Lucien A. Barnes Family Photograph Collection

Collection

Identifier: Photo 2082

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Lucien A. Barnes photograph collection contains forty-six images that were taken primarily between 1900 and 1920. There are some images, however, that predate that to as early as the 1870s and as late as the 1930s. The collection consists of portraits taken of Lucien A. Barnes and various members of his family including his father, wife, brother, and other family members. Also included in the collection are photographs taken of Lucien’s farm. Some of these images include the farmhouse, haying, threshing, and other farming operations. The collection is a mix of both amateur and professional images. Those images that were taken by a professional photographer are either cartes-de-visite or cabinet cards although there are some that are larger. The amateur photographs taken are of various sizes. All of the photographs in the collection are black and white. The collection was arranged into two series: Portraits and Farm. The photographs were accessioned as part of the personal and business papers and of Lucien A. Barnes. The manuscripts were processed as Institute Mss 189. The Portrait Series consists of twenty-nine black and white images. The portraits range in date from the 1870s to the 1930s. These portraits are both professional and amateur images. Most of the professional portraits were taken in Delavan, Wisconsin where the family lived before moving to North Dakota. The professional shots taken in Fargo that have the photographer identified were taken by F. Jay Haynes. Most of the images are of Lucien A. Barnes, his wife Mary, and their son A.H. Barnes and his family. There is one image of Lucien’s father Judge A.H. Barnes, after whom Barnes County, N.D. was named. Also in this series are photographs that were identified but the relationship to the Barnes family is unknown. These include portraits of Captain John Kent (?), Mrs. Judge J.H. Barnes, daughter of Judge Allen of Racine, Wisconsin, Bertha I. Hautsmann (?), and Fred Irish (?). In addition, there are identified portraits depicting a woman named Anne with various other people. Again, it is unsure of how Anne is related to the Lucien A. Barnes family.

The Farm Series consist of seventeen images taken mostly within the first twenty years of the 1900s and all are black and white prints. The photographs in this series depict various scenes taken on the Lucien A. Barnes farm. The series includes three images of farmhouses including two different homes and an interior of the parlor of the Lucien A. Barnes home. There are also images of outbuildings on the farm including the cookhouse and barns. The series also includes images of various farming operations including binding grain, haying, and threshing machines.

Dates

1870 - 1939

Creator

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

Access

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

Copyrights

Copyrights to this collection remain with copyright holders.

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 Evan 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 Evan 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. Sons Hamilton and Lucien C. farmed together for many years.