My Genealogy Hound

DR. JAMES P. BARNES, President of the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company, of Allentown, is closely identified with the history of this community, and it is with pleasure that we present to our readers the record of his life. He was born in Bath, Northampton County, Pa., August 14, 1826. The original ancestor of this branch of the Barnes family in America was James Barnes, an English student, who was forced by a press gang to serve as an English soldier in the War of the Revolution, and was taken prisoner by the Continental army at Stillwater. He refused to be exchanged, and adopted this country as his home. Subsequently he married and reared a family of thirteen children, his home being in Herkimer County, N. Y.

The father of our subject, Brittania D. Barnes, was born in New York in 1787. In 1820 he went to Wilkes Barre, Pa., and from there to Allentown, where he resided a few years. In the vicinity of Bath there was then a Scotch-Irish settlement, which has had an honored place in the early history of Pennsylvania and of the country, and has done much to foster English education, sound morality and religion in regions far beyond its bounds. In view of his Presbyterian birth and early training, Mr. Barnes was attracted thither, and cast in his lot with them as a merchant until the time of his death. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Sarah Pardoe, and was a native of Northumberland County, Pa. Both she and her husband are deceased. Their family numbered four sons and five daughters, six of whom grew to mature years, and four are yet living, viz.: Joseph C.; James P.; Annie, widow of Josiah Brown; and Lydia, who is the wife of Dr. W. E. Seip, of Bath, Pa.

The subject of this sketch remained in the place of his birth until fifteen years of age, and then went to Luzerne County, Pa., where he clerked in a store for $50 per annum. After a year and a-half thus spent he returned to Bath, and entered the academy of that place. Subsequently he studied dentistry for two years, under the preceptorship of Dr. J. P. Scholl, and became familiar with the profession in all its branches. Later we find him in Bethlehem, Pa., where he engaged in the practice of dentistry until 1851. In that year Dr. Barnes opened an office in Allentown, where he successfully engaged in practice until the death of his father, in 1859, required him to give his attention to the settlement of the estate. When this business was satisfactorily arranged he returned to Allentown, and again resumed practice, continuing in the line of dentistry until 1886, or for a period of forty years, when he retired from the profession. He had met with excellent success in his undertakings, and was the recipient of a large and lucrative practice.

In 1848 Dr. Barnes wedded Miss Mary, daughter of Jacob Shimer, and to them was born a family of five children: Ellen, who died in infancy; Avon, a member of the firm of Cunningham & Barnes, manufacturers of wagons and wagon gearings at Allentown; Grace, wife of John T. Shimer, of Allentown; Jacob, who is acting as bookkeeper in the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company; and Lena, who completes the family. In 1886 Dr. Barnes was one of the most active in originating the Lehigh Valley Trust and Safe Deposit Company of Allentown, and at its organization became the Secretary and Treasurer of the institution. This position he creditably filled until the death of its first President, Dr. Edwin G. Martin, in 1893, when he was unanimously elected to that office, a position he still holds. The Trust Company has the confidence of the entire community, and acts as executor, administrator, trustee and guardian of estates, both real and personal. It also does a large business in making loans and receiving deposits. Dr. Barnes, who was an original stock-holder in the Allentown Bank (now the Allentown National Bank) on its organization in 1855, has been a stockholder ever since, and at intervals during twenty-five years was one of the Directors of the bank.

In politics the Doctor is usually a Democrat, and has been honored with a number of offices of trust under both parties. He served as Treasurer of the Allentown School District for eighteen consecutive years, and has been a member of the State Board of Agriculture since its organization in the year 1876, having been appointed by the Agricultural Society of Lehigh County. For several terms he was Treasurer of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. Since becoming a resident of Allentown, he has been treasurer of many organizations. The trust officially reposed in him indicates that he has the confidence of his fellow-townsmen in a high degree, and his long-continued service shows that that trust has never been betrayed. In the legitimate channels of business he has won a high degree of success, and is now one of the substantial citizens of Allentown.

The Doctor and his wife are both members of the First Presbyterian Church, and are numbered among its leading members. By profession of faith he united with it December 23, 1853. On the 17th of July, 1872, he was elected Ruling Elder, and on the 18th of August was ordained in that office for a term of six years. At each election he was chosen his own successor until 1892, when the eldership was made a life office and he was again elected. For many years he was Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, and also of the Board of Elders for the Benevolent Contributions, which position he holds at the present time. During his whole connection with the church, Dr. Barnes has been an active Christian. His place has rarely been vacant in the weekly prayer-meeting and Sabbath services, and for five and a-half years he was Superintendent of the Sabbath-school. He was among the first to advocate the erection of the present Sabbath-school building, was one of the most liberal contributors to it, and one of the committee on building. By his zeal and activity others were encouraged and supported in their liberality, and for his faithfulness the Presbyterian Church has reason for thankfulness. While undemonstrative in his manner, his influence is on the side of truth and right, and the community in which he lives esteems him as a good man, a useful citizen and a consistent Christian.