William Barber was born in England in 1835. He married in 1857 and emigrated to the United States with his father and family around 1860. Of particular note was his military service; William was a Civil War veteran who had served with General George Armstrong Custer’s regiment. He enlisted in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry Brigade in 1862 and fought his first battle—talk about a baptism by fire—at Gettysburg. Barber went on to fight no less than 57 major engagements, the most momentous being the battle of Appomattox Courthouse April 9, 1865—the day that Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant and the Civil War officially ended. William Barber was with the brigade when they marched in the victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue the following month. He owned a number of land parcels in Otto Township, just south of Ferry. But when his wife died in 1873, he sold off his acreage and, in 1875, disappeared from the records, along with his two sons. His grave in Ferry Township Cemetery remained unmarked until a marker was obtained from the U.S. Government at the request of his great, great grandson, Richard Crick. The headstone was dedicated with full military honors on October 26, 2019. See http://www.shorelinemedia.net/william-barber-comes-home/article_de3ed2e2-564f-5741-8302-45e897d5df62.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share for local newspaper coverage of the event.
William Barber was born in England in 1835. He married in 1857 and emigrated to the United States with his father and family around 1860. Of particular note was his military service; William was a Civil War veteran who had served with General George Armstrong Custer’s regiment. He enlisted in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry Brigade in 1862 and fought his first battle—talk about a baptism by fire—at Gettysburg. Barber went on to fight no less than 57 major engagements, the most momentous being the battle of Appomattox Courthouse April 9, 1865—the day that Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant and the Civil War officially ended. William Barber was with the brigade when they marched in the victory parade down Pennsylvania Avenue the following month. He owned a number of land parcels in Otto Township, just south of Ferry. But when his wife died in 1873, he sold off his acreage and, in 1875, disappeared from the records, along with his two sons. His grave in Ferry Township Cemetery remained unmarked until a marker was obtained from the U.S. Government at the request of his great, great grandson, Richard Crick. The headstone was dedicated with full military honors on October 26, 2019. See http://www.shorelinemedia.net/william-barber-comes-home/article_de3ed2e2-564f-5741-8302-45e897d5df62.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share for local newspaper coverage of the event.
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