George Barney and Freeland T. Barney were both sons
of Mr. and Mrs. Throop Barney. Another brother, Charles Barney, died during the
cholera epidemic of 1849. Both George and Freeland T. Barney were well known pioneer
businessmen in Sandusky, Ohio.
George Barney was born in the state
of New York in 1814. In 1842 George married Caroline Stebbins Lawrence in
Michigan. After residing for a a time in Milan, Ohio, George and Caroline
Barney moved to Sandusky in 1855. By 1860, George Barney was a member of
the firm, Horning, Pringle and Company, which was a brass foundry and machine
shop. Later, Barney and his son, George L. Barney, ran a hardware store
in the Hubbard Block of Sandusky. From about 1869 to 1888, George Barney and
Joseph F. Kilby were the proprietors of Barney & Kilby, a machine works and
foundry. According to the Sandusky City Directory, Barney & Kilby
manufactured stationary and portable engines, rolling mill machinery, circular
saw mills, woodworking machinery, and mill furnishings.
George Barney was also vice
president of the People’s Electric Railway and the Sandusky Savings Bank. Mrs.
Caroline Barney died in 1891, and George Barney died in 1898. They were buried in
the Barney family lot at Oakland Cemetery. An obituary which appeared in the
November 19, 1898 issue of the Sandusky
Star stated about George Barney, that he for years he was one of Sandusky’s
“most substantial and progressive businessmen.”
Freeland T. Barney was born in New
York in 1805. He married Mary Moore in 1836, and moved with his new wife to
Sandusky, Ohio. In the 1860 Sandusky City Directory, F.T. Barney was associated
with three different businesses: Barney and Barber, which was a dock and
warehouse; Barney and Cowdery, a hardware store; and the banking company of
Barney, Hubbard and Durbin. By 1867 the hardware store was known as Barney and
Ferris, operated by F.T. Barney and B. F. Ferris. Freeland T. Barney was known
as the “father” of the Sandusky Wheel Company. In its day it the Sandusky Wheel
Company was one of Sandusky’s largest factories, and employed many local
residents.
Freeland T. Barney died on
September 9, 1875. An obituary which appeared in the Sandusky Register on September 13, 1875 reported that the Rev. W.
W. Farr, rector of Grace Episcopal Church, gave a fitting tribute to F.T.
Barney, “who fulfilled his mission well and whose days were crowned with the
honors of the good and successful business man.” F.T. Barney was buried in Sandusky’s Oakland
Cemetry. To read more about the Barney family and other pioneer families of
Sandusky and Erie County, visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center.
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