Item Detail
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Barker, Ann Greenall
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1829-1900
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MSS SC 923
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Biography
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Ann Greenall Barker was born about 1829 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. She was married to Alfred George Barker who was a weaver. They were the parents of six girls and one boy. Her husband preceded her in immigrating to Paterson, New Jersey most likely because it was the silk center of America at the time. She immigrated to America in 1869 with her youngest daughter. The rest of her children stayed in England as far as it is known. Her husband was described as being 'a wanderer all of his life,' and Ann led a hard life following him. He left her and her daughter in Paterson after she had been there for 7 years. He went to Australia, and Ann never saw him again before her death. She worked hard to make a living for herself and her daughter. She spent the last fifteen years of her life in a wheel chair and lived with her daughter's family. She continued to pay insurance on her husband all the years he was gone. She passed away in 1900.
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Ann's brief, typed biography was written by her granddaughter Ethel A. Dobson and is included in the Barker Family Biographies. She was described by her granddaughter as 'a most wonderful gentlewomen you can imagine. If ever there was a saint on earth, it was she.' She was loved by her daughter and son-in-law with whom she spent the last 15 years of her life. She did needlework, and it was said that her hands were never idle.
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