Barnard Family Papers, 1807-1969, bulk 1850-1911

Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard (1809-1889) and John Gross Barnard (1815-1882) were sons of Robert Foster Barnard (1784-1850) and Augusta Porter Barnard (1786-1833) of Sheffield, Massachusetts. The Barnard family was wealthy and well educated. By the mid-nineteenth century, in addition to the family property in Sheffield, they owned land in Jefferson, Louisiana; Cass and Guadalupe Counties, Texas; Niagara, New York; Arkansas; and New York City. Though they were Unionists, at least one of the Barnards—Frederick—also enslaved people.

Frederick A. P. Barnard was President of Columbia College from 1864 until 1889. Prior to his appointment at Columbia, he was a professor of mathematics, chemistry, natural philosophy, and natural history at the University of Alabama (1838-1854) and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi (1856-1860). In 1857, a controversy erupted over his acceptance of the testimony of Jane, a woman enslaved by Barnard, against that of two students who had assaulted her. He moved north at the outbreak of war. Barnard was a skilled administrator, overseeing the rapid growth of Columbia College and advocating for the education of women. He served in various other public capacities as well, including President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1866, and commissioner to the 1867 and 1878 Universal Expositions in Paris. He married Margaret McMurray (1820-1891) in 1847. They had no children. He died in New York City on April 27, 1889.

John G. Barnard was a career officer in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and an expert on the construction of coastal defenses. He led the construction of defenses at the port city of Tampico during the Mexican-American War, then succeeded Robert E. Lee as Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1855-1856). During the Civil War, he served in the U.S. Volunteers, attaining the rank of Brevet Major General. He then served as President of the Board of Engineers for Fortifications and River and Harbor Improvements until his retirement in 1881. He changed his first name from Jonathan to John in 1858. In about 1842, he married Jane Elizabeth Brand (1822-1853), with whom he had four sons: Robert Foster Barnard (1842-1844), Augustus Porter Barnard (1847-1911), William Frederick Barnard (1848-1863), and Robert Foster Barnard (1850-1853). He died in Detroit, Michigan, after a long illness, on May 14, 1882.

Anna Eliza "Widie" Barnard (1828-1911) was John G. Barnard's second wife. Born Anna Eliza Hall in Harford County, Maryland, she first married McHenry Boyd in 1847; he died shortly after their marriage. She and John married in 1860. They had three children: John Hall Barnard (1861-1936), Jane Brand "Jennie" Barnard (1862-1942), and Anna McHenry "Nannie" Barnard (1866-1939). Many of Widie's family members, including the Cary and Carr families of Virginia, were Confederate partisans, which caused some interfamilial friction during the war. Widie was a prolific letter writer. When John became incapacitated during his last illness, she managed the family's financial affairs from roughly 1880 until his death in 1882. She died in Sheffield, Massachusetts, on May 5, 1911.

Augustus Porter Barnard, known as "Porter," was the son of John G. and Jane Elizabeth Barnard. He was a graduate of the Columbia School of Mines and worked as a mining engineer in Colorado and New Mexico. He was also frequently called upon to manage issues related to his family members' financial assets and estates. In 1884, he became embroiled in a dispute between two of his cousins, Jane Augusta Porter and Frederica Porter Burrall. The dispute resulted in legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and the United States about Jane's mental competency, the validity of Jane and Frederica's late mother's will, and the Porter family's decision to transfer ownership of Niagara Falls and Goat Island to New York State. Both sisters were ultimately declared legally insane, though not before Frederica published a letter in the New York Times accusing Augustus Porter Barnard of kidnapping. After being injured in an accident, Porter left mining to work as a customs agent in New York City. He never married. He died in New York on December 26, 1911.