John Barron, born May 26, 1869, in Banffshire, Scotland, was a prominent farmer and stock raiser in Moody County, South Dakota. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1880, settling in Ward Township, where his father, John Barron, Sr., developed a 1,760-acre farm that specialized in draft and coach horses, including imported Clydesdales, as well as Shorthorn cattle and Poland-China hogs. After his father’s passing in 1903, John Barron continued managing the family farm. A dedicated Democrat and active community member, he married Maud Estella Peart in 1891. The couple were members of the Presbyterian Church and were involved in various Masonic organizations.
John Barron, one of the prosperous and highly honored young farmers and stock raisers of Moody County, comes of a long and sterling line of Scottish forbears and is himself a native of Banffshire, Scotland, where he was born on the 26th of May, 1869. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Johnston) Barron, who were born and reared in the same county of the fair land of hills and heather. The father of our subject was engaged in farming and the raising of fine horses for many years in Scotland and later in America, where he gained a high reputation in this enterprise.
In 1880, John Barron, Sr., immigrated with his family to the United States, and in October of that year, the family took up their residence in Moody County, South Dakota, becoming pioneers of this section of the state. The father bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Ward Township, Moody County, and later added to the same until the landed estate comprised one thousand seven hundred and sixty acres of the best land in the district, while the old homestead, or the home farm, which consists of six hundred and forty acres, still remains in the possession of John Barron, the rest being divided among the other members of the family. The father made a specialty of raising fine draft and coach horses, importing a number of splendid Clydesdale horses from Scotland, thus breeding from pure-blooded stock. He also raised and dealt in cattle and swine, favoring the Shorthorn type of cattle and the Poland-China hogs. Each department of the farm enterprise established by him is being successfully carried forward under the capable direction of his son, our subject.
John Barron, Sr., was a man of broad and liberal ideas, unbending in the rectitude of his character, endowed with distinctive business sagacity, and held in unqualified confidence by all who knew him. He was a Democrat in his political proclivities and served for several terms as supervisor of his township and as a member of the school board of the district. He was summoned to his reward on the 30th of July, 1903, at the age of seventy-six years, passing away in the fullness of years and well-earned honors, while his death was held as a personal bereavement to the people of the community in which he had so long maintained his home. He was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, as is also his widow, who still resides on the old homestead, which is hallowed to her by the memories and associations of the past. The children, in order of birth, are as follows: Georgia, Caroline, John, Alexander J., William J., and George E. The home is eligibly located about ten miles northeast of the town of Flandreau, the county seat, and three miles southwest of Ward, the post office village of the locality.
The subject of this sketch was a lad of about ten years at the time of the family’s immigration to America, and he was reared to manhood on the farm which is now his home. He completed his educational discipline in the schools of this county, finishing at Sioux Falls Business College. Thereafter, he was closely associated with his father in the work and management of the farm until the death of the latter, since which time the supervision of the homestead has devolved largely upon him. He has gained a high reputation as a reliable and honorable business man and as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. In politics, he clings to the faith in which he was reared and is a staunch advocate of the principles and policies of the Democratic party, while both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church.
On the 15th of January, 1891, Mr. Barron was united in marriage to Miss Maud Estella Peart, who was born in Illinois and reared in South Dakota, being a daughter of Thomas Peart, a retired farmer of Moody County now residing in Flandreau. Fraternally, Mr. Barron is a member of Flandreau Lodge, No. 11, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Orient Chapter, No. 19, Royal Arch Masons; Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 13, Knights Templar; El Riad Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Sioux Falls; and of Oriental Consistory, No. 1, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, at Yankton. Mrs. Barron is a member of Beulah Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, at Flandreau, and of Sioux Valley Rebekah Lodge, No. 66, also at Flandreau. Among some old relics in the possession of the subject are pieces of linen woven by his great-grandmother.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.