John E. Barnes M.D. of Texas County, Missouri

John E. Barnes, M. D., of Licking, Mo., was born in Philadelphia, Penn., September 25, 1829, being the son of John and Elizabeth (Repsher) Barnes, natives, respectively, of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, he of English descent and she of German on her mother's side. The parents were married by the rector of the Swede Church in Philadelphia, the oldest church in that city. The father died there when the subject of our sketch was a babe, and the mother was married twice afterward. She died in Philadelphia, at about the age of seventy-five. John E. Barnes is the only child of the first marriage. When about nine years of age he began to make his own way in the world, and in his teens worked for about four years in a large mercantile house in Philadelphia. He spent his earnings in educating himself, taking a course in the University of Pennsylvania up to the junior year. Having acquired a thorough medical education, he located at Raymond, Miss., where he married Miss Mary A. L. Warner in 1853. She was born in Florida. After practicing for some time at Jackson, Miss., Dr. Barnes returned to Philadelphia. About this time, train after train of sick and wounded soldiers were coming into the city, no hospital accommodations being sufficient for them. The citizens met in the Doctor's parlor and formed the Citizens' Volunteer Hospital Association, of which he was chosen president, but not accepting, was chosen vice-president. He served for a time as assistant surgeon of the above mentioned association, and in 1868 moved to Missouri, locating in Dade County, where he remained two years, and later came to this county, where he still lives, engaged in the practice of medicine to a limited extent. He is a local elder in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and his wife is a member of the Baptist Church, and both are much respected citizens. The Doctor is the owner of 560 acres of land, and for eighteen years has been a resident of Texas County. He is a Democrat in his political views, and has been probate judge of this county for one term. He has been a member of the Odd Fellows lodge for about thirty-six years and a Mason for about twenty-five years; has held the positions of District Deputy Grand Master and Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Missouri.