Barker, Joseph bio

History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 652-653, Farmers' Township
Joseph Barker, sec. 18, Farmers’ tp.; P. O., Table Grove. The Barkers were the first settlers in Farmers’ township. Their nearest neighbors were the Tottens in Cass tp., a distance of 9 miles. He was born in Pike Co., O., Oct. 30, 1816. His parents brought him to Fort Clark, where Peoria now stands, in 1819; there they resided until 1827, when they removed to Totten’s Prairie in Cass township, and in 1829, as before stated, became the first pioneers of Farmers’ township. Mr. Barker is a hale old gentleman of 63 years, making a full hand at the different employments on the farm. He owns a well improved farm of 129 acres of very fertile land. He was married Feb. 21, 1844, to Priscilla McKinzey, and they have had 10 children, of whom 5 are living, viz: Roanna (wife of James E. Brand, of Farmers’ tp.), Elizabeth E. (wife of Isaac Pickle, of Guthrie, Ia.), Josephine (wife of Benton McCance, of Harris tp.), Daniel Ed. and Joseph M. Mr. B. has always been, and is still a prosperous farmer.