Alexander Barr was the father of Jane Barr. Jane Barr was the mother of Elizabeth Fulton. (see previous blog post "Who was the father of Elizabeth Fulton dated April 14, 2020 for background). When the State of Pennsylvania opened Westmoreland County for settlement, Alexander Barr took out a warrant on 3 April 1769 for 300 acres of land that was located in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The land (called Barr's Choice) was surveyed on 10 June 1769 and contained 351 acres (see New Purchase Register, number 1630, Alex'r Barr) that is available on the Pennsylvania State Archives website (http://www.phmc.state.pa.us). The survey is also available online at this website.
Alexander Barr was taxed as a single man in 1773 in Armstrong Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania (see Pennsylvania Archives, Series 3, Volume XXII, pages 21-22). The Pennsylvania Archives are available for free on Fold3.com. Since Alexander had to be at least 21 to be taxed, he was born before 1752. His father was Thomas and Jennet Barr from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. The Barr family will be discussed in a future blog post.
Alexander Barr was in the Westmoreland County militia from 1776 to 1778. He was a captain in September, 1776 in the Westmoreland County militia according to the declaration in Martin Funk's Revolutionary War pension application and was a major in December, 1776 according to Martin Funk's and Adam Maxwell's Revolutionary War pension applications. Colonel Alexander Barr commanded a detachment of Westmoreland County militia that was ordered by Brigadier General Edward Hand on an expedition to the "Indian Country" from 10 February 1778 to 12 March 1778 during the Revolutionary War. The payroll signed by Colonel Alexander Barr is available on Fold3. The published Pennsylvania Archives, Series 6, Volume II, pages 299-310 gives the officers of the Westmoreland County Militia for 1777 and 1778. Alexander Barr is the colonel of the First Battalion of the Westmoreland County Militia. Alexander does not appear in any Westmoreland County records again until 1783 when he was taxed in Westmoreland County on 300 acres, two horses, and two cows (see Pennsylvania tax and exoneration lists for Westmoreland County on Ancesty). He was also elected a commissioner in 1783 in Westmoreland County. He was a signer on an indenture as one of the judges for the elections in 1784 in Hannastown, Westmoreland County.
Alexander Barr was in what later became Jefferson County, Kentucky, in the spring of1779. James Welch, his brother-in-law, gave a deposition on 11 February 1804 in Jefferson County, Kentucky in a land dispute that stated "about the last of April or the first of May, 1779, he in company with James Guthrie, Alexander Barr, ...set out from the Falls of Ohio to make improvements...Further, that at the time of building the aforesaid cabin at this place, he saw the letters a. b. marked on the aforesaid oak by Alexander Barr..." James Guthrie, a brother-in law of Alexander Barr's wife, gave a similiar deposition naming Alexander Barr also. Alexander Barr, James Guthrie, and James Welch were also listed as members of Captain William Harrod's Company in 1780 at the Stations near the Falls that are now Jefferson and Shelby Counties.
A biographical sketch of Rev. Thomas Barr, Alexander Barr's son, (see
The Plan of Union or A History of the Presbyterian and Congregational
Churches of the Western Reserve by William S. Kennnedy, pages 41-54,
biography of Rev. Thomas Barr based on his autobiography) states "When about two or three years old, his father, Colonel Barr, was called to serve in the Revolutionary struggle, and took his family to his wife's father's [place], near Fort Loudon, Franklin County." An Alexander Barr is taxed in Cumberland County (later Franklin County) from 1778 to 1782 but it is not known if this is the same Alexander Barr. Alexander Barr is not in any records from 1779 to 1782 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
According to the biography of Rev. Thomas Barr, Alexander Barr was killed in 1785 near Wheeeling, Ohio Country, Virginia (now West Virginia) by the Indians while on an expedition down the Ohio River with Richard Wallace (see The Plan of Union referred to above). Alexander Barr died sometime prior to 2 November 1785 when his wife, Margaret Barr, and others were appointed administators of his estate.
Alexander Barr married Margaret Welch/Welsh. Her parents were John and Susanna Welch/Welsh, also from Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Her family will also be discussed in a future blog post. Margaret Barr was listed as widow Barr on the tax and exoneration list in 1786, and was listed as Margaret Barr on the tax and exoneration list in 1787, 1788, and 1789 in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. She married Uriah Matson after Alexander Barr's death, probably about 1790 since she does not appear in the 1790 census. She died 3 September 1812 according to her tombstone in the Old Salem Church Cemetery, aged 58 years. She was born from 1753 to 1754 according to her tombstone. She and Uriah Matson had the following children: Samuel (eldest son); Margaret married John Peoples, Ohio; Uriah; Mary married John Robison; Joseph; Rebecca married Hugh Robison (Petition Docket 5:307). Uriah Matson died 5 June 1826 and is also buried in the Old Salem Church Cemetery. After his wife Margaret's death, Uriah Matson married Rebecca Sterling Robison (a widow of William Robison). Two of their children married two of Uriah and Margaret's children.
Thomas Barr petitioned the Orphans Court in 1799 to partition/value two tracts of land of Alexander Barr (Partition Docket 3:404). The petition names the widow, Margaret, and four children, three of whom are minors, John, Jennet, and Susannah. Jennet was also known as Jane and was born about 1784 since she was 76 in the 1850 census. John and Susannah were born after 1778 and before Alexander Barr's death in 1785 since they were were minors and under 21 in 1799 when the petition was filed.
Each of Alexander Barr's children received a portion of his land. The following distribution is for the larger tract. His son Thomas received 207 acres. He received a double portion as the eldest son. It was surveyed for him on 23 April 1799 and patented on 4 February 1806 to Uriah Matson, Thomas' stepfather. Alexander's son John received a patent for 87 acres on 4 February 1806. His daughter Jane and her husband, Robert Thompson, received 107 acres. It was surveyed on 16 March 1833 and patented on 10 April 1834. 8 1/2 acres was surveyed on 23 April 1799 and patented on 29 December 1808 to John Craig and his wife Susanna.
The original survey on 10 June 1769 was for 351 acres but Alexander owned two tracts of land according to the petition, one for 350 acres and another for 110 acres. A warrant for the 110 acre tract was granted on 12 September 1787 to William Guthrie and John Pumroy in trust for the heirs of Alexander Barr (no. 111, Westmoreland County, Derry Township). It was surveyed on 4 June 1789 for William Guthrie and John Pumroy in trust for the heirs of Alexander Barr for 111 1/2 acres. A patent was granted to them on 1 February 1806 for 16 acres after it was surveyed. They transferred this land to John Barr on 30 November 1806. A patent was granted to John Craig and Susannah his wife for 95 acres on 29 December 1808. The final distribution to Alexander Barr's children was about 520 acres.
More information is available on Alexander Barr and others near him in Derry Township if anyone is interested. Some of this information may be included in future blog posts.
