Born in Log House - John Barrick

 "JOHN BARRICK TO BE 90 MONDAY

Memories of nearly a century will be recalled by John Barrick as he visits with friends at open house Sunday on the eve of his 90th birthday anniversary.

Barrick, who has spent his entire life in the Sherwood vicinity, recalls life in a log house...horseback rides or long walks to school...25 to 60 cents daily wages for farm labor...coffee at 10 cents a pound...a 1926 model T Ford, the only car he ever owned...truck farming and huckstering that brought him a host of friends throughout the country.

A son of the late Leonard and Elizabeth (Fair) Barrick, he was born Oct. 9, 1871, in a log house about three and a half miles from Sherwood.  He lived within a quarter of a mile radius of the Buckskin Road until 1954.

STARTED TO MASON SCHOOL

There were few roads in those days and most of the land was covered with timber.  As a boy, he road horseback or walked.  At the age of six, he started to school at the Mason School, now a shed on the Vernon Sprow farm.  He recalls that his first teacher was Bertie Spindler.  He attended that school through the eighth grade.

His youth was spent working for the few farmers in that area for 25 cents to 50 cents a day.  He remembers that Sherwood had only two frame buildings in those days.  One was a small grocery store, where coffee sold for 10 cents a pound.  There were no streets, just a dirt or mud path, depending on the weather.

He and the late Sarah J. Parker were married in the early spring of 1897.  They started housekeeping in their own log house, which he and his father had built from timber cut on his small farm.  He had purchased the land from an uncle, the Rev. John Kintner.

One daughter, Mrs. Fay (Florence) Ridenour, Bryan, was born to this union.  She is a cook and helper at Lamar's Restaurant.  Two grandchildren, Mrs. Sarabelle Gambler, Sherwood, and Doyle Ridenour, Williams Center, and 10 great-grandchildren complete the family circle.

Barrick tilled the soil on his own farm with horses and old-fashioned tools most of his life.  He also farmed for many years for the late Chancey Shong.  When he left the farm, he bought the home and seven and a half acres of his parents.

He was a well-known truck farmer, selling strawberries, raspberries, and other home-grown fruits and vegetables to homes in Sherwood and vicinity.

WIFE DIED IN 1954

His wife was an invalid for about eight years prior to her death Aug. 27, 1954.  He did all the housework weekdays, and his daughter came on weekends to help him.  

Following his wife's death, Barrick lived for a few months with the daughter in Bryan, moving Feb. 23, 1955, to the home of the granddaughter, Mrs. Gambler.  He enjoys fairly good health and needs glasses only to read.  Although a little hard of hearing, he enjoys TV and reads the paper daily.  Barrick also enjoys a daily walk and playing with great-grandchildren.

Two years ago, he was stricken with skin cancer, but recovered from the ordeal very well.

He has a sister, Mrs. Daisy C. Wimcompleck, 109 Summit Street, Defiance. Another sister, Mrs. Emma Sanders, Bryan, and a brother, David Barrick, Ney, also are deceased.

The family invites all friends, young and old, to attend the open house at the Gambler home, first house back of the Ford garage in Sherwood, and wish John a 'Happy Birthday' Sunday."

Defiance Crescent News, October 5, 1961, p. 8   

John Barrick died on July 10, 1962, and was buried

in the Sherwood Cemetery.