Lucien A. Barnes Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: Mss 189

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Lucien A. Barnes Family Papers consists of four series: correspondence, financial records, premium booklets, and numerous subject files. It is an eclectic collection, spanning one hundred years and four generations of the Barnes family. The Correspondence Series is arranged chronologically in two folders. The first folder covers the years 1852 to 1918. The majority of the correspondence is to Lucien A. and is spread out unevenly during the time frame; included are letters from his cousin, Mary Beckwith in Pennsylvania, one of which speaks of a child that broke through the ice and drowned. There are letters from his father Judge A.H. Barnes, his brother Herb, and letters written by a family members while stationed in France during World War I., a few of which bear a censor’s signature. The second folder consists of correspondence between the years 1926 and 1943. As in the first folder, the correspondence is spread out unevenly. The correspondence in this folder is primarily business related and is addressed to Lucien A. and his father A.H. (the grandson of Judge A.H.), as well as a letter written to Lucien C. from a friend who was stationed at a base in Louisiana during World War II. The Financial Records Series consists of eight folders. There are promissory notes from 1878 to 1885, likely of Lucian A.’s which have various interesting business graphics. The property tax statements from the years 1878 to 1920 document the land that the Lucian A. and Mary Barnes owned in Cass County, North Dakota and Becker County, Minnesota. There are also receipts from local Masonic Orders, such as the El Zagal Temple and the Scottish Rites Freemasons, of which Judge A.H. Barnes was a member. The medical receipts from 1895 and 1921 illustrate the cost of a hospital stay at St. John’s Hospital in Fargo for A.H. in these years. In addition there are miscellaneous receipts from the Northern Pacific Elevator Company, Cass County Drain Commission, The Argus, the Fargo Lumber Company, S. A. Loudon (a local blacksmith), as well as others for farm equipment, including a silo and an International truck. The Premium Booklet Series includes: a Clay County Poultry Association premium booklet for a show in Moorhead, Minn. in 1929; a North Dakota Poultry Association premium booklet for a show in Valley City, N.D. in 1929; a North Dakota State Fair premium booklet for the fair in Fargo in 1928 and 1930; and a North Dakota State Fair premium booklet for the fair in Grand Forks, N.D. in 1928 and 1930. The Subject Files Series contains a wide variety of items including: business cards, including of Steward French, a Fargo lawyer, and Lucien Barnes’ card; a Cass County 4-H Newsletter from 1929; an undated dairy record booklet from the Fairmont creamery which is blank, but shows graphics of the various creameries, including the one in Moorhead; and dance programs from 1893 to 1897, some of the sponsors of the dances include Company B of the North Dakota National Guard, and the St. Elmo Lodge. There is a 1955 interview of Herbert Alanson Barnes by Leonard Sackett consisting of three leaves primarily about Barnes genealogy. A broadside issued by Lucien C. Barnes expounds the benefits of equine dentistry. Other items include an editorial written by Charles Mitchell against John Haggart, who was claimed to be a part in Mitchell losing his farm; a Liberty Loan award letter to the Cotters Community, circa 1916; a livestock herd book which tracks Lucien C’s swine herd; milk licenses for the Barnes Dairy from Moorhead and Fargo, 1940-1941; as well as an application from Fargo. There is a copy of the Cass County Club Journal for Oct. 18, 1929 related to 4-H activities. There is a North Dakota Holstein Breeders Association newsletter from 1928; and newspaper clippings, most of which were written by Earle H. Tostevin, a soldier from North Dakota who was writing from the European front during World War I. Also included is an article written by Mary Barnes. There is a Red River Valley National Bank planning booklet from 1896 which contains a calendar, financial ledger, and various factoids. Finally there is a Thresherman’s Settlement book of A.H. Barnes that documents the amount of grain threshed for various people in the years 1903 and 1904, most of the pages, however, remain unfilled. The Ledger Series contains a ledger of commentaries on biblical passages written by Judge Barnes from 1875 to 1878 with several pencil sketches included. Another ledger contains the names of people who worked for Lucian A. Barnes, as well as a log of the work performed by Lucian and his brother, kept erratically from 1893 to 1903; and a small ledger of Lucian's containing various expenses paid out and recipes for homemade equine remedies. One ledger contains three pages of transactions by the Cotters Community Club, a list of teachers and number of students for Cass County School #35 from 1880 to 1891, as well as a threshing record circa 1890. There is also a notebook containing notes from a chemistry class taught by Edwin F. Ladd at the North Dakota Agricultural College in 1899. It cannot be ascertained who the author of the notes is, although it may be a Frank Sears, whose name is written on the front cover.

