John Barlow, Jr., Nancy Rash, and Elizabeth Kendall Merritt

Elizabeth 'Betsy' Kendall Merrit daguerreotype copy of a oil on ivory. The original locket would have been painted before she married her first husband. William and Sarah Foster Kendall had quite a bit of land and wealth in Virginia.  As you know Sarah Foster Kendall, a widow came to North Carolina with her brothers one of which was the ancestor of Ann Foster Melton. and Laura Foster of Tom Dula (Dooley) fame. The Foster and Kendalls were beautiful women. The earrings were handed down to Braxton who gave them to Charlotte as a wedding gift; she is wearing them in her picture. No one knows what became of them but an old family story says they were sold during the lean years after the Civil War.  This family suffered great losses during the Civil War. The 37th NC was hit hard at the Battle of Hanover Court House. I have gone to the battle field and sometimes it is almost impossible to imagine the grief those families bore.  In two hours fo fighting several hundred were killed.    (Photos contributed by Jerry Dagenhart, click to enlarge)

Family lore or truth?? as told by Jerry Dagenhart    May 2005

Tom Dyson and George Walker, great grandson of Appeline and Thomas Barlow said that John Barlow Jr's first wife Nancy Rash was still alive when he married Betsy Kendall and that is why their daughter, Elizabeth left home and went to live with her Grandpa. The story goes that Nancy went insane after the birth of her youngest child and that North Carolina law forbid the divorce of such a person, although you could remarry provided you kept up both wives. The cabin was said to have had holes bored in the logs so she could be chained in the kitchen area during the day and near the bed at night, but could not escape.

John built a new home for his second wife and a tunnel was made from cellar to cellar and he would on occasion make conjugal visits to the first wife. Allegedly Nancy did not die until about a year after John's marriage to Betsy. There is no court records, death or marriage records to substantiate or refute the family story, at least none that has yet been discovered.

The family also maintained that this is why Parish lost his mind and bludgeoned his wife to death with a rock; the more she pleaded the more he hit her.  It was more to do with genetics than alcohol.

I could say it was all the Rash family but the family also maintained that Braxton was so insane near the end of his life that they had to chain him to his bed at night to keep him from burning the house down.

Now mind you I am sure that many of the Barlow's will deny these stories but I maintain they are as true as the court records that prove what Parish did.

Just thought you could put this in your files, maybe one day I will be able to prove it.

Another story says that this second marriage of John Jr. while his first wife lived on however deranged was the reason John Sr. left North Carolina and left the books and writings of his Church with his son-in-law Thomas Carlton.

John Barlow, Jr. was born about 1768, probably in Albemarle Co Virginia, and is assumed to be the first child of Reverend John Barlow, a Baptist minister, and his wife, Elizabeth. John was about eleven years old when the family moved to the Beaver Creek area of Wilkes Co North Carolina.

About 1788, John Barlow, Jr. about age 20, married Nancy Rash, born about 1772 to Joseph Rash and Mildred "Milly" Isbell of Wilkes Co. The 1790 census lists the household of John Barlow, Jr. consisting of one male and two females, one of whom is the couple's oldest daughter, Elizabeth. They are living next door to John's father.

A number of references are found on John Barlow, Jr. in the court minutes and land records of Wilkes and Caldwell Counties. Wilkes Co court minutes show:

November 01, 1796
Ordered by the court that John Barlow, Jr. be overseer of the road in place of Thomas Carlton from Beaver Creek to Burke Co line....

Court minutes
October 1809
Court appointed Catlett Jones, Isaac Hagler, John Bradley, Cornelius Howard, Benjamin Isbell, Thomas Isbell, Ambrose Carlton, William Beach, Joel Stanly, John Walker, Benjamin Holt, John Barlow, Sr., John Barlow, Jr., Levi Laxton, Jacob Crouch, William Bradshaw to lay off road from Lewis Carlton's grist and sawmill down north fork of King's Creek into the river road below John Bradley's.

John Barlow, Jr. was a farmer and owned several tracts of land. The first was a state land grant recorded in Book 1, page 333, dated 20 December 1791, for 78 acres on King's Creek adjoining John Wallace. This grant is based on the Henry Isbell entry for 100 acres but was surveyed as 78 acres and assigned to John Barlow, Jr. On 22 December 1796, John Barlow, Jr. sold the 78 acres to William Murrah of Burke County for 100 pounds. The witnesses were Annanias Allen, John Dockery, and John Allen.

A 02 March 1797 deed from Phillip Davis to John Barlow, Jr. is recorded in Book D, page 261, for 120 acres on King's Creek adjoining James Ferguson. The witnesses were Benjamin Davis, Eliphalet Barlow, and Jacob Crouch. This tract probably became the permanent home place and is one of the two tracts of this acreage that he deeded to his two youngest sons, Braxton and Larkin. This location is just east of the present village of Kings Creek where the highway crosses the creek.

On 06 March 1813 Ambrose Holt sold John Barlow for $400 three tracts containing 480 acres adjoining Benjamin Holt, Richard Roberts, Annanias Allen, William Holt, Joel Coffey, Reuben Stanley, Nebucaredian Coffey, and joining Thomas Witherspoon's old line. The witnesses were John Carlton and Wesley Swanson.

