James Benjamin Barker (1914-1964)

My father was James W. Barker (1936-1995) and his father was James Benjamin Barker (1914-1964). You can see part of his ancestry chart below.

Here is a photo of James Benjamin Barker in the Army, and a photo of him with my grandmother Olga Kristel (1916-1998) in 1935.

 

James Benjamin Barker was born on June 3, 1914, in Chicago, Illinois. His father, Jay C. Barker (1894-1958) was 19, and his mother, Gertrude Mordecai (1893-1962) was 20 when he was born. He was named James after his father, and his middle name Benjamin came from his grandfather Benjamin H. Mordecai (1865-1938.) (You can read much more about the Mordecai /Whitecloud family in my blog here, as well!)

James Benjamin married Olga Kristel and had one son with her, James W. Barker (1936-1995.) In fact, his son James Walter was also born on June 3rd. Olga was my grandmother, who went by the nickname "Mickey." They divorced when my father was young.

My father said that when his Dad came home from the war, he was heralded as a hero for something he did in the war. I have tried to uncover what this is, but have been unsuccessful. My Dad said it was written in the papers. I do have this photo of James Benjamin in what appears to be a parade.

James Benjamin Barker also married Marian Elizabeth Hubbs (1924-1998) on January 27, 1943 in Clark County, Washington. I stumbled upon this during my research a few years ago.

They had no children and were divorced July 17, 1946. They were living in Oregon at the time. Marian remarries Eldon Morse in 1947.

James Benjamin returns to the Chicago area, perhaps right after his divorce from Marian. I also know that James Benjamin had a son named William around the year 1947. My father told me he had a half-brother named William, but I never found out what his mother's name was, nor what happened to him. My father told me that William's middle name was the name of James Benjamin's best friend in the Army. (For some reason I believe it was Lambert or Campbell, but I may be quite wrong on that. )

My father did not speak much about his father or his Barker family. He did tell me about his grandfather Jay when I started doing genealogy in the 1990s, and he said how much he adored him. And he told me we had Barker relatives living in the area and in nearby Tinley Park, Illinois. But I never met any of them.

My mother told me that when they were dating and first married, my Dad would often go looking for his father, who became an alcoholic, and he might find him drunk on the street or in an alley, and would take him to get him something to eat. My father had his own issues with alcoholism, but finally became sober when I was young.

James Benjamin Barker died on October 24, 1964, at the age of 50. This was right before the birth of my brother, James, who was James Benjamin's grandson and my father's first child. My Dad was informed of his father's death by telegram.

(I do not know if William was informed of his father's death, nor do I know where he went or what happened to him. I would like to find him, if I could.)

My mother told me when my Dad went to the place where his father was living when he died to retrieve his belongings, and the other people living there were with him said they did not know James Benjamin and that there was nothing there of his.  That story has always broken my heart a bit. 

James Benjamin Barker was buried in Beverly Cemetery in Blue Island, Illinois. Shortly after my father died in 1995, I applied for a grave marker from the Army and had it installed in the cemetery so that my grandfather's grave had a stone. Even if I never knew him, and even if he had a sad and tragic end in alcoholism, I think it's worth remembering the people who came before us.