Elizabeth Anne (Shanberger) Barrington, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Heckert) Shanberger, was born on February 9, 1849, in Maumelle, Pulaski County, Arkansas. Prior to the Civil War, her parents owned a prosperous plantation in Maumelle. During the War, the family fled to Texas, and then returned to Arkansas after the hostilities had ceased.

Elizabeth married Joel Barrington in Maumelle on March 20, 1870. Joel was a veteran of the Civil War and had worked as a laborer on the Shanberger farm. Elizabeth and Joel had four daughters, born in Arkansas: Mary Elizabeth (Barrington) Major Lesher, born April 23, 1871; Catherine M. (Barrington) Finney, born August 22, 1873; Younda (Barrington) Swigert, born July 10, 1875; and Margarite “Maggie” Z. (Barrington) Shepard, born October 20, 1877.

In 1881, Joel and Elizabeth Anne followed her parents to Prescott, Arizona Territory. They homesteaded 160 acres in the Groom Creek area. Joel’s great interest was in mining and prospecting. He and his partner, John Harlan, located the lucrative Howard Mine. Elizabeth and Joel owned a half interest in several mining claims in the Prescott area. One of the mines was named the “Maumelle” after their hometown in Arkansas.

Elizabeth and Joel had two more children, born in Arizona: John W., born November 22, 1882, and William D., born January 24, 1885. Elizabeth had joined the Methodist Episcopal Church South in her childhood and was a member her entire life.

Joel died on October 25, 1895. Elizabeth inherited the homestead and some property on Alcorn Street in Prescott and received a small pension from Joel’s Civil War service. About 1912, she moved to Roswell, Chaves County, New Mexico, where her daughters Catherine and Margarite lived. She died on February 5, 1917, and was buried in the South Park Cemetery in Roswell, New Mexico.

Elizabeth’s mother, Elizabeth (Heckert) Shanberger; her sister, Catherine Sarah (Shanberger) Hatz; her niece, Bessie Ethel Hatz; and her daughter, Mary Elizabeth (Barrington) Major Lesher, are also commemorated in the Territorial Women’s Memorial Rose Garden.

Donor: Patricia Major Miller, great granddaughter, August 2007
Photo Located: RGC-MS-39, Box B, F-Barrington, Elizabeth
Updated: 2/21/2016, D. Sue Kissel