Peake - Stiles - Person Sheet
Peake - Stiles - Person Sheet
NameColumbus Reason BARNES Jr. 
BirthDec 22, 1896, Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY
DeathAug 2, 1985, Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY
OccupationMerchant, Hatcherman at a Hatchery
EducationC-2
FatherColumbus Reason (C. R.) BARNES Sr. (1858-1939)
MotherLydia Catherine (Katie) BEAM (1865-1939)
Misc. Notes
1940 US Census, his brothers Weller, George, J.P. and his uncle Sam were living with his family.
Columbus II was married to Virginia Wakefield Kolb and was next married to Mildred Harp Moody.
"C. R. Barnes started to school at the Bardstown Baptist Institute. In 1908 he attended Bardstown Independent School, graduating in 1917, then took an agricultural course at the University of Kentucky. C. R. is a veteran of World War 1, serving in the Navy, and is now 84 years old. He is interested in all civic projects. When the fountain was built at the City Hall, Mr. Barnes was right there interested in each rock that went into the fountain.
During the Nation's 1976 Bicentennial, and when the One Room Log School was reassembled he was right there to see that it was done correctly. Each year he plants flowers around the school house.
In 1980 when Bardstown was celebrating its 200th Anniversary, Mr. Barnes took part in all the events, even going after the water mill that was re-erected on Stewart's Creek.
Each year Mr. Barnes grows a bountiful vegetable garden which he gives away to his friends.
He is the surviving member of the City Council of the 1930's and 1940's.
He is the only living charter member remaining of the American Legion that was organized in 1920.
He has been a member of the Bardstown Baptist Church for seventy-four years.
In 1927 he was the Master of the Masonic Lodge.
He operated Barnes Produce, which was located on East Flaget Street from 1926 to 1960.
He also served as Secretary of the Old Fair Board from 1928 to 1929." (Historic Nelson County, Its Towns And People, p. 438.)
From The Bardstown Standard, dated Aug. 7, 1985;
"Community will miss C. R. Barnes - Bardstown not only lost a great gardener but a fine gentleman as well with the passing of C. R. Barnes.
For years you could count on finding him at two places-either his garden on Bloomfield Road or a chair in the old Information Center on court square where he would sit and tell yarns about characters in the city's past.
In fact, just about any time a piece of information was needed on a bit of local history, C. R. Barnes had the answer, or at least knew where you could get a lead on it.
He could tell stories about the early days in such a fashion that you'd be in stiches before he was finished. And he had a great memory for detail, describing just how a crusty old city father out of the past might have acted and talked.
A couple of years ago when the old Jewell & Hayden firm closed and the building was being razed, I remember C. R. Barnes telling stories about the company's colorful history.
He knew it well because at one time he operated his own poultry house right behind Jewell & Hayden.
He remembered how his dad, Columbus Barnes, constructed the first section of the Jewell & Hayden building was back in 1896.
And in another barn, added to the complex a few years later, C. R. recalled how his father would purchase 60 mules every fall, fatten them out, then ship them to Atlanta for duty in the cotton fields.
Of course, many other Bardstown residents will remember C. R. Barnes as the friendly gardener with a green thumb who always had a few extra vegetables for his neighbors and friends.
Then too, there's an indelible picture of him standing on North Third Street each fall, surrounded by a display of fruits and vegetables and maybe an old pumpkin made up to parody one of his friends.
To say there won't be another person quite like C. R. Barnes isn't enough.
In a world that is increasinfly full of people without time for conversation, those without a kind word or gesture for others, and without the gentlemanly manner he possessed, C. R. Barnes was a breath of fresh air. We'll miss him in the streets of Bardstown.
Whadda ya say, Billy Boy? he'd greet me.
Well, today, Mr. Barnes, I say you take it easy. We'll catch up to you down the road." (Standard Editor Bill Medley.)
Lucille Siegrist (1926-2011), one of the foremost historians of the First Cedar Creek Baptist Church, co-writing a church history with Celia Keeling that falsely credits the pastor as being the author, once wrote to me, "The book of church minutes (1849-1889) had been missing since the 1920's. It was said to have been loaned to a dentist in Bardstown, in the meantime the dentist died and the book was never found until J. P. (Barnes) retired and moved from Ohio to Bardstown in the late 1960's with the church minutes book contained in his family history collection. I contacted C. R. who replied that he'd get the book back. Sure enough, C. R. brought them back." Lucille proudly said, "C. R. Barnes was my friend." (Larry E. Barnes)
C. R. Barnes was a man who showed by his efforts that he cared about his community, its history and its people.
Columbus II was married to Virginia Wakefield Kolb and was next married to Mildred Harp Moody.
