Lanesborough Revolutionary Patriot to Be Honored
LANESBOROUGH — The town's Revolutionary War patriot Pvt. Joseph Barnes Jr. will be honored at a ceremony in Lanesborough Center Cemetery on Saturday, June 28, at noon.Attendees will include one of Barnes' descendants, John Adam Farris and his wife, Jo Margaret. Farris is descended from Barnes through his mother. He is state treasurer of the New Mexico Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The Massachusetts society will be represented by its Vice President Dan Ellis Dudley and other members. The Daughters of the American Revolution will be present, including Louise Palmer, regent of the Peace Party Chapter in Pittsfield.
Town Adminstrator Paul Bourdeau will speak at the ceremony. The American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars posts will be represented along with a color guard as arranged by Paul Harris. Roseanne Frieri will represent other veterans' organizations. It is hoped that representatives of the Boy and Girl Scouts who may be available will come in uniform.
Barnes was born on Long Island, N.Y., on May 2, 1751, and died March 24, 1819, in Lanesborough. He and his wife, the former Sybil Buck, had six children. Farris is descended from their son Pitkin.
Barnes was town constable in 1781 and was a selectman from 1791 to 1792. During the Revolutionary War, he served four times in the state militia's Berkshire regiment for several months from August 1775 until August 1777.
Farris and genealogist Sue Denault have tried unsuccessfully to locate the gravesite of Capt. Joseph Barnes Sr., who was born Dec. 17, 1736, in East Hampton on Long Island and died Feb. 13, 1813, in Lanesborough.
The senior Barnes married to Hannah Stowe; they had 10 children.
Anyone with clues to the location of his gravesite, or who is a Barnes, Buck or Stowe cousin of Barnes, is asked to contact JohnAFarris@comcast.net.
