Jacob Bare, also known as Jacob Bare, Sr. was born
in 1776 according to the census records.
His tombstone, however gives his date of birth as 1778. He died Dec. 13, 1859 at Hannibal, Monroe
Co., Ohio and was buried in the Old Cemetery. He came to Ohio from Hagerstown,
Washington Co., Maryland; Allegany County, Pa.; and Berkeley County, West
Virginia. There is said to be a copy of
the Marriage Bond of Jacob and Mary Steele of Berkeley, West Virginia. The
census show Anne Bare as Jacob's wife. However it is possible
that Mary Ann Bare used her middle name of Anne.
Jacob Bare owned all the land on which the town of
Hannibal has since arisen. The record of Jacob s acquisition of one
hundred and five acres on January 26, 1811 is in the Court House at St.
Clairsville, Ohio (page 221 Vol. "D" Deed Records). A Newspaper article published by the
Wheeling, West Virginia "Sunday News" dated Dec. 5, 1913 is the
source of much of the material in this article. The newspaper article was
in commemoration of the 98th birthday of Nancy Bare-O'Neil who was Jacob Bare's
ninth Child. Also from the same sources, Jacob was Justice of the Peace and
that Father Bare came from Berkeley County, West Virginia. I located in the Hardesty Book of Monroe
County & Spirit of Democracy-Woodsfield, Ohio, that there were petitions
filed before Justice of the Peace, Jacob Bare in 1876 & 1832. He was also listed as Post Master for
Baresville. There is also a legal notice that Anne Bare, wife of Jacob
Bare sold some property to Kasper Brown Vol. 1, Page 51.
Hannibal has not always been Hannibal. When
Jacob Bare, Sr. first inhabited the area, the place was called Bare's Landing. Jacob Bare settled Bares Landing, Ohio Twp.
Monroe Co., Ohio between 1806-1808. The tiny village was located on the bank of the Ohio River where
the land was very low. After the first
flood the settlers became convinced that they had better move to higher
ground. The town lost eight homes during this flood. So, the town
was moved northwest to where the terrain begins to rise abruptly (the move was
less that 1/4 of a mile.) The name was changed to Baresville. The original
town-site was later sold to the U.S. Goverment to become the location of The
Hannibal Locks.
The change from Baresville to Hannibal was arbitary
and may be laid at the doorstep of the U.S. Post Office. They apparently felt
that the original name was too easily confused with others in the same general
area.
In September 1819 a group of Swiss arrived at Bare's
Landing and were greeted by Jacob Bare. He spoke the German language and encouraged
the new arrivals to purchase land in the steep hills that shadow the Ohio
River.
Provided by Beverly
Mayhugh
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