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HISTORY OF CLEVELAND 31
In this way she has gained the interest and cooperation of many
women who heretofore knew little of the human side of life outside of their
own beautiful homes. Mrs. Buhrer's home life has ever been the happiest, as
she says her home was her heaven up to the death of her husband.
JOSIAH BARBER.
On the pages of Cleveland's early history the name of Judge Josiah Barber
stands conspicuously forth as one who did much to mold the development of
the city in its formative period and to lay broad and deep the foundation upon
which has since been built its present prosperity and progress. His first wife
was Abigail Gilbert, who died leaving one daughter, Mrs. Abigail (Barber)
Russell, the mother of Mrs. D. P. Rhodes and Mrs. U. C. Hatch, both of whom
have descendants still living in Cleveland. For his second wife Mr. Barber married
Sophia Lord, a daughter of Samuel Phillips Lord, of Hebron, Connecticut,
who purchased a large tract of land from the Connecticut Land Company on
the west side of the Connecticut river. Deciding to make his home in Ohio,
Mr. Barber and his family journeyed from Hebron, Connecticut, by horse
and carriage, their household goods in wagons, bringing their cows with them.
They arrived in the fall of 1818. The Branch and Watkins families were also
in the company, and Richard Lord, Mrs. Abigail Lord Randall and Samuel
P. Lord, Jr., came later. Mr. Barber built the first brick house in Ohio City
on the corner of Pearl street and Franklin avenue. On the marriage of his
daughter Harriet to H. N. Ward he gave her that house and built the one on
Franklin Circle in which he died and which is now the orphanage of the Protestant
Episcopal church through the generosity of Mrs. Sophia Lord Russell
Rhodes, Mrs. D. P. Rhodes.
He sought the development and progress of the town and gave to the city
the Market House property and also Franklin Circle. He was very active in
many respects and his judgment in relation to public affairs was regarded as
sound and reliable. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability,
called him to public office and in 1834 made him circuit judge.
His son, Epaphras Barber, was sixteen years of age at the time of the removal
to the west. He was educated in Connecticut and passed away ere the
close of the first half of the nineteenth century, his death occurring in 1849.
He married Jerusha Sargent, whose parents also came to Ohio City in 1818.
She was a daughter of Levi Sargent, a blacksmith, who arrived in Cleveland at
a very early day and conducted a shop on Pearl street. That he was one of
the pioneers here is indicated in the fact that he built the second frame house
on the west side of the river. Mrs. Sargent was said to have been the first
advocate of abolition and temperance. All of the family were members of the
St. John's Episcopal church on Church street, and the Barbers and Lords founded
and built the first church of that denomination on the west side. Mr. and Mrs.
Sargent were the parents of two sons and three daughters. John Sargent, one
of the sons, was a surveyor of note in his day and laid out the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern Railroad.
Mr. and Mrs. Barber became the parents of five children. Josiah, who died
many years ago, was a member of the Ninety-fifth Ohio Regiment during the
Civil war. He served throughout the struggle and rose to the rank of major on
Colonel McMillen's staff. Later he was an enthusiastic member of the Army of
the Tennessee until his death in 1884. Richard Lord, who enlisted in the Seventh
Ohio Infantry and was in all the battles of that famous regiment, died in 1882 in
Kansas. Epaphras Lord, who settled in Wauseon, Ohio, was also in the army, in
which he served with the rank of colonel. One of the daughters was Mrs. A. M.
McGregor, whose husband, a very prominent man, died in 1900. In 1906 she became
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