Fisher, Elisabeth Barnett, b. 1839.

Elisabeth Barnett Fisher was born on March 18, 1839, near Navarre, Ohio. Her father, Jacob Barnett, was a farmer from Pennsylvania and her mother, Elisabeth Griffith, was from Virginia. Elisabeth had 11 siblings. Her father and four of her brothers joined the Union Army in Ohio. All fought as privates: Gabriel G. (76th Infantry Regiment); David D. (107th Infantry Regiment); Elijah C. (107th Infantry Regiment); and Jesse M. (197 Ohio Infantry). Jesse and Elijah were killed during their service in the war.

Sometime before 1858, Elisabeth moved to Bremen, Indiana, where she may have worked as a schoolteacher. In late 1861, she married Valentine Fisher (b. 1840), a local horse equipment manufacturer. In 1867, they had a son named Erwin G Fisher, who was the successor to his father’s harness business, and two daughters, Ada (b. 1872) and Eva (b. 1879). Elisabeth Barnett Fisher lived until at least 1916, the last year mentioned in the financial records.

Valentine’s father, Peter Fisher, came from Germany and became a farmer in Bremen, Indiana, which had a large German-speaking population. His mother, Eva Folty Fisher, was born in Ohio.

From the guide to the Elisabeth Barnett Fisher papers, Fisher, Elisabeth Barnett papers, 1858-1916, 1858-1864, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)