Ashbel Holmes Barney (1816 - 1886)

Born 2 Sep 1816 in Adams, Jefferson County, New York

Ancestors

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Biography

Ashbel Holmes Barney (September 2, 1816 – December 27, 1886) was an American banker and expressman who served as president of Wells Fargo & Company in 1869-1870.

Barney was born on September 2, 1816 at Adams, New York in Jefferson County. He was a younger son of John Barney and Sarah (née Grow) Barney. His father was a farmer in Jefferson County, New York, when Ashbel and his older brother Danford were born. He was a descendant of Jacob Barney of Bradenham, Buckinghamshire, England, who settled at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1630.[1]

In 1846, while at Cleveland, Barney was married to Susan Hester Tracy (1818–1882), the daughter of Gardiner Tracy, an abolitionist and publisher of the Lansingburgh Gazette, and Catherine (née Lansing) Tracy of Utica, New York. Their children were:

Gardiner Tracy Barney (1849–1856), who died in childhood. Charles Tracy Barney (1851–1907), who married Lucy Collins "Lily" Whitney, sister of William Collins Whitney, Secretary of the Navy.[10] Helen Tracy Barney (1853–1897), who died unmarried in New York City.[11]

Barney died at his residence, 101 East 38th Street in New York City, on December 27, 1886.

Sources

• Wikipedia profile: Ashbel H. Barney