The Colonel Joseph Barker House is a historic residence in Washington County,

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

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. Located north of

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

, in the Muskingum Township community of Devola, it has changed little since its construction in the early nineteenth century, and it has been designated a historic site.

Barker's life

Born in Newmarket, New Hampshire in 1765, Joseph Barker moved his family to Ohio in 1789. After practicing

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tr ...

in Marietta and serving in the

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

during the

Northwest Indian War The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...

, in 1795 he settled along the Muskingum River, about above Marietta. The family soon returned to that village, as their property and all of their stores were destroyed by fire in the following winter.Andrews, Martin R., ed. ''History of Marietta and Washington County, Ohio and Representative Citizens''.

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

: Biographical, 1902. Undaunted, they returned northward, becoming one of the first families to settle in Wiseman's Bottom along the river. Within a few years of settling in Ohio, Barker became a prominent member of local society: he was promoted to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the militia during the war, was named a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

in 1799, and was elected to serve as the judge of Washington County's common pleas court from 1830 to 1842. Key to Barker's prominence in the community was his important skilled trade: besides being a carpenter, he was a capable

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and shipbuilder. Among the many ships that he built at his farm were some that were ultimately used for the Burr expedition. Joseph Barker's daughter,

Frances Dana Barker Gage Frances Dana Barker Gage (pen name, Aunt Fanny; October 12, 1808November 10, 1884) was a leading American reformer, feminist and abolitionist. She worked closely with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, along with other leaders of the ...

, was a writer, and a leading American reformer, feminist and abolitionist. Barker's manuscript, ''Recollections'',Barker, Joseph: ''Recollections of the First Settlement of Ohio'', Marietta College, Marietta, Ohio (1958); original manuscript written late in Joseph Barker's life, prior to his death in 1843. provides details of pioneer history regarding the first permanent American settlement of the new United States in the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

Architecture

Barker's house is a rectangular two- story structure completed in 1811. Measuring three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

wide, the facade features a central entrance with a large

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

and

sidelight A sidelight or sidelite in a building is a window, usually with a vertical emphasis, that flanks a door or a larger window. Sidelights are narrow, usually stationary and found immediately adjacent doorways.Barr, Peter.Illustrated Glossary, 19th ...

s flanking the doorway. All three windows on the facade's second story are placed within brick arches that are recessed into the wall of the house.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1389. Built of brick, the house rests on a foundation of

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

and is covered with a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof., Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2011-01-21. As one of Ohio's first

master builders A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...

, Barker was responsible for constructing many prominent buildings in Marietta and vicinity; as the first such structure to be completed, the Barker House occupies a significant place in the architecture of the Marietta region. Contributing to its importance is its rarity and its unusually good state of preservation: few changes have been made to the house in the two centuries since its construction, and almost none of the other buildings designed by Barker have survived to the present day.

Recognition

In 1978, the Colonel Joseph Barker House was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Qualifying it for this distinction were its historically significant architecture and its association with Barker himself. It is one of thirty-five Washington County places to be listed on the Register; among the other thirty-four is the home of the colonel's son, Joseph, Jr., which lies along

State Route 7 The following highways are numbered 7. For roads numbered A7, see list of A7 roads. Route 7, or Highway 7, may refer to: International * AH7, Asian Highway 7 * European route E07 * European route E007 Afghanistan *Kunduz-Khomri Highway (A7) ...

above Marietta.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Col. Joseph, House Houses completed in 1811 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Houses in Washington County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Ohio