Little did Montgomery County, Texas know that on June 18, 1866, a young man would be born to Smith and Sylvie Mitchell Barnes in the small outlying community of DanvilleÂ
Ned Eastman Barnes, as he was named, would contribute to the progress of the railroad system. There have been numerous unsubstantiated written accounts stating his birth as being in Walker County, Texas. We now have documented accounts showing his parents, Smith and Sylvie, came to Montgomery County as enslaved on the Green Wood plantation in 1850.
As per the 1867 voter registration, Smith Barnes, his father, states he has been in Montgomery County for 17 years. This statement can be verified with the detailed account from Green Wood, the plantation owner, of the Greenwood Plantation’s daily ledgers, which details Smith Barnes and Sylvie Mitchell Barnes difficult journey to Texas. After emancipation in 1865, they remained in the Danville, Montgomery County area until they relocated to Willis, Texas.
Ned Barnes, with little more than a fifth-grade education and a mind filled with imagination, conceptualized various components he felt were needed as he watched the massive trains traveling to and through the newly established town of Willis, Texas.
One can only imagine what he envisioned as he saw these rolling black smoke-pillowing monstrous contractions swell, scream, and clatter as they puffed and screeched through the Railway numerous times throughout the day. Ned Eastman Barnes would teach himself the mechanical skills needed to develop the contraptions to address the beast crisscrossing across the Willis, Montgomery County railways.
Not yet knowing the limitations this Southern society would attempt to thrust upon him and only envisioning innovations flowing through him, this young Black man began to conceive and develop solutions to problems he saw before him. The first patent awarded to Ned Eastman Barnes was in 1906. This patent may or may not have been the first applied for, but this is the first pattern awarded to Barnes.
Given this time in history and the unfortunate scenarios where Black residents were subject to discrimination, segregation, and violence, one can only imagine how many times ideas were brought forth before this one was accepted. While some Black residents probably went to great lengths to conceal their ethnicity, Ned E. Barnes applied for and received his first patent, 792,109, on June 13, 1905.
He would go on to receive an additional nine patents for a total of 10 patents. At different times, Barnes had at least two known office locations in Houston, Texas. One was at 308 St. Emanuel Street, and one was located at 809 1/2 Prairie Avenue, under the name of Barnes and Barnes, where he and his sons developed ideas while maintaining his primary residence in Willis, Texas.Â
Ned Eastman Barnes married Ada Johnson on Dec. 4, 1884, in Montgomery County, Texas. They had five children, but only three survived to adulthood. All three graduated from what was called Prairie View Normal and Industrial College, later renamed Prairie View A&M University. Two of their sons, Fisher Jerol and Wheeler Van, became teachers, while the eldest son, James Floyd, worked as his father’s secretary and assistant before becoming a Biochemist for Westinghouse Electric.
Ned E. Barnes owned 160 acres of farmland outside Willis. His home in the town of Willis was located at 200 E. Woodson on the corner of Woodson and Watson.
Ned Barnes was a man who thrived for the advancement of his people. He was a member of the National Negro Business League, as well as the Montgomery County Negro Chamber of Commerce. Â
Ned E. Barnes joined the newly formed 1890s Farmers Improvement Society. From 1898 to 1899 and again from 1908 to 1909, he was a school trustee for the Black schools of Montgomery County. He helped purchase additional land for the Willis Colored Cemetery, later renamed Willis Rest Haven Cemetery. He was a Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias.
Ned Barnes died at home on Nov. 14, 1950, in the presence of his wife, Ada Johnson. He is buried in the Rest Haven Cemetery in Willis, Texas.Â
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