Barnard House connection to 2 U.S. Presidents
Barnard House connection to 2 U.S. Presidents
RICHARD MILHOUS NIXON (1913-1994), 37th President of the United States serving 1969 to 1974.
**1752 till 1826 the farm property was owned by the Harry Family, Amos Harry (1722-1803) and his sons. Original to America @ 1684 Welsh Quaker Hugh Harry (@1660 Wales-1708 Birmingham, Chester County, PA) married to Elizabeth Brinton. They were Richard Nixon's 6th Great Grandparents and Amos Harry's Grandparents making Nixon & Amos 1st cousins 6 times removed. Richard Nixon is also related to Chester County Milhous, Mendenhalls & Vickers.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN (1809-1865), 16th President of the United States serving 1861 to 1865.
**1826 till 1944 property was lived on & farmed by the Barnard Family. While Enos Painter held the deed to the property 1826 to 1857, his daughter Sarah Painter (1804-1849), married to Eusebius Barnard (1802-1865), moved their family onto the farm in 1831 and subsequently the next 2 generations of Barnards had ownership until 1944. Original to America @ 1682 Quaker Richard Barnard (1611 or cir 1655 Kingston Wiltshire, England – cir 5/5/1698 Aston, Chester County PA) married to Frances Lambe. They were 3rd Great Grandparents to both Abraham Lincoln and Eusebius R. Barnard (1840-1915, Eusebius & Sarah's son who inherited the property from his grandfather Enos Painter) making Abraham & Eusebius R. 4th cousins. Abraham Lincoln's Quaker Roots are the Barnards of Chester County. The Barnard's were active Abolitionists having used the Barnard House as a Station on the Underground Railroad and Lincoln was in Washington D.C. addressing Anti-slavery issues.
Added note: a delegation of 6 from Longwood Progressive Friends, including father Eusebius' brother Willam Barnard (1800-1864, neither Barnard nor Lincoln knew they were 3rd cousins once removed), met with President Lincoln June 1862 to deliver a petition urging him to abolish slavery, 6 months later he issued Emancipation Proclamation. Could this delegation have had an influence on one of the most important decisions in American history? William Lloyd Garrison hailed the proclamation as "a great historic event, sublime in its magnitude, momentous and beneficent in its far-reaching consequences.”