Biography

Henry Barr was born on March 31, 1859, six years before the end of the Civil War, likely on a large plantation in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. Census records suggest that he spent most—if not all—of his life in that same county. There is no indication as to what attracted Henry to the Latter-day Saint message but in 1896, he converted to the upstart faith. [1] He did so on his own, outside of any known kinship networks. In fact, Henry’s parents and relatives also lived in Williamsburg County but Henry was the only known member of his family to get baptized. Few documents survive to flesh-out Henry’s story other than census reports and his baptismal record.

Henry was likely born into slavery in 1859 in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. His parents, Mingo and Eliza Boards Barr, were probably enslaved to one of four enslavers in the county, three of whom had the last name of Barr and one with the last name of Boards. According to the slave schedule for the 1860 U.S. census, Margaret Barr enslaved nineteen people, L. D. Barr enslaved thirty-eight, W.C. Barr enslaved another thirty-six, and L. D. Boards held forty-six people as property. Between those four enslaving families, the census slave schedule for Williamsburg County included people whose demographic profile matches what we might expect for Mingo, Eliza, and Henry Barr; however, because the 1860 census did not identify enslaved people by name, and the Barr and Boards families held a combined total of 139 people as slaves, it is impossible to know on which plantation Henry may have been born. [2]

From later census records, it is possible to know that Henry was born into a large family with as many as five brothers and sisters. He and his family were first recorded by name on the 1870 federal census when Henry was listed as a twelve-year-old farm laborer living at home with his mother and father. [3] Mingo and Eliza, along with one daughter, appeared on the 1880 census but Henry was not listed with them nor has he been found elsewhere in that year.

Henry next appears on a census list in 1900, again in Williamsburg County. In 1885, he had married a woman named Sarah and the couple were parents to seven children between the ages of one and fourteen. They also had a sixteen-year-old cousin living with them. [4] From 1900 to 1930, census records tell us that Henry was a father, a husband, and a farmer. As a young man, despite never having attended school, Henry learned to read and write. [5] He rented the home that he lived in and spent most of his life on a farm in Williamsburg County. [6]

By the 1910 census Sarah may have passed away or she and Henry may have divorced. In 1906 he married a woman named Caroline or “Carrie” Brown. Carrie was also born in South Carolina and passed away in 1951 at age 77. [7] She, like Henry, did not receive a formal education but could also read and write. [8] Together, she and Henry opened their home to not only their children but to grandchildren as well. [9]

On August 18, 1896, when Henry was 37 years old, missionary Alfred Kearl from Lake Town in Rich County, Utah, baptized him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Charles Patterson confirmed him on the same day. [10] Local church records for Williamsburg County do not survive to give any evidence of his life as a Latter-day Saint thereafter.

No record, to date, has been found of Henry’s death. He last appears in the 1930 census when he would have been seventy-one years old but he does not appear in the 1940 census. [11]

By Mary Banks

Primary Sources

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Record of Members Collection. South Carolina. CR 375 8, box 6516, folder 1, image 138. Church History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.

South Carolina. State Board of Health. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Certificate of Death. File No. 51-002343, Registrar’s No. 7. Carrie Barr. South Carolina State Archives. Williamsburg County, South Carolina.

United States. 1860 Census, Slave Schedules. South Carolina, Williamsburg County. Entries for L.D. Barr, L.D. Boards, Margaret Barr, and W. C. Barr.

United States. 1870 Census. South Carolina, Williamsburg County, Union.

United States. 1900 Census. South Carolina, Williamsburg County.

United States. 1910 Census. South Carolina, Williamsburg County.

United States. 1920 Census. South Carolina, Williamsburg County.

United States. 1930 Census. South Carolina, Williamsburg County.

Documents

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