Biography - Henry Barnacastle

HENRY BARNACASTLE, of the firm of Barnacastle & Murff, general merchants and druggists at Haughton, established their business in September, 1889. Mr. Barnacastle was born in Bertie County, N. C., in 1830, a son of James and Harriet (Barber) Barnacastle, who were also born in the same county of North Carolina, where they married and lived until 1848, when they removed to Florida, in which State Mr. Banacastle died in 1852, his widow afterward removing to Mississippi, where she passed from life during the war, both being members of the Baptist Church, and the former a planter by occupation. Beverly Barnacastle, the paternal grandfather, was of Irish descent, and died in Bertie County, N. C. The Grandfather Barber was a sailor by calling, and the most of his life was spent on the ocean, his death occurring while at sea. Henry Barnacastle was the third of nine children, and in his youth became familiar with farm life, obtaining a common-school education. Since 1849 he has been a resident of Bossier Parish, and here he was married in 1856 to Miss Patience P., daughter of Henry and Rhoda Herring, natives of Georgia, who removed to Bossier Parish in 1850, and spent the rest of their lives here, Mr. Herring dying before the war and his widow about 1885, the former being a farmer by occupation and one of the early settlers of this region. Mrs. Barnacastle was born in Twiggs County, Ga., and has borne Mr. Barnacastle four children-one son and three daughters. Mr. Barnacastle farmed until 1866, then engaged in merchandising at Old Fillmore, where he continued four years, then removed a few miles south, and when Haughton was established he removed to that place, where he has since been in business, being one of the leading merchants of the place. In 1862 he joined Company B, Twenty-eighth Louisiana Infantry, and operated in Lower Louisiana until the close of the war, being in several severe skirmishes, and surrendered at Shreveport, after which he returned to the farm. He was justice of the peace some years, and since 1888 has been a member of the police jury from Ward 6. In 1880 he took the census of Wards 6 and 1, and for one year was mayor of Haughton. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M., Bellevue Lodge No. 95, and was master of Fillmore Lodge some years. He was made a Mason in 1854, and Royal Arch Mason in 1865.

Contributed 29 Aug 2020 by Norma Hass, extracted from Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana, published in 1890, pages 125-126.