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When Mrs. X came to Granny Kemp to look at her book to see if Mrs. X's son was old enough to vote, Granny's reply was, "Yes, he's old enough to vote and still not paid for!" Midwife Granny Kemp charged a fee of $2.00 to deliver a baby in those days!
Born Isabelle Harkins (1820-1904) in Beaver Co., Pa., she married Capt. Zepheniah Barnett, also born in Beaver Co.; their son, John Collins Barnett, was born there, and while still a baby, the family moved to Leith Run, Independence Twp. Zepheniah was a pilot on the riverboat "Messenger" in 1855; sometime after Zepheniah's death, Isabella married Nathan Kemp and helped raise his eight children by his first marriage.
Isabella, known locally as Granny Kemp, delivered many babies in the area from 1861 into the 20th century. A family friend remarked, "Oh, I could not count the times I've heard Mom say 'There goes Granny Kemp to deliver another baby'."
Granny's son, John C. Barnett, married Mary Jane Swan on Dec. 2, 1874; they were married by Russel Dorff, J. P. Mary Jane was the daughter of John and Mary Jane Aten Swan. Granny Kemp delivered her grandchildren:
1. Allen Barnett, m. Anna McCullough; they lived on Sheets Run. ch: Guy, m. Goldie Hutchison; Wayne, m. Edith Haught; Glenn, m. Mary Guthrie; Kenneth, m. Jessie Mossinger. 2. Orpha, single, lived at Chester, W.Va. 3. May Beabout Jones, ch: Blanche Jamison, Alice (adopted). 4. Nellie Hogue Edwards, lived in Canton, Ohio; ch: John, Margaret, Richard. 5. Asa, m. Nora Brownfield, lived Marietta, Ohio; ch: Delta, Eldon. 6. Mary, m. Albert Haines, Brilliant, Ohio; ch: Jane, Isabella, Albert. 7. Tina, m. Ray Ewers, lived Aliquippa, Pa.; ch: Ruth. 8. John, m. Nellie Butler, Empire, Ohio; ch: John, Margaret, Emmett. 9. Pearl Hoppel Blankenship, Mingo Junction, Ohio; ch: Helen Grace. 10. Ira Guy, died in infancy. 11. Sanford - "I married Mary Ward, and we raised Virginia Hoffman and her daughter, Kathleen Ford, in our home. I am the last of my generation left. I worked in the oil fields in Mich., and later at Marietta Sheet Metal before retiring at Newport, Ohio." 12. Dewey, m. Vesta Gilbert, lived Brilliant, Ohio; ch: Sanford, Margaret. 13. Elmer, m. Cora Lantz, lived Canton, Ohio; ch: Gerald, Eloise.
All of this family were staunch members of the Church of Christ. Granny's son, John Barnett, was an elder at the Ramoth Church on Sheets Run, Grandview Twp.
I think what it might be like to go back to the old log house, to sleep once more in the old cord bed with the feather tick ... but I wouldn't want to cut barrel staves to sell for 50 cents a bundle as Granny and old Nathan Kemp did!