Reuben M. Barker

Reuben M. Barker, born in Daviess County, Ky., Nov. 8, 1818, was a son of Samuel Barker, a native of Maryland, who came to Kentucky when a boy, first locating in Nelson County, and afterward in Daviess County. The latter was a soldier in the war of 1812, and fought the Indians under General Hopkins. He died June 23, 1851. Reuben N. was reared on a farm and attended the log-cabin subscription schools, having to walk from three and a half to five miles. He was married June 26, 1845, to Mary E. Chappell, daughter of James Chappell, an early settler of Owensboro. He came to this county in 1816, when there was not a brick chimney in Owensboro, and kept a hotel and grocery there. Mrs. Barker has a bedstead that her father made out of walnut sixty-four years ago. Their daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth B. Hall, lives on a part of the old homestead. Mr. Barker’s residence is just across the county line, in Hancock County. He is a member of the Methodist church, South. A brother, Samuel Barker, born in Nelson County, Ky., Dec. 7, 1808, was married in 1831, to Rhoda Kallam. Of his eleven children but nine are living – James G., Catherine, Melissa, Rachel J., Mary A., Francis M., Nathaniel H.L., Martin K. and Louisa T.

Source: History of Daviess County, Kentucky. Chicago: Interstate Publishing Co., 1883. Print.