Mordecai Barbour (October 21, 1763 – January 4, 1846) was a Culpeper County Militia

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during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and a prominent

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

statesman, planter, and businessperson. Barbour was the father of John Strode Barbour, Sr. (August 8, 1790 – January 12, 1855), member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from Virginia's 15th congressional district; and the grandfather of John Strode Barbour, Jr. (December 29, 1820 – May 14, 1892), member of the U.S. House of Representatives from

Virginia's 8th congressional district Virginia's 8th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It comprises all of Arlington County, portions of Fairfax County and all of the independent cities of Alexandria and Falls Churc ...

and

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;

James Barbour James Barbour (June 10, 1775 – June 7, 1842) was an American slave owner, lawyer, politician and planter. He served as a delegate from Orange County, Virginia in the Virginia General Assembly, and as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates ...

(February 26, 1828 – October 29, 1895), prominent Virginia statesman and planter; and Alfred Madison Barbour (April 17, 1829 – April 4, 1866), Superintendent of the

Harpers Ferry Armory The Harpers Ferry Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, was the second federal armory created by the United States government. (The first was the Springfield Armory.) It was located in Harpers Ferry ...

during

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Early life

Mordecai Barbour was born on October 21, 1763, in

Culpeper County Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is Cul ...

, Virginia, as the eldest son of James Barbour III (1734–1804) and his wife Frances Throckmorton.

American Revolutionary War

During the

in May or June 1781, Barbour joined the Culpeper County Militia, serving first as a

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, then

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

under General Mechlenburg. Barbour's first assignment was to protect Rappahannock Forge. Barbour also served under Captain John Nicholas, Captain John Stewart, and Captain John Woodford and under the command of Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette. Barbour was with Lafayette at the Battle of Jamestown, then moved onto Williamsburg and

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. Barbour also participated in the

Siege of Yorktown The Siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, or the German battle (from the presence of Germans in all three armies), beginning on September 28, 1781, and ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virgi ...

and conveyed the prisoners to Winchester. Barbour later attained the rank of major. Following the war, Barbour received a pension for his military service.

Business ventures

Fredericksburg

Barbour began owning and operating water-powered mills in Culpeper County, two of which were purchased by John Strode. Barbour's manufacturing interests extended from cotton gins to the making of

nail Nail or Nails may refer to: In biology * Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail * Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...

s. On May 29, 1805, the '' Virginia Herald'' carried an advertisement for Barbour's cut nail manufactory in Fredericksburg, Virginia "where they will sell, Cut and wrought Nails, Brads, Springs, Sadler's Tacks of all sizes". Fredericksburg land tax records from 1805 indicate Barbour rented properties owned by John Brownlow and Charles Julian. Records also indicate Barbour acquired a merchants license in 1806 from George W. B. Spooner, Commissioner of Revenue for the District of Fredericksburg, for the sum of $15 (~$ in ). Barbour was a resident of Fredericksburg until 1808 when he relocated to Petersburg.

Petersburg

Prior to his relocation from Fredericksburg, Barbour had previously owned

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plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

in Dinwiddie County west of Petersburg and operated a mill in its vicinity. In 1819, the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 16 ...

authorized an act permitting Barbour to "receive

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic), the historic practice of charging for road use ** Shadow toll, ...

for passing his

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

across the Appomattox river". In addition to the operation of the bridge, Barbour also owned and operated a

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

four miles from Petersburg on the Appomattox that evolved into an incorporated venture known as the Matoaca Manufacturing Company, which processed grain and manufactured

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

. In 1831, Barbour received a permit for the erection of a 12-feet-wide toll bridge across the Appomattox River at Exeter Mills.

War of 1812

Following the outbreak of

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, Barbour wrote a letter to

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on June 28, 1812, in which he volunteered his services to lead a regiment in the United States military. Barbour stated in his letter to President Madison:

Marriage and children

Barbour married Elizabeth Strode, daughter of John Strode of "Fleetwood" in Culpeper County. John Strode was master of the

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factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

near Falmouth, Virginia, which was instrumental in supplying arms to Virginia's troops during the American Revolutionary War. Strode was reportedly of

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Beza ...

descent. Barbour and Elizabeth had five children: * John Strode Barbour (1790–1855) m. Elizabeth A. Byrne ** John Strode Barbour, Jr. (1820–1892) m. Susan Sewell Daingerfield (1865) **

(1828–1895) m. Fanny Thomas Beckham (1857) *** Ella B. Barbour Rixey (born 1858) m. John Franklin Rixey (1881) *** Mary B. Barbour Wallace (born 1860) m. Clarence B. Wallace (1890) *** James Byrne Barbour (1864–1926) *** John Strode Barbour (1866–1952) m. Mary B. Grimsley (1894) *** Edwin Barbour (1868–1902) m. Josie McDonald *** A. Floyd Barbour (born 1868) *** Fanny C. Barbour Beckham (born 1874) m. Benjamin Collins Beckham (1899) ** Alfred Madison Barbour (1829–1866) m. Kate Daniels (1858) * Frances Barbour Minor m. Henry Minor * Ann Barbour Gist m. Thomas Gist * Maria Barbour Tillinghast Hogan m. Colonel Tillinghast, m. J. B. Hogan * Mordecai Barbour Following the death of Elizabeth, Barbour married Sally Haskell Byrne. Sally was the

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

of James Byrne of Petersburg and the mother of Barbour's daughter-in-law, Elizabeth A. Byrne.

Death

Barbour died at "Weston", the residence of his daughter Frances Barbour Minor, in Boligee, Greene County,

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on January 4, 1846. He was interred at Bethsalem Cemetery at Bethsalem Presbyterian Church in Boligee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, Mordecai 1763 births 1846 deaths People from Virginia in the War of 1812 American planters American Presbyterians Barbour family Businesspeople from Virginia People from Culpeper County, Virginia Military personnel from Fredericksburg, Virginia People from Petersburg, Virginia Virginia militiamen in the American Revolution People from colonial Virginia