On Thursday, Oct. 24, the Preble County Historical Society unveiled a historic plaque at family-owned and -operated Barnes Funeral Home in downtown Eaton.
EATON — A special dedication ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 24, celebrated the unveiling of the first of 20 Preble County Historical Society historic plaques funded by the America 250 Grant and donations from Michael and Judy Raymond.
The plaque commemorates the Barnes Funeral Home in downtown Eaton, which has been family-owned for four generations.
Future plans for the plaques installed at historic buildings across Preble County include a history trail with QR codes for local history enthusiasts, according to PCHS officials.
PCHS History & Collections Director Brittany Corwin led the ceremony, and shared the history of not only the Eaton Barnes Funeral Home location, but also a history of the business, which she noted was the oldest same-family owned and operated business still in operation in Eaton and Preble County.
“The Barnes Funeral Home building in Eaton was once the home of Alfred and Frances Denny. They were married on April 19, 1842, and shortly thereafter, in late 1844, they obtained the Eaton lots 128 and 129. Their home was constructed around this same time. The land the Dennys lived on was deeded to them from Francis’s mother Mary ‘Polly’ McCabe who was a daughter of Eaton’s founder William Bruce. These lots had been in the family before 1820. Lot number 129, the plot which the funeral home sits on, remained in the Denny family until 1915. The heirs of the Denny Family sold the building to Andrew Coffman, a local undertaker,” Corwin shared.
“Meanwhile, in 1906, about 200 miles away, L.P. Barnes began an undertaking and furniture business in Gnadenhutten, Ohio. He moved to Oxford, Ohio and then finally settled in Eaton on Sept. 1, 1918. He moved to Eaton because of Charles and Warren Spring, the Spring Brothers,” she continued. “The Spring Brothers were from Gnadenhutten. They moved to Eaton in 1911 and purchased the O.B. Eikenberry Department Store on West Main Street in Eaton. It was known as Spring Brothers Department Store until 1962.
“The first funeral service L.P. Barnes conducted in Eaton was that of his own son, Edward Barnes, who succumbed to the Spanish flu. In 1920, as Andrew Coffman was dying of tuberculosis at the age of 29, he sold his business to L.P. Barnes. This was the beginning of a generations-long family affair.”
“Barnes Funeral Home has been located at this location since then and has remained family owned and operated for four generations,” she noted. “In these years, Barnes Funeral Home has continued from L.P. Barnes to his sons Walter M. and Robert W. Barnes and then to Robert’s sons, Robert C. and Bruce Barnes, both of whom are still active in the business today. Robert C’s. son Brian and Bruce’s son Michael, are also carrying on the family legacy, as both are active alongside their fathers and their wives Erin and Stephanie, respectively. This makes Barnes Funeral Home out to be Eaton’s oldest same family owned and operated business that is still in operation in Eaton and Preble County Ohio.”
The Barnes family also owns and operates locations in New Paris and Lewisburg.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