Dates

1853-1955.

Creator

Barnes, Lucien A., 1840-1909. (Person)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The Institute does not hold the copyright.

Biography

Alanson Herbert (A.H.) Barnes, for whom Barnes County, North Dakota was named, was born in 1818 in Tunis, New York. In 1846 he began practicing law and in 1873 was appointed District Judge for Dakota Territory by President Grant. In 1874 he moved from his residence in Delevan, Wisconsin to Yankton, Dakota Territory, and the next year he moved to Fargo, where he constructed a house on Second Avenue and Eighth Street (non-extant). Judge Barnes held court in Fargo, Valley City, Bismarck and Deadwood, traveling the distance between the last two cities by stagecoach. Judge Barnes was re-appointed by President Hayes in 1878 and retired to his home in Delevan in 1881; he died nine years later. Judge Barnes was twice married: to Clarissa Hills, who died in 1856, and to Sarah Allen, who survived him. Four children were born to A.H. Barnes: two sons, D.B. Barnes, who was a lawyer in Delevan, Wisconsin, and Lucien A. Barnes of Cass County, N.D.; and two daughters, Fanny, who married Alfred D. Thomas, the first U.S. District Judge in North Dakota; and Clara, who married E.S. Tyler, who was one of the first settlers of Fargo. Lucien A. Barnes was born to Clarissa and A.H. Barnes on April 17, 1840 in Martinsburg, N.Y. After having lived in Delevan for twelve years, Lucien came to Dakota Territory with his wife Mary Means, whom he had wed in 1864. He settled in present-day Barnes Township, Cass County and broke land that had been purchased by his father and E.S. Tyler. Over the years Lucien and Mary accumulated over eight hundred acres in and around Section 21 in Barnes Township, where Lucien farmed and practiced veterinary dentistry. Mary bore one son, who was named for his grandfather, Alanson Herbert. Lucien died May 21, 1909, followed by Mary in 1928. She was born in 1841 in England, coming to New York with her parents in 1858. Alanson Herbert Barnes was born in Delevan, Wisconsin on June 23, 1872 (died 9 Feb. 1957). He married Caroline Crane (died 2 Jan 1953) in 1903 at Paris, Wisconsin. They settled in Barnes Township on land that belonged to his father. Four children were born to Alanson and Caroline: Ruth, Mary, Hamilton A., and Lucien C. Hamilton and Lucien C. farmed together for many years.

Extent

.8 Linear Feet (.8 linear ft.)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection documents a farm family that settled in Cass County near Fargo and consists of a wide variety of family documents.

Provenance

Donated by A. H. Barnes, 1955. (Acc. 565)

Separation Record

The following materials have been separated from the Alanson H. Barnes Family Papers (Mss 189) and placed in the section indicated. Photographs (Institute photograph collection)

Picture of Queen Marie of Romania

Publications (Institute publications collection)

North Dakota Livestock Breeder’s Association Directory, 1926 Farmer’s Grain Dealers Association of North Dakota vs. Great Northern Railway Company, 1925 The Northern Livestock Breeder, (v. 8, no. 2, Feb. 1928)

Broadside (Institute broadside collection)

Broadside for Horse Dentistry NDSU University Archives North Dakota Agricultural College recruitment letter