"C. R. Barnes started to school at the Bardstown Baptist Institute. In 1908 he attended Bardstown Independent School, graduating in 1917, then took an agricultural course at the University of Kentucky. C. R. is a veteran of World War 1, serving in the Navy, and is now 84 years old. He is interested in all civic projects. When the fountain was built at the City Hall, Mr. Barnes was right there interested in each rock that went into the fountain.
During the Nation's 1976 Bicentennial, and when the One Room Log School was reassembled he was right there to see that it was done correctly. Each year he plants flowers around the school house.
In 1980 when Bardstown was celebrating its 200th Anniversary, Mr. Barnes took part in all the events, even going after the water mill that was re-erected on Stewart's Creek.
Each year Mr. Barnes grows a bountiful vegetable garden which he gives away to his friends.
He is the surviving member of the City Council of the 1930's and 1940's.
He is the only living charter member remaining of the American Legion that was organized in 1920.
He has been a member of the Bardstown Baptist Church for seventy-four years.
In 1927 he was the Master of the Masonic Lodge.
He operated Barnes Produce, which was located on East Flaget Street from 1926 to 1960.
He also served as Secretary of the Old Fair Board from 1928 to 1929." (Historic Nelson County, Its Towns And People, p. 438.)
From The Bardstown Standard, dated Aug. 7, 1985;
"Community will miss C. R. Barnes - Bardstown not only lost a great gardener but a fine gentleman as well with the passing of C. R. Barnes.
For years you could count on finding him at two places-either his garden on Bloomfield Road or a chair in the old Information Center on court square where he would sit and tell yarns about characters in the city's past.
In fact, just about any time a piece of information was needed on a bit of local history, C. R. Barnes had the answer, or at least knew where you could get a lead on it.
He could tell stories about the early days in such a fashion that you'd be in stiches before he was finished. And he had a great memory for detail, describing just how a crusty old city father out of the past might have acted and talked.
A couple of years ago when the old Jewell & Hayden firm closed and the building was being razed, I remember C. R. Barnes telling stories about the company's colorful history.
He knew it well because at one time he operated his own poultry house right behind Jewell & Hayden.
He remembered how his dad, Columbus Barnes, constructed the first section of the Jewell & Hayden building was back in 1896.
And in another barn, added to the complex a few years later, C. R. recalled how his father would purchase 60 mules every fall, fatten them out, then ship them to Atlanta for duty in the cotton fields.
Of course, many other Bardstown residents will remember C. R. Barnes as the friendly gardener with a green thumb who always had a few extra vegetables for his neighbors and friends.
Then too, there's an indelible picture of him standing on North Third Street each fall, surrounded by a display of fruits and vegetables and maybe an old pumpkin made up to parody one of his friends.
To say there won't be another person quite like C. R. Barnes isn't enough.
In a world that is increasinfly full of people without time for conversation, those without a kind word or gesture for others, and without the gentlemanly manner he possessed, C. R. Barnes was a breath of fresh air. We'll miss him in the streets of Bardstown.
Whadda ya say, Billy Boy? he'd greet me.
Well, today, Mr. Barnes, I say you take it easy. We'll catch up to you down the road." (Standard Editor Bill Medley.)
Lucille Siegrist (1926-2011), one of the foremost historians of the First Cedar Creek Baptist Church, co-writing a church history with Celia Keeling that falsely credits the pastor as being the author, once wrote to me, "The book of church minutes (1849-1889) had been missing since the 1920's. It was said to have been loaned to a dentist in Bardstown, in the meantime the dentist died and the book was never found until J. P. (Barnes) retired and moved from Ohio to Bardstown in the late 1960's with the church minutes book contained in his family history collection. I contacted C. R. who replied that he'd get the book back. Sure enough, C. R. brought them back." Lucille proudly said, "C. R. Barnes was my friend." (Larry E. Barnes)
C. R. Barnes was a man who showed by his efforts that he cared about his community, its history and its people.
Spouses
BirthJul 15, 1907, Nelson Co., KY
DeathApr 14, 1945, Nelson Co., KY
Burial1945, Bardstown Cemetery, Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY
EducationH-1
FatherAdam Charles KOLB (1865-1928)
MotherElla Alfa SHIELDS
MarriageNov 8, 1926, Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY
ChildrenColumbus Reason (Lum) (1929-2011)
ChildrenMildred Harp (Midge) (1946-)