Henry Barr

Henry Barr from Buffalo, New York and his brother, William Barr took up homesteads on Section  30, Ellsbury Township in 1881. They had stopped on the way from New York to visit a cousin at Afton, Minnesota and here they met two sisters, Wilhelmina and Bertha Wittkop.

Page Persons, also a former resident of Afton, hired the Barr brothers to work for him and told them that if they wanted to file on homesteads, he would loan them the necessary equipment to break up the required acres. This offer they accepted and they built a shack on the dividing line between the two quarters. Later shacks were built on each of the quarters and Henry then went back to Afton to claim his bride, Wilhelmina Wittkop. They returned to Henry's claim in February of 1882. Wilhelmina was the only woman for miles around and life was very lonesome for her. In April of 1884, William brought his bride, Bertha Wittkop back to his claim and, since their houses were about three blocks apart, the two sisters then were much needed company for each other.

A brother of the sisters, Albert Wittkop, then took up a homestead near the Barrs, as did John Westphal, a cousin of the Barrs and a community began to form which was to be the center of activities for many a year.

As the years passed, the farms were improved, larger houses were built or added on to, trees were planted and the prairie took on a settled look.

Born to the Henry Barr family were ten children:

  1. Ida,

  2. Nora,

  3. Reuben,

  4. Edward,

  5. Clara,

  6. Josephine,

  7. Louise,

  8. Elsie,

  9. Myrtle and

  10. Helen.

Only a few remained in the community.

Henry Barr passed away in 1934. His wife in 1939.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 22