RUTH PORTER, daughter of William Porter was the wife of Ebenezer Barnes, Jr. and was living in Granville, Mass when she and her husband signed a deed selling her interest in her father's estate to her brother Thomas Porter on 29 June 1791. In the 1790 Census of Granville, Hampshire Co., Mass, we find the following:
Ebenezer Barns, Jr.
1 male over 16
3 males under 16
2 females.
On one side of Ebenezer Barns, Jr. was his father-Ebenezer Barns
1 male over 16
1 male under 16
4 females
One the other side was Alexander Stewart who mar. Abigail Porter, a sister of Ruth with
1 male over 16
2 males under 16
4 females.
From the above census records it looks like Ruth and her husband Ebenezer Barnes, Jr. must have had 4 or 5 children. Nothing more is known of this family. By tradition, our Thomas Porter had two sisters or two half-sister who married men by the name of Barnes and this tradition has proven true as Ruth and Rachel both married men by the name of Barnes.
Mrs. Albert Jack who is a descendant of Rachel has given me a little Barnes History and along with Church Records from Middletown, I believe that Ruth's husband Ebenezer Barnes, Jr. and William Barnes husband of Rachel Porter were own cousins. [see text for further Barnes Family History]
