As an ensign in the Culpeper militia in 1756, under Col. Thomas Slaughter, James Barbour Jr. "marched on an expedition against the Indians above Winchester." In 1775 (the year of his father's death), James Barbour Jr. was county lieutenant of the Culpeper militia. He served as an officer (colonel) on the Virginia Continental Line for at least three years (all eight years by one account) of the American revolution, raising men and provisions.[3][1]
In the 1787 Virginia tax census, Barbour owned 15 enslaved adults and 22 enslaved teenagers, as well as 16 horses and 53 cattle in Culpeper county.[4]
Beginning in 1782, Barbour began purchasing land across the Appalachian mountains in then-vast Lincoln County,which became part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky upon its creation in 1791. Based on his military service, Barbour received a land grant of more than 3500 acres in 1785 in what was then called Kentucky County.[5] Barbour ultimately moved to Garrard County, Kentucky, where he moved before 1800.[6]
Personal life
He married Frances Throckmorton and had children, including Mordecai Barbour (1764–1844), who also served in the American Revolutionary War but ultimately moved to Alabama.[5]
Death and legacy
Barbour died in 1804 near Lancaster, the Garrard County seat.[5]
References
^ abTyler, Lyon Gardiner, ed. (1915). Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. Vol. I. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 180.
^Cynthia Miller Leonard, The General Assembly of Virginia 1619–1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library 1978) p. 91
