| Portrait and biographical record of Christian County, Illinois : containing biographical
sketches of prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies of all the Governors of the
state, and of the Presidents of the United States. Chicago, Ill. : Lake City Pub. Co., 1893, p244.
Transcribed by Judy Rosella Edwards, 2007. |
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ADOLPHUS DE BARR has been engaged in agricultural
pursuits for the past thirty years and has made it the business of his life. He is of French and English extraction,
and was born in Virginia April 28, 1834. He is one of the most successful farmers of the county,
and is one of the extensive land-owners of Locust Township, his home being on section 21. He is a man of broad
and liberal views, who has the welfare of the entire community always at heart, and both himself and wife are highly
respected and merit the esteem accorded them by one and all.
The father of our subject, John
De Barr, was also a native of the Old Dominion, where he grew to manhood and chose for his life companion Miss
Sarah Daws. The birthplace of this lady was in Virginia, and by her marriage
she became the mother of four children, the eldest of whom is our subject. William, the next younger, is now living
at the home of his brother; Mary, deceased, was buried in Taylorville;
and Harriet is the wife of Isaac McCune, of Taylorville.
Adolphus De Barr started out to fight life's
battles at the age of twenty-one years empty-handed. He learned the carpenter's trade, at which he worked in Taylorville for several years after his arrival in the West, in 1857. He commenced
farming about 1863, since which time he has made it his chief business. He has been successful beyond his expectations,
and now at the end of three decades finds himself possessed of about five hundred acres of fertile farm land under
good improvement.
In December, 1857, was celebrated the first
marriage of our subject, Sarah Ann Huffman being the lady of his choice. She was a native of Ohio,
and to her were born four children. Joseph and James are living at home; John is a merchant, conducting a general
store at Millersville, Locust Township; and Annie is the wife of Joshua Cleary, a farmer of the same township.
The present wife of Mr. De Barr was formerly Miss Sarah Ann Leeper. Their marriage took place in Christian County
in 1874. Mrs. De Barr was born in Noble County, Ohio, and is of
Irish and German ancestry, being first cousin to Ira D. Sankey, the world-renowned singer. They became the parents of five children: Willie, Mary, Erma, Albert
L. and Eugene. Willie and Eugene died in early childhood.
Our subject deposits his ballot in favor
of the Democratic party and supports its principles. In his social relations he is a member of the Masonic
order and is a Royal Arch Mason. As an industrious
man, whose course in life has been marked by strict attention to his own affairs and a high regard for the rights
of others, he well merits the respect and confidence in an eminent degree of his hosts of friends and neighbors.
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