Algernon Sidney Barnard was born February 11, 1819, in Mendon, Monroe County, New York, the son of Judge Timothy Henry Barnard Jr. and Julia Hills. He attended the schools in Monroe County.
Algernon travelled to DuPage County in 1838 with the Rev. E. Strong and purchased land in Lisle Township just east of the Charles Goodrich farm on Hobson Road, which he then farmed.
In 1843 Algernon returned to New York and married Elizabeth Margaret Raynolds July 12, 1843, at Lima, Livingston County.
Algernon returned to Illinois with his wife not long after their marriage and he purchased land on the north side of Hobson Road, west of the East Branch of the DuPage River, which he farmed. There they became the parents of eight children: Julia Hills, who married Sylvester Allen Ballou; Timothy Henry; Robert Raynolds; Charles B.; Daniel Dewey; Chester Franklin; Frederick Clarence; and Elizabeth R. who married James Lawrence Nichols.
Following the death of James Nichols, Elizabeth married William C. Simpson.
In 1844, Algernon joined the Naperville Congregational Church where he was a regular attendant until his death.
Algernon served as Lisle Township Supervisor and Town Clerk in 1859 and was elected and served as a state representative for DuPage County in the Illinois State Legislature Twenty-third General Assembly in 1863 and 1864.
He was raised as a Master Mason on February 26, 1856.
Algernon Sidney Barnard died on the morning of July 4, 1899, at his home in Lisle Township, DuPage County, Illinois. The funeral took place at the Congregational Church with the Rev. Harvey Virgil Tull conducting the services.
The funeral procession was led by the honorary pall bearers consisting of Messrs. Riddler, Scott, Goodrich, Bristol, Greene, Jenkins, Sleight, Mather, Hunt and Schwartz. Messrs. Howard H. Goodrich, Alvin Scott Jr., John W. Collins, John A. Hertle, Dewitt C. Wallace, and Spencer Greene were the active pall bearers. Algernon’s remains were laid to rest in the Barnard plot in the Naperville Cemetery.