James Ferguson deed 120 acres on Kings Creek to John Barlow for $225 in a 04 September 1833 deed. The land adjoined William Brookshire, Peggy Castevens, Philip Davis, and Annanias Allen. The witnesses were George Ferguson and Margaret Castevens. This land was later deeded to Braxton or Larkin Barlow.

On 29 December 1827, John Barlow transferred by Gift Deed to his son Eliphalet, 150 acres, on the waters of Kings Creek, mentioning "a school house where Henry Barlow now teaches...." and "a branch that Parish Barlow formerly lived on...." This tract of land may have been sold to Joseph Barlow when Eliphalet left Wilkes County. John and Lewis Carlton witnessed the deed.

On March 03, 1828, John Barlow, Jr. also made a Gift Deed of a tract of land for 100 acres to his son, William Barlow on Kings Creek adjoining Martin Keller. The witnesses were Thomas Barlow and Henry Barlow.

On 10 October 1842 in Caldwell County, (formed in 1841 from Wilkes and Burke Counties), John made deeds to his two youngest sons, Braxton and Larkin Barlow. To Braxton he conveyed 120 acres "lying on the waters of Kings Creek....beginning on a white oak in a conditional line between Phillip Davis and James Ferguson (both dec'd)....free and clear....with one exception of my son Larkin having half the use of the apple orchard where said Braxton Barlow now lives for five years by said Larkin Barlow helping to keep up the same." On the same date he conveyed to Larkin 120 acres adjoining Braxton Barlow at the Jacob Barrier line.

Deeds account the disposal of all the lands of John Barlow except 30 acres out of the 280 acre purchase from Ambrose Holt. There may have been more deeds to other children which have not been located. A thorough search has not been made. All the lands of John Jr. were on Kings Creek, present-day Caldwell Co, while his father, John Sr. always lived on Beaver Creek in Wilkes County.

On 03 February 1812 in Wilkes Co, John Barlow, Jr. qualified as administrator of the estate of Joseph Rash, father of his first wife, with John Swain and John Judd securities in the amount of 800 pounds. The will of Milly Isbell Rash, widow of Joseph, was probated August 1829 in which she left personal property to daughter Mary Rash Tyre, with whom she resided on Reddy's River.

Nancy Rash Barlow died about 1800 / 1802 about age 30 leaving John with six small children. One report says the oldest, Elizabeth, about 10 to 12 years of age, went to live with her grandfather, Reverend John Barlow.

On 20 April 1803 in Wilkes County, John Barlow Jr. married Elizabeth Kindall Merritt, widow of John Merritt, who were married in Wilkes County on 13 November 1792. Elizabeth and John Merrit had one daughter, Sarah, for whom John Barlow was appointed guardian on 31 October 1803. On 04 February 1806, John Barlow petitioned the Wilkes Co court to dived Elizabeth's property between Elizabeth and her daughter, Sarah. Sarah Merritt married DeMarcus Mullins. John and Elizabeth Kindall Merritt Barlow had seven children. Elizabeth died between 1840 and 1850

In the name of God, Amen. I, JOHN BARLOW of the County of Caldwell, and the State of North Carolina, being weak in body but of sound mind and disposing memory, do make this my Last Will and Testament in manner and form following:

PRINCIPALLY and first of all, I recommend my soul to almighty God that gave it, and my body to the earth to be buried in a Christian-like manner. And as touching such worldly estates as it has pleased God to bless me with, I give and bequeath as follows:

Item 2nd: I give and bequeath unto my beloved grandchildren, to wit: Charlotte, Julia, Hamilton, Horton, Dycey, Emily Barlow the sum of six dollars and seventy-one and fourth cents a piece.

Item 3rd: I give and bequeath unto my beloved grandchildren, to wit: Cromwell, Rufus, Thomas and Jane Barlow, the sum of six dollars and seventy-one and fourth cents each.

Item 4th: I give and bequeath unto my beloved grandchildren, to wit: Known as Polly Walker's children - Sarah Maltby, Emily Walker, Arminda Walker, the sum of six dollars and seventy-one cents each.

Item 5th: I give and bequeath unto my beloved daughter, Nancy Coffey, one clock, one table, and one jug and sixteen dollars in money, at my death or when it is collected after my death. The balance of my estate to be equally divided between my children: Eliphalet, Thomas, Joseph, Henry, Braxton, and Larkin Barlow, and Jane Bradley.

I hereby nominate and appoint my beloved sons, Larkin and Joseph Barlow, executors of this my Last Will and Testament. Given under my hand and seal the day and year first written.

John Barlow (Seal)
Witnesses: A. Laxton     T. Livingston, Jurat

The above will was probated February 1857 in Caldwell County, North Carolina.
This indicates that John Barlow died in Caldwell County in late 1856 or early 1857 at age 88 or 89. The place of burial is unknown, but it is possible they were buried in unmarked graves at Kings Creek Baptist Church.