wood, and their eight
children. The Barkers were
T b o th natives of Rhode Island,
he, one of nine children of John
Barker and Rebecca Hoar, was
born at Middletown April 14,
2 757. She was t h e d a u g h t e r of
George and Desire Grey Wood
and was born Dec. 30, 1764.
They were* m a r r i e d Nov. 27,
1783 at Little Compton, R. I.
The Barker children were;
Barzillai, William, Zabiah, Desire,
Sarah, Samuel, John and
Charlc<. Two of the daughters
married men who also had prominent
parts in the early life
of our settlement. Desire married
Leverett Barker (no blood
r e l a t i on to Hezekiah) and S a r ah
m a r r i e d Dr. S q u i r e White, said
to have, been the first licensed
physician in the county. It was
Leverett Barker's son, Darwin,
who gave his family home for
our D. R. B a r k e r Library.
H e z e k i t h Barker had served
in the Revolutionary War. For
ten months he was in Capt.
Wood's Co of Col. Richardson's
Reg. of R.I. troops. He h a d t he
honor of following the a r m y of
Washington a-; t h e d i s p a t c h carrier,
passing through the enemy
lines when necessary and doing
great service. In March 1834' he
was granted a pension, but
lived to receive it but a few
months since his death occurred
J u l y fi, 1834. His widow was
honored with a pension in 1839.
Hezekiah Barker and Zattu
Cushing arrived here about the
same time and they bought the
land which McClintock, Eason
and Meiniger had first purchased
before they moved on to
t h e Cross Roads (Westfield).
Mr. Barker paid $768.13 for his
land which included most o?
that in t h e c e n t e r of our present
village.
He set about with a definite
plan for a future village and a
d e t e r m i n a t i o n to make life as
comfortable as possible for all
of these persons who had left
t h e i r homes and conveniences
HI the East to b r a v e t h e e x p e r i ences
in' t h e wilderness. Following
the picn of most New England
villages he first laid out
the village "green" about which
c h u r c h e s schools and town
buildings were usually grouped.
In the Fall of 1806 Mr. Barker
with the help of Mr. Richard
Williams who had r e c e n t ly
a r r i v e d here, commenced building
a grist mill. A trip to
P e n n s y l v a n i a was made, 80
miles with an ox team, for I lie
mill stones and to Batavia for
the mill irons. The t r ip which
we to-day would make in a few
hours required then 21 days.
The s e ' t i e r s had been obliged
to take their grain either to
Erie, Pa., or to Black Rock to
have it ground. The only alternative
was to pound the g r a in
(in a stump mortar at home, a
very slov; and tedious process.
The thoughts of a grist mill here
in C a n a d a w a y ^ mu brought great joy to many
h e a r t s . But, just as t h e mill was
nearly completed a freshet
swept a\\v,.y the mill dam. The
men, however, with their usual
courageous spirit and with the
help of volunteers rebuilt the
dam.
Hezekiah Barker, also built
the first saw mill, above the
bridge on Main Street. He built
a log t a v e r n where the Russo
building now stands. This he
sold in 1315 to M. W. and
Thomas Abel. He gave the land
for the Academy and that for
our Pioneer cemetery where
many ybars later he was laid
to rest. {The first school house
was erected by him. After selling
his t a v e r n he built for himself
a home where our Post
Office is now located.
During the three years following
Hezekiah Barker's arrival
many families moved into
this area, and on the 4th of
J u l y , 1809 t h e first celebration
was held in Canadaway. Mr.
B a r k e r and Oliver Woodcock
provided for the ' d i n n e r in a
long bower, so that all who
could attend might be s e a t e d at
t h e table.
Upon .i stage which was
erected for the occasion, sat 13
ladies dressed in white with
blue sashes, the . clergy, the
speaker of t h e day, and t h e Revo
l u t i o n a r y veterans. The music
was provided with fife and.
drum. The bill of fare was beef,
baked in stone ovens, light
bread, pumpkin pies, loaf cake
sweetened with maple sugar,
peas, potatoes and s t e w e d gooseberries.
The family pewter
p l a t e s were scoured as bright
as possible and with these
t a b l e Was s^t. .
(Continued nexti week)

Hezekiah married Sarah Wood on 27 Nov 1783 in Little Compton, Newport Co, Rhode Island, USA. Sarah (daughter of George Wood and Desire Grey) was born on 30 Dec 1764. [Group Sheet]