Mary Elizabeth Morey Barnes

Mary Elizabeth Morey, daughter of Ray E. and Grace (Maerker) Morey was born at Napoleon on May 11, 1912. She graduated from the Napoleon H.S. in 1930. Her artistic talent can be seen in the illustrations which she made for the 1930 issue of the Buckeye. Mary Elizabeth graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio in 1934. While at Ohio Wesleyan she distinguished herself as a member of Phi Society, Phi Beta Kappa, Kappa Delta Epsilon, History Club, Press Club, French Club, Y.W.M.C.A. Cabinet and Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was president of the Mortar Board and she was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.

After her graduation, Mary Elizabeth returned to Napoleon to teach in the public schools. She was the third generation of her family to teach at Napoleon and the fourth generation to teach in the schools of Henry County. Her mother, Grace Maerker had been a teacher at the Napoleon High School. Her maternal grandfather, Dr. A.E.H. Maerker, had been in charge of the German department and her grandmother, Mary E. Maerker hadbeen in charge of the intermediate department of the Napoleon Union School. Dr. E.T. Martin, Mary Elizabeth's great-grandfather, had been a teacher in Liberty township schools.

While working on her master's degree at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, she met Albert J. Barnes. They were married at the St. John's Episcopal Church on Clinton street in Napoleon on August 20, 1941.

Albert J. Barnes was born at Ecford township, Calhoun County, Michigan on Nov. 25, 1910 and was the son of James and Ellen Ann (Waghorn) Barnes, natives of Sussex and Kent Counties, England. The Barnes family had come from England to Marshall, Michigan in 1907. Albert Barnes was a graduate of Marshall H.S. and a 1933 graduate of Hillsdale College. He later obtained a master's degree in guidance and counseling from the University of Michigan. At the time of his marriage to Mary Elizabeth Morey, Albert was a teacher at the Beecher Public Schools of Mt. Morris, Michigan. Previous to this time, he had been a teacher at Baroda, Michigan.

After their marriage they lived at Mt. Morris, Michigan where he was teaching. Their first son, Albert J. "Jim" Barnes was born at Heller Memorial Hospital in Napoleon on August 30, 1942. Jim Barnes, in his infancy, was the last of four generations of his mother's family to live in the Maerker residence at 504 W. Washington Street. This house had been built for his great-grandfather Dr. A.E.H. Maerker in 1901.

In 1944 Mary Elizabeth Barnes and her young son returned to live at Napoleon while Albert served in the Army during World War II. Albert Barnes was a member of the Rainbow division and he served in the campaigns in France, Austria and Germany. At the end of the war he studied the British schools before being discharged from the Army. During their stay in Napoleon, Mary Elizabeth again taught school at Napoleon H.S. She also became a member of the Browser's Literary Society and the Child Conservation Club.

Albert Barnes was discharged from the service in the spring of 1946 and they again returned to Michigan. This time they were accompanied by her mother Grace Morey. Her husband, Ray Morey, had died in 1944. The

Barnes family lived at Flint, Michigan where they both taught school in that area. While living at Flint two more sons were born: Ray Edmund, born April 2, 1947, and Robert V., born May 27, 1948. Mary Elizabeth was very active in the American Association of University Women and she served as president of the Tri Delta Alliance at Flint. On June 25, 1954, Mary Elizabeth Barnes died at the early age of 42 years and left her husband with the care of three small children. She was buried at Flint Memorial Park near Mt. Morris, Michigan. The Barnes family continued to live et Flint until the fall of 1962 when they moved to Fenton, Michigan. Albert Barnes is now retired and lives at Fenton. Grace Morey died at Fenton on Dec. 5, 1963.

A. James Barnes, the last of the family to be born at Napoleon, has a distinguished record. He graduated with honors from Flint Southwestern H.S. and then attended Michigan State University. At Michigan State he was student government president, a member of several university honorary societies, and he served as president of Delta Chi fraternity. After graduation from Michigan State University in 1964 he attended the Harvard Law School, graduating with high honors in 1967. Jim then was an assistant professor of Business Law at Indiana University and while living at Bloomington, Indiana he co-authored a business law textbook and he was in charge of a survey of the Indiana court system. At Indiana he helped William Ruckelshaus in his U.S. Senate campaign and when Mr. Ruecelshaus was appointed to the U.S. Justice Department at Washington, D.C., Jim Barnes was named as a trial attorney in the civil division in 1969. In 1970 Mr. Ruckelshaus was appointed as Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.) and A. James Barnes was named as an assistant to the administrator of the E.P.A. After continuing to serve with Mr. Ruckelshaus in the F.B.I. and again in the U.S. Justice Department, A. James Barnes resigned during the Watergate investigations. He was then appointed by Gov. William G. Milliken of Michigan to run the governor's re-election campaign. A. James Barnes now resides in the Georgetown district of Washington, D.C. and he is a member of the law firm of Beveridge, Fairbanks & Diamond and he is a professor at the university in Georgetown. On June 19, 1976 at Washington, D.C. he married Miss Sarah Jane Hughes of Tacoma, Washington. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and she obtained a law degree from the University of Washington School of Law at Seattle. They met while she was a White House intern at Washington, D.C. in 1970. Sarah Hughes is presently employed as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission at Washington, D.C.

Ray Edmund Barnes is a graduate of Fenton High School and a 1969 graduate of Michigan State University. After his graduation he worked as an accountant with the Buick Motor Division at Flint, Mi. until he was inducted into the U.S. Army in the fall of 1969. He returned to Buick Motor Division in the fall of 1971 after being stationed for a while at Ft. Eustis, Va. On August 30, 1969 he married Miss Janet Mach of Mt. Clemens, Michigan. She also is a graduate of Michigan State University and for several years she taught art for the Bendle Schools near Flint. Janet Barnes exhibits silk screen prints and pottery with the Grand Blanc Arts Guild and the Left Bank Gallery at Flint. Presently Ray and Janet Barnes live at Grand Blanc, Michigan with their two children: Ray Scott, born July 27, 1974 and Kristen Michele, born February 27, 1976. Both children were born at Flint, Michigan. The Barnes family are members of the Grand Blanc Methodist Church.

Robert V. Barnes is a graduate of Fenton High School and in 1970 he received a B.A. degree in art and history from Adrian College. He has completed graduate work at the University of Michigan and he is currently working on a M.A. degree in pottery at Central Michigan University. Bob Barnes is employed as an art teacher for the Flushing Schools at Flushing, Mi. where he presently lives. He has also been employed as a children art instructor at the Flint Institute of Arts. He displays pottery with the Grand Blanc Arts Guild. He is a life member of the Order of DeMolay, a member of the Flushing Jaycees, and Bob is serving as treasurer of the Genesee County Republican Educators Caucus. Besides these interests he is very active in various historical and genealogicalsocieties including the Flint Genealogical Society, of which he is vice-president, the Flushing Genealogical Study Group, the Ohio Historical Society and the Henry County Historical Society. Having an active interest in the preservation of the history of Henry County, Ohio, Bob Barnes has spent many hours collecting and recording the history of the Henry County area.

Submitted by: Robert Barnes