The Barrere boys in the newspaper business, Part 8
Lead Summary
By
Steve Roush-
Ladies and gentlemen, in our recent discourse, we’ve examined the life and times of the Barrere boys in the newspaper business. In the 1880s, Col. George Washington Barrere (1831-1913), a Civil War veteran, bought a pair of Highland County newspapers and merged them to form the Hillsboro News-Herald.
We’ve had colloquies and confabulations about three of his sons who helped the Colonel run the newspaper over the years, Bebee and John Mills Barrere, who sadly passed away in their 20s, and George Washington Barrere Jr., who ended up leaving the publication and went on to be a successful accountant and tax examiner who passed away in 1960 at the age of 88.
As many aficionados of Highland County history know, Colonel Barrere had another son who spent decades running the News-Herald, but before we get to the Colonel’s youngest son, let’s take a few moments to converse on a son who spent the majority of his life outside of Highland County – Elgar Barrere, who was born in New Market on Feb. 3, 1864, more than 154 years ago.
Elgar Barrere made a name for himself in Circleville in Pickaway County but married a Hillsboro girl, Martha “Mattie” Rockhold (and yes, Rockhold is another familiar name to Highland County history buffs). Mattie’s father was Nathaniel Rockhold, who was born in 1814 in New Petersburg in Highland County. Nathaniel’s father came to Highland County from Pennsylvania in 1802, and his mother from Rockbridge County, Va. the same year, and were married in 1806.
Of course, there was Joseph Glenn “Joe” Rockhold (1905-1982), who was well-known as “Uncle Orrie” of WHIO-TV’s “The Uncle Orrie Show,” which ran from 1955 through 1968. Joe’s dad was Flint Rockhold (1853-1925), an older brother of Mattie Barrere. It’s estimated more than 600,000 children from over the area were part of the “Uncle Orrie” studio audience over the years.
I find it very interesting that Uncle Orrie and Uncle Al (Al Lewis) both lived in Highland County. And it’s also interesting that Mattie’s sister, Emily Rockhold (1843-1928), would marry a Foraker, Capt. Burch Foraker (1841-1875), whose brother was Joseph Benson Foraker (1846-1917), the Ohio Governor and U.S. Senator who was mentioned briefly in Part 7 of this series as being a student of Elgar Brown (1835-1889), the son of Elgar Brown (1797-1880) whose daughter Mary Brown Barrere (1840-1869) was the Colonel’s first wife and the mother of Elgar Barrere.
But I somewhat digress.
Like we were talking about earlier, Elgar Barrere made his mark in Circleville and was considered one of the town’s most prominent and highly respected citizens as a partner in the hardware firm of Barrere and Nickerson in Pickaway County.
In August of 1930, Aug. 17 to be precise, Elgar and his wife were visiting family in Hillsboro, and a great time was had by all – until tragedy struck. During the course of day, Elgar was joking with his stepmother, Mrs. Arminda “Jennie” Brown Barrere, the Colonel’s widow who was 93 at the time, and jokingly, Jennie remarked during the afternoon that
Elgar would pass away before she would – even though she was 27 years his senior.
As the day wore on, Elgar, his wife, and Abbe and Grace Clarke, daughters of Dr. and Mrs. H.R. Clarke, left Hillsboro to head back to Circleville. As the four traveled along, rain began to fall and always being a careful driver, Elgar was traveling at a rate of speed not in excess of 15 or 20 miles per hour. In fact, he was driving so slowly he would have to shift gears to climb grades in the road.
About 10 miles south of Chillicothe, Elgar, suddenly not feeling well, said “I can’t reach it (the gear shift)” then collapsed forward, his foot pressing down the accelerator, and the car began to pick up speed rapidly as the car weaved back and forth in the road.
Mattie Barrere, in the back seat, reached over the front seat and desperately tried to apply the emergency brake but was unable to do so as her husband had slumped over the brake. As the car went down a hill, just before it reached the bottom, it went into the ditch and overturned on its left side.
Mrs. Barrere had suffered a fractured left shoulder in the wreck, but Mr. Barrere did not suffer a scratch or a bruise. The Clarkes also escaped injury, but Elgar was suffering from a serious medical emergency. According to newspaper reports, a Mr. Thomas of Greenfield rushed Mattie to the hospital, and a Mr. Manker of Chillicothe took the three others to the hospital.
Emergency personnel attended to Elgar, but the 66-year-old passed away shortly after arriving at the Chillicothe hospital. It was determined Elgar Barrere suffered a cerebral embolism – the most frequent cause of a stroke. Funeral services were held in Circleville, and Elgar Barrere was buried in Hillsboro on Aug. 20, 1930.
Following his death, the following was written in the Circleville newspaper, “Elgar Barrere did not strive for honor, fame or riches. He did not try to rise by pushing others down. He was just a good citizen, looking after his business carefully industrious, honest, loving his home and his community, charitable in his thoughts of his fellowman. His was a useful and unselfish life. How fine it would be if there were more men like Elgar Barrere. We believe it can be truthfully said of him that he never did anything to injure or hurt any man or woman. Circleville is a better community because of him.”
Elgar’s wife, Martha “Mattie” Rockhold Barrere, born Dec. 2, 1866, would go on to live more than 24 years after her husband’s death and passed away Dec. 10, 1954 at the age of 88.
