This blog is about my great grandparents Amarilla and George Angus Barclay. George is given the credit for being the founder of the city of Pine River, Minnesota. Pine River is located about the center of the state of Minnesota. It is north of Brainerd and before you get to Walker the county seat of Cass County.
This blog will cover their lives:
- George’s origins as best I can report at this time.
- His Civil War experiences including his brother Alexander and his father John.
- George’s life in Minnesota after the Civil War up to 1873.
- George’s Trading post in Pine River and his land purchases
- The Marriage of George and Amarilla
- Various events that happened in the life of George and Amarilla in Pine River
- Their son George Alexander Barclay and his death.
- Grace their daughter, her marriage to Ronald S. McDonald and a little on the children.
- George’s father John Barclay and his two families.
- George’s Murder – Coroner’s Inquest, trial and the aftermath.
- Amarilla’s birth in Iowa and migration to Minnesota.
- Amarilla’s family – The two marriages of her father Daniel D. Spracklin.
- Amarilla’s Mayflower and DAR connections.
- Amarilla’s other grandparents John Keller and Mary Delano
- Amarilla’s father Daniel D. Spracklin and mother Elizabeth Keller
- Daniel D. Spracklin and his second wife Sarah Blacketer Allgood and her first family
- The two families of Daniel D. Spracklin and the children of both.
Working in Walker
Here is a list of surnames associated with my family. I will probably add to this list as I go along, but we will start with this surname list for now:
- MacDonald/McDonald/McDonell/Macdonell/Macdonnell
- Barclay, Barkley, Barckley
- Boardman, Bordman
- Brown
- Ward
- Spracklin, Spracklen
- Goss
- Keller
- Delano
- Cooley
- Wolcott
- Hayward
- Bliss
- Vassall
- Hopkins
- Prescott
- White
- Andrews
- Scott
- Kendall
- Richardson
Locations covered will be: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, Washington State. In Canada we have New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia.
Thanks for stopping by: Bonnie Jean MacDonald
If you would like to contact me you can cut and paste this email into your email: bjmcdonell@gmail.com
The Barclays of Pine River 
Good info there!
I’m also doing some research into wagoners and trying to find out if the wagoner could have been a local person or was always a part of the army. I’m using an unpublished diary from the MN 7th Reg.
Any idea?
Hello: How nice of you to stop by. From what I can make out from George’s pension and service records he was somewhat independant of the 9th Regiment. He wrote that he was never attached to any regiment but I have no idea what he meant by that. I believe that records for the Quartermaster Dept. are at NARA (National Archives) but I have not done anymore digging in that area. What a great treasure to have that unpublished diary you are very lucky. I believe they could be local as well as part of the army but you would have to talk to an expert on the army at that time. Sorry I cannot be of further help! Good luck on your quest.
Hi, I am one of three grandchildren of Dorothy Elizabeth (Heffernen) Spracklin. Her parents were Harry Spraklin and Frieda Ackerman. I am trying to find out more information in my grandma, Dorothy, and her son, Patrick Heffernen. Have you found out any of this information or have any ideas where I could find more info? I have searched for Patrick Heffernen online and have found nothing. Apparently, he died before Dorothy.
Elizabeth: I am so glad to hear from you. At some point I will share what I know about Harry and Frieda on this blog but that may be a while because most of what I have on Harry and Frieda is in the 1900’s and up to about 1945. I do have listed on my database that Dorothy married a Thomas Sievert and then probably second Heffernen, if I have that correct, but that is about all I have on her marriages. Harry and Frieda’s family and what happened to them is very interesting. Harry’s children were easily confused with his father Henry and Elizabeth. It took me some work to figure out who belonged to whom. Henry is Amarilla’s my great grandmother’s full brother. So Harry would be her nephew, if I have that correct. I will email you directly and we can chat. Bonnie
Yes, Bonnie. I would love to talk more. Please email me. Thanks!
Hello, I am so grateful that I found this website. Thank you so much! I have been trying to find info about my grandma’s (Donna Rae) dad (Raymond Spracklin), she was two when he passed so didn’t have any info on him except he was in the service. Again Thank you so much for all the hard work that you have put into this! I have done a little bit of research myself on my grandma’s mother’s side of the family (Lytle). I would love to keep in contact with you. Please email me anytime. Thanks Angela Teague
Angela: Welcome. Raymond is the 10th child of Henry and Elizabeth Downey. What you see on the blog under Henry and Elizabeth’s family is pretty much all I have on Ray and I have nothing on Donna Rae. https://barclayspineriver.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/henry-and-elizabeth-spracklins-family/ There are other posts on Henry and Elizabeth so I hope you were able to find them. Most of what I know came from Jerry Spracklin who did the research. I will give you a direct email and we can share. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the compliments. I plan to revisit Amarilla’s full and half siblings after I finish up with George A. Barclay’s murder. The rest of the story will continue with Amarilla. So I will offer more about what happened to the family of Henry & Elizabeth.
Thank you for all this great information! Susan Morrow Lash and her first husband are my great grandparents. My father would take me to visit Opel Vote on my childhood visits to Iowa.
Pat: I am sorry, I missed this comment of yours. You are welcome. Researching the family of Daniel Goss Spracklin and Susan Matilda Marrow was not easy. There daughter Opal died in 1987 in Calhoun Co., Iowa. Let me contact you off line and we can chat. Bonnie