Charles married Frances Kitchen in Salt Lake City, Utah on 10 October 1864.  They were married by Judge Elias Smith, First Probate Judge of the Utah Territory.  Frances Kitchen was born to John Kitchen and Elizabeth Lund in Brigsteer, Helsington, Westmorland, England.  She was baptized on the 17 January 1831 in the Chapelry of Helsington, Westmorland, England.

We do not know when Charles immigrated from England to the United States.  We have not found records documenting his immigration into the United States.  Frances immigrated to the United States in 1861.  She left Liverpool, England in April of 1861 on the Ship Underwriter arriving in New York on 22 May 1861.   Frances came to the United States using the Perpetual Immigration Fund having joined the Church on the 2 November 1858.  She was the only member of her family to join.  It must have been hard for her to leave her home and family and come to a strange land.  When she arrived in the United States she made her way to Utah to live with her mother's sister, Ann Lund Hunter and her husband, Isaac Hunter and their family in Salt Lake City.  Isaac and Ann had joined the Church in February of 1852.  While living with the Hunter's, Frances, or Fannie as the family calls her, met Charles.  It is said that he was a mining prospector and  had come to Salt Lake for supplies with his little burrow all the way from Butte, Montana and sought lodging at the Hunter Boarding House.  We do not know what year this was but it had to have been between 1861 and October 1864 when they were married. 

 After marrying, Charles and Frances journeyed south to St. George, Utah where her uncle, Wilson Lund lived.  It was here that there first child, David John Barker was born on 1 February 1865.  About a year later Charles and Fannie traveled back to the Salt Lake Valley.  Charles homesteaded 160 acres of land in the North Jordan area, later known as Taylorsville, Utah.    On this homestead Charles built a comfortable log cabin for his family.  They remained on this land the rest of their lives.  It seemed the land responded to the hard work of this couple.  They had a fine orchard of fruit trees, producing a