author
Ella K. (Ella Kent) Barnard
1853–1932
A Quaker writer with a deep love of family and local history, she turned painstaking research into books that preserve early Pennsylvania lives and lineages. Her work ranges from genealogy to a study of Dolley Madison's Quaker roots, giving modern readers a vivid glimpse of the people behind the records.
1 Audiobook
Dorothy Payne, Quakeress: A Side-Light Upon the Career of 'Dolly' Madison
by Ella K. (Ella Kent) Barnard
About the author
Born in 1853, Ella Kent Barnard was the only daughter of Mary Anna Kent and John Barnard. Archival records describe her as a Quaker, and they show that her family history became the center of her writing life.
Barnard is credited with three books: Daniel Kent, Emigrant, The Maulsby Genealogy, and Dorothy Payne, Quakeress. Her work joined careful genealogical research with a storyteller's interest in the people behind the names, especially families connected to Pennsylvania Quaker communities.
The surviving papers associated with her research suggest how seriously she took that task: genealogical charts, correspondence, and original letters were gathered as source material for her books. She died in 1932, leaving behind writing that remains useful to readers interested in family history, regional history, and the quieter corners of early American life.