Calvin Leo Barkley (1881 - 1967)

Born 3 Nov 1881 in Newton County, Missouri, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Cora Myrtle (Taylor) Barkley — married 3 Nov 1908 in Sarcoxie, Jasper County, Missouri, USA

Descendants

Died 15 Nov 1967 at age 86 in Sarcoxie, Jasper County, Missouri, USA

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Biography

Calvin Leo Barkley

Cal's mother was 45 years old and his dad 62 when he was born. He grew up in the Black Fox/Van Buren Community, south of Sarcoxie, Mo. His parents were too old for him to come to Sarcosie and board which would enable him to attend high school. Also he was needed on the farm. he walked to the Black Fox grade school, and took the 8th grade three times. By then he had read all the books in school, was ahead of the teacher in math, & had beautiful penmanship.

When his father died, he felt he was too old for school & had to support his mother & sister Jennie. He worked for the Frisco Railroad but saw no future there, and not being especially interestd or good at farming, he enrolled in the Joplin Barber College.

Upon completing school, Cal operated a shop with Curly Cunningham on the North side of the Sarcoxie square. They had to carry water for the shop from Day's Spring, just west of the building. The barber shop didn't really make a lot so Cal decided to go to his brother, Marshall, in Ft Collins, Colorado, and worked with him at the sugar beet & sheep ranch of C. A. Bartels.

While there, he met Jess and Will Taylor, also from Sarcoxie. After her introductory kiss from Cal in 1905, as related in his parents story, Myrtle would say she and Cal began "seriously dating' during her Junior year in high school. She quit school after the first two months of her Senior year; they were married on 4 November 1908. Their brief honeymoon was a 20 mile train ride south to Pierce City, where they went to a motion picture and spent the night in a hotel. Cal spent part of the next day visiting with a barber friend before their return to Sarcoxie.

They began their marriage living with Cal's mother, Rebecca. Their first son, Ned, was born 13 October 1909. Cal heard about a barber shop for sale in Porterville, CA and they moved there late in 1910. Later Cal sold the Porterville shop and moved the family down to Wasco, CA where their second son, Cal Junior was born 17 January 1914.

Early in Feb 1915, Myrtle's father, Thomas Peyton Taylor, wrote saying her mother, Viloa Belle, was dying and he needed her at home. Cal put his wife and 2 small sons on a he train immediately for Sarcoxie. They arrived at 4:00a.m. Feb 11th. But Mr. Taylor had become anxious and Viola had been buried a 2:00 p.m. the afternoon before Myrtle arrived.

Thomas Taylor declared he had to have someone care for him, so Myrtle and the boys stayed. Cal sold their furniture in CA and came back to Sarcoxie to barber. They bought a farm east of town where they raised strawberries, chickens and cows. Cal continued in the barbershop, which closed on Mondays, so he had Saturday and Monday to farm. What he couldn't get done, Myrtle did. This arrangement was finally to hard on both so they moved to town.

Cal was a ardent Cardinal Baseball fan. a consistent Democrat, loved reading Zane Gray westerns and spent may happy hours fishing. He was forced to retire after 50 years barbering, when he developed throat cancer and underwent severe surgery. The cancer finally took his life 18 Nov 1967.

Addendum

Cal and Myrtle (Taylor) Barkley gave their sons, Ned and Calvin, only one name. When Ned needed a second name for legal records, he used Ned Calvin Barkley. So like his father, he picked his own middle name. When young Calvin was born, Myrtle told the doctor his name was to be "Calvin Junior after his father." He was called Cal-J and Cal Junior. Upon writing Wasco, California, for a birth certificate, he found the doctor had recorded "Calvin L. Barkley, Junior". So he was indeed named after his father, Calvin Leo Barkley. Thus the brothers both have the old family name CALVIN, and the name LEO now continues through five generations.

Sources

• Book: "Henry Barkley Clan" - Author: Benita Ruth Shields - Published: Timbercreek Ltd, Miami, OK 74354 - Year: 1991 - Page 145.