Freeman Barber

Freeman Barber was born 7th of April, 1883 at Everton, Eramosa Township, Wellington Co., Ontario, (died at Victor, New York, on the 2nd of April 1967) - the son of John Barber and Sarah (nee Willoughby). He was their second son, with John William Barber being the eldest in the family, born in 1877.

Between John and Freeman were two daughters, Alice and Frances. After Freeman came a son Albert Osman, who died early of diptheria at 14 years of age. Then was born Sarah Harietta (Ettie) and then my Grandfather, Gordon (in 1899) followed by two more girls, Nellie and Laura.  Whew! Nine children in all.

Freeman enlisted to fight in the Boer War with the Third Canadian Mounted Rifles (Regiment: 140) but he did not go overseas or see action in South Africa, as the record shows he enlisted in April of 1902 but served only until August of that year. He said he was 20 years old and 1 week when enlisting, though he was only 19. The record also states that (quote) “during my said service I was domiciled at Guelph, Ontario.” The war had officially ended in May. However, there is a record in 1908 of his application for a ‘Volunteer Bounty’ where land was granted to soldiers who had served. The bounty indicates that his vocation was that of a Grant Trunk Railroad Engineer.

We have his spurs from that time, made of nickel. I think my grandfather gave them to Dad, or perhaps Great-Uncle Freeman did himself, as he was his namesake. In that regard, he was eligible to receive land from the Canadian government, having served as a soldier of that war. He is listed as a Private in 1905 with the 30th Regiment of the Wellington Rifles.

Freeman Barber married Florence Gertrude Edgar in 1907 in Stratford, Ontario. She died in Buffalo, New York in May of 1941.They had two children – Lester Freeman, born in 1908, who died in 1914 of croup when only 6 years old. He is buried in Avondale Cemetery, Stratford beside his mother and is now reunited in this way also with his father.

Daughter Audrey Norine was born in 1911 in Stratford and died in Warren, Ohio in 1991. I met her only once, when she was at Grandpa (Gordon’s) funeral in 1967, the same year in which earlier her father had died in Victor, New York. Audrey married Kemp G. Begley whom I think was married previously and had at a son, Richard.

The 1942 US Draft Registration shows Uncle Freeman to have been employed by Delaware Manor Apartments Inc., at 249 Delaware Avenue, where daughter Audrey was also living. The apartment company owner's address was 618 Reynolds Arcade, in Buffalo, New York, leading to speculation as to when and why Audrey and Freeman later removed to the Rochester area. Somehow, the cremated remains of Great Uncle Freeman were misplaced.

There’s a gap of time of death in 1967 to the time when through unusual circumstances county official, Murray Henry of Canandaigua, New York, received the remains that had been found in the RV warehouse and given over to him, in about 1979.

A Service of Committal was held in the Avondale Cemetery, Stratford, Ontario, on the 26th of August, 2016. I had the privilege of leading it, as cousins and friends gathered to show love and respect for Freeman Barber, whose cremated remains had been initially misplaced and then kept with reverence and care by Murray and Susan Henry, in their home in Canandaigua, New York. They were able to be present at the Service, bringing Freeman's remains back to Canada, to his home and to be reunited beside his wife Florence and son Lester. We’re so grateful for the respectful care of Uncle Freeman’s remains by Murray and Susan Henry, from about 1979 until 2016 – over 35 years.