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next week with more on the Barrere boys.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company, vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees and a columnist for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.
We’ve had colloquies and confabulations about three of his sons who helped the Colonel run the newspaper over the years, Bebee and John Mills Barrere, who sadly passed away in their 20s, and George Washington Barrere Jr., who ended up leaving the publication and went on to be a successful accountant and tax examiner who passed away in 1960 at the age of 88.
As many aficionados of Highland County history know, Colonel Barrere had another son who spent decades running the News-Herald, but before we get to the Colonel’s youngest son, let’s take a few moments to converse on a son who spent the majority of his life outside of Highland County – Elgar Barrere, who was born in New Market on Feb. 3, 1864, more than 154 years ago.
Elgar Barrere made a name for himself in Circleville in Pickaway County but married a Hillsboro girl, Martha “Mattie” Rockhold (and yes, Rockhold is another familiar name to Highland County history buffs). Mattie’s father was Nathaniel Rockhold, who was born in 1814 in New Petersburg in Highland County. Nathaniel’s father came to Highland County from Pennsylvania in 1802, and his mother from Rockbridge County, Va. the same year, and were married in 1806.
Of course, there was Joseph Glenn “Joe” Rockhold (1905-1982), who was well-known as “Uncle Orrie” of WHIO-TV’s “The Uncle Orrie Show,” which ran from 1955 through 1968. Joe’s dad was Flint Rockhold (1853-1925), an older brother of Mattie Barrere. It’s estimated more than 600,000 children from over the area were part of the “Uncle Orrie” studio audience over the years.
I find it very interesting that Uncle Orrie and Uncle Al (Al Lewis) both lived in Highland County. And it’s also interesting that Mattie’s sister, Emily Rockhold (1843-1928), would marry a Foraker, Capt. Burch Foraker (1841-1875), whose brother was Joseph Benson Foraker (1846-1917), the Ohio Governor and U.S. Senator who was mentioned briefly in Part 7 of this series as being a student of Elgar Brown (1835-1889), the son of Elgar Brown (1797-1880) whose daughter Mary Brown Barrere (1840-1869) was the Colonel’s first wife and the mother of Elgar Barrere.
But I somewhat digress.
Like we were talking about earlier, Elgar Barrere made his mark in Circleville and was considered one of the town’s most prominent and highly respected citizens as a partner in the hardware firm of Barrere and Nickerson in Pickaway County.
In August of 1930, Aug. 17 to be precise, Elgar and his wife were visiting family in Hillsboro, and a great time was had by all – until tragedy struck. During the course of day, Elgar was joking with his stepmother, Mrs. Arminda “Jennie” Brown Barrere, the Colonel’s widow who was 93 at the time, and jokingly, Jennie remarked during the afternoon that
Elgar would pass away before she would – even though she was 27 years his senior.
As the day wore on, Elgar, his wife, and Abbe and Grace Clarke, daughters of Dr. and Mrs. H.R. Clarke, left Hillsboro to head back to Circleville. As the four traveled along, rain began to fall and always being a careful driver, Elgar was traveling at a rate of speed not in excess of 15 or 20 miles per hour. In fact, he was driving so slowly he would have to shift gears to climb grades in the road.
About 10 miles south of Chillicothe, Elgar, suddenly not feeling well, said “I can’t reach it (the gear shift)” then collapsed forward, his foot pressing down the accelerator, and the car began to pick up speed rapidly as the car weaved back and forth in the road.
Mattie Barrere, in the back seat, reached over the front seat and desperately tried to apply the emergency brake but was unable to do so as her husband had slumped over the brake. As the car went down a hill, just before it reached the bottom, it went into the ditch and overturned on its left side.
Mrs. Barrere had suffered a fractured left shoulder in the wreck, but Mr. Barrere did not suffer a scratch or a bruise. The Clarkes also escaped injury, but Elgar was suffering from a serious medical emergency. According to newspaper reports, a Mr. Thomas of Greenfield rushed Mattie to the hospital, and a Mr. Manker of Chillicothe took the three others to the hospital.
Emergency personnel attended to Elgar, but the 66-year-old passed away shortly after arriving at the Chillicothe hospital. It was determined Elgar Barrere suffered a cerebral embolism – the most frequent cause of a stroke. Funeral services were held in Circleville, and Elgar Barrere was buried in Hillsboro on Aug. 20, 1930.
Following his death, the following was written in the Circleville newspaper, “Elgar Barrere did not strive for honor, fame or riches. He did not try to rise by pushing others down. He was just a good citizen, looking after his business carefully industrious, honest, loving his home and his community, charitable in his thoughts of his fellowman. His was a useful and unselfish life. How fine it would be if there were more men like Elgar Barrere. We believe it can be truthfully said of him that he never did anything to injure or hurt any man or woman. Circleville is a better community because of him.”
Elgar’s wife, Martha “Mattie” Rockhold Barrere, born Dec. 2, 1866, would go on to live more than 24 years after her husband’s death and passed away Dec. 10, 1954 at the age of 88.
Let’s pause for now, and we’ll continue next week with more on the Barrere boys.
Steve Roush is a vice president of an international media company, vice chairman of the Highland County Historical Society Board of Trustees and a columnist for The Highland County Press. He can be reached by email at roush_steve@msn.com.