This site was created so Bare cousins everywhere could share their family stories, historical events and even legends.  In fact, this site was created in 2002 as a result of some information that was shared by distant cousins that 'met' online.  When I say distant, I really mean it!  Turns out our common Bare ancestor known as Jacob Bare, Sr lived over 200 years ago!! 

Wow... isn't that a story for the new millenium!   Email enabled what rarely ever happens in history especially in a transitory people....being able to connect with family from several generations back.

FYI, there's alot of confusion because of the Bar, Bear, Bare, etc, spelling variations.  Refer to "You know, what's his name" (index left column) for more about our surname as well as the name 'Hans'... it will help clear up some of the mysteries.

Within these pages you'll meet Jacob Bare, Sr who had quite an interesting history as one of the original settlers in southeastern Ohio in the early 1800's.  He called his spot on the Ohio River Bare's Landing.  Today its the location of the Hannibal Dam & Locks.    (follow the link to the photo and Bare's Landing was on the north or left side of the river and New Martinsville, WV is on the south side.  (Think they'd consider giving this beautiful spot back to the family?) 

On this website over time you will find a little bit of information about Jacob Bare, Sr, his descendants, and his ancestors as far as we know. There are lots of gaps so if you can fill them we would love your help. 

Our ancestors' surroundings include local historian Henry Burke's fascinating stories of the Monroe County Underground Railroad (of course the Ohio River was part of the Mason-Dixon line), settling of the wild, often dangerous frontiers of America in the 18th & 19th century, and about covered wagons of families to new homes and new livelyhoods.

So where did our ancestor Jacob Bare, Sr (1776/8-1859) of Baresville (now Hannibal), OH come from?  A Monroe County, Ohio history website says he came from Maryland (see First Germans and Swiss).  His marriage is recorded to Mary Steele in 1799 in Berkeley, VA (now West Virginia).  He shows up in historical accounts of Monroe County's "Switzerland of Ohio" soon thereafter, although these monikers would come later than he did to the region.

My research so far indicates that his father was John Henry Bare, whose father was Abraham Bar, who is the son of Jacob Jagely Bar (aka Hans Jacob Jagely Bar).  Bare researchers have indicated that Jacob Jagely Bar, his wife and 8 children (this number varies) came to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania from Switzerland directly or after spending some time in the Palatine region of Germany.  (You'll see many of these stories in the Bare Links section).  

Jacob Jagely Bar and two of his sons, Jacob Bare, Jr and John Bear, relocated to the Shenandoah River Valley in Virginia as three of its first settlers.  My ancestor Abraham and apparently the rest of the siblings stayed in Pennsylvania.  But where did Abraham's  son John Henry Bare live?  Where was John Henry's son Jacob Bare, Sr born?  Did he move from Pennsylvania to Maryland to Berkeley, VA (where he married) to Bare's Landing, Ohio?  more mysteries waiting to be solved!

Please bookmark the site and come back often as more will be added over time.  Thanks for visiting and we hope you enjoy our Bare Family web site!

Richard E Bare Jan 16, 1926 - Jan 17, 1955

This site is lovingly dedicated to all our family historians and especially to our dad (above at age 6) from my sister Cary and me.   He made alot of history in a very short time here.

My grandmother Uptegrove's family was originally known as Op Den Graf and they lived in Pennsylvania about the same time as the first colonial Bars.   Hmmm... I wonder if they knew each other?

A very special thanks to my new cousins Duward Bare, Jerry Bare and Lynnette Johnson (all if whom I've 'met' online) and who contributed the Bare family histories they have collected from their ancestors over the years.  Our common ancestor is Jacob Bare, Sr (1776/8-1859) of Baresville, now Hannibal, Ohio.  Duward, Jerry and Lynnette descend from Jacob's son Joseph Bare (May 5, 1812-Sept 5, 1892) who left Baresville for Illinois in 1850 in a covered wagon.   I descend from Jacob's son William S Bare (1803-?), whose family stayed in Baresville until the early 20th century before my grandfather moved to Cleveland and then California (1940).