Banners honor those who served
Lead Summary
By
Steve Roush-
Ladies and gentlemen, you may have noticed that the banners of military veterans have returned to uptown Hillsboro this year.
Each year, the Highland County Historical Society sponsors a banner that hangs at the corner of East Main Street and South East Street near the Highland House Museum. Over the past few years, the society has honored Raymond Stout (the first Highland County soldier killed in World War I), Bob Hodson, Gov. Joseph Foraker and Gov. Allen Trimble. This year, the HCHS is honoring the late John Mills Barrere.
If you’ve not heard of John Mills Barrere, it could be that he’s been dead much longer than the 80 years he lived. In fact, if he were alive today, he’d be 222 years old come July 11.
The son of Highland County pioneer George Washington Barrere (1770-1838) and Abigail Mills Barrere (1776-1829), John Mills Barrere was born July 11, 1800 in Fleming County, Ky., and was just an infant when his father and mother arrived in New Market. He became a prominent citizen of Highland County in his own right.
Like his father, John Mills Barrere was a county postmaster for many years. He was very active at Highland Lodge No. 38 of Free and Accepted Masons, where he served as the lodge’s master for more than a dozen years, plus was a Grand Royal Mason, as well as a Knights Templar. According to the pamphlet, “The Barrere Family,” Barrere was also a farmer when he was a young man and lived south of Hillsboro off of New Market Road, and later moved to Hillsboro and became connected with a newspaper.
And like his pioneer father, who was the first state senator from Highland County in 1805, John Mills Barrere was a statesman and served as a state senator for two terms, beginning in 1844.
John Mills Barrere married Margaret Morrow on Jan. 21, 1821. They had 14 children, including: James Mills Barrere (born 1825), Granville Barrere (1829), George Washington Barrere (1831), Thomas Jefferson Barrere (1834), William Barrere (1836), Margaret Barrere (1838) and Bebee Barrere (1841).
John Mills Barrere was 62 years old when the Civil War broke out, and according to historic accounts, he helped to organize the 60th Ohio Volunteer Regiment, and went to war with the regiment as adjutant.
The regiment went to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, and was forced to surrender at Harpers Ferry, when it was surrounded by Stonewall Jackson in September 1862. During this battle, Barrere was gathering horses during an artillery barrage, when a piece of shell went through a tree and tore into his arm. He had to have part of his left arm amputated, and he and his regiment were taken prisoner by the Confederate forces. He was subsequently released on parole by the Confederates, and returned home to Highland County.
John Mills Barrere had five sons who served in the Civil War – three of whom didn’t return.
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next time.
Steve Roush is vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees, a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.
Each year, the Highland County Historical Society sponsors a banner that hangs at the corner of East Main Street and South East Street near the Highland House Museum. Over the past few years, the society has honored Raymond Stout (the first Highland County soldier killed in World War I), Bob Hodson, Gov. Joseph Foraker and Gov. Allen Trimble. This year, the HCHS is honoring the late John Mills Barrere.
If you’ve not heard of John Mills Barrere, it could be that he’s been dead much longer than the 80 years he lived. In fact, if he were alive today, he’d be 222 years old come July 11.
The son of Highland County pioneer George Washington Barrere (1770-1838) and Abigail Mills Barrere (1776-1829), John Mills Barrere was born July 11, 1800 in Fleming County, Ky., and was just an infant when his father and mother arrived in New Market. He became a prominent citizen of Highland County in his own right.
Like his father, John Mills Barrere was a county postmaster for many years. He was very active at Highland Lodge No. 38 of Free and Accepted Masons, where he served as the lodge’s master for more than a dozen years, plus was a Grand Royal Mason, as well as a Knights Templar. According to the pamphlet, “The Barrere Family,” Barrere was also a farmer when he was a young man and lived south of Hillsboro off of New Market Road, and later moved to Hillsboro and became connected with a newspaper.
And like his pioneer father, who was the first state senator from Highland County in 1805, John Mills Barrere was a statesman and served as a state senator for two terms, beginning in 1844.
John Mills Barrere married Margaret Morrow on Jan. 21, 1821. They had 14 children, including: James Mills Barrere (born 1825), Granville Barrere (1829), George Washington Barrere (1831), Thomas Jefferson Barrere (1834), William Barrere (1836), Margaret Barrere (1838) and Bebee Barrere (1841).
John Mills Barrere was 62 years old when the Civil War broke out, and according to historic accounts, he helped to organize the 60th Ohio Volunteer Regiment, and went to war with the regiment as adjutant.
The regiment went to fight in the Shenandoah Valley, and was forced to surrender at Harpers Ferry, when it was surrounded by Stonewall Jackson in September 1862. During this battle, Barrere was gathering horses during an artillery barrage, when a piece of shell went through a tree and tore into his arm. He had to have part of his left arm amputated, and he and his regiment were taken prisoner by the Confederate forces. He was subsequently released on parole by the Confederates, and returned home to Highland County.
John Mills Barrere had five sons who served in the Civil War – three of whom didn’t return.
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next time.
Steve Roush is vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees, a vice president of an international media company and a columnist and contributing writer for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.