Encyclopedia of Connecticut biography, genealogical-memorial ...

(II) Samuel Barber, son of Thomas
Barber, was baptized October i, 1648. He
married (first), December i, 1670, Mary
Coggins; (second), January 25, 1677,
Ruth Drake, daughter of John and Hannah
(Moore) Drake, descendant of the
noted Enghsh family of Drake. There
were fourteen children of his two mar-
riages, three being of the first, Joseph,
through whom this line continues, a child
of the second.
(III) Joseph Barber, son of Samuel
Barber, was born in Windsor, Connecti-
cut, in 1681. He married. May 6, 1707-08,
Mary, daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth
(Moore) Loomis, his second cousin.
They had nine children.
(IV) Joseph (2) Barber, son of Joseph
(i) Barber, was born January 28, 1708-09.
He married, June 18, 1728, Elizabeth
Cook, daughter of Nathaniel Cook, who
was born in 1707. The line traced
through Joseph, the eldest of their five
children.
(V) Joseph (3) Barber, son of Joseph
(2) Barber, was born May 6, 1729. He
and his wife, Zain, lived for a time in
Harwinton, Connecticut, but later moved
to Bethlehem, New York, where he died
in 1795, his wife in February, 1817. He
was a soldier in the Revolutionary War
(Connecticut State Records). They had
eleven children, Roswell continuing this
branch.
(VI) Roswell Barber, son of Joseph
(3) Barber, was born in Harwinton, Connecticut,
December 4, 1777. In 181 1 he
moved from Schoharie county to Oneida
county. New York, making the journey
with ox-teams. He built his log cabin on
the banks of the Oneida river between the
present towns of Oneida and Durhamville,
later erecting a large frame farm house on
the same site. Soon after arriving at their
new home, Roswell Barber and a few others
arranged for religious services which
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BIOGRAPHY
377
were maintained steadily until 1815, when
a church of twelve members was organ-
ized. Their pulpit was supplied by the
"Circuit Riders," and to these hardy, selfsacrificing
pioneer preachers, who formed
such an important factor in the life of a
century ago, the home of Roswell Barber
was always open. He was a devoted
member of the Baptist church, and the
bell of the church in Durhamville was his
gift. During the War of 1812 Roswell
Barber was stationed at Sacketts Harbor
to guard supplies. He married Elizabeth
(Betsey) Brown, who was born July 22,
1785, and died February 5, 1876. They
had six children, of whom the second was
Elizabeth Brown, of whom further.
(VII) Elizabeth Brown Barber, daughter
of Roswell Barber, was born February
29, 1804, and died about May, 1887. She
married (first) Willis Warner Walker;
(second) Jethro Shattuck (see Shattuck
line).
KEELER, John Everett,
Lairyer, Jurist.
In appointing John Everett Keeler, of
Stamford, Connecticut, to the bench of the
Superior Court of Connecticut, Governor
Holcombe selected a man whose natural
endowment of mind and personality,
broad knowledge of the law, calm judicial
temperament, and constant adherence to
the highest ethical ideals, eminently fitted
him for the exalted position. No appointment
to the bench was more acceptable
to the legal profession and to the general
public. In Fairfield county the name of
Keeler is full of significance, both in
the records of generations now gone and
in the living records of the present day.
In olden days one of the commonest
ways of identifying a man was according
to his occupation. In this manner the
name of Keeler originated. Its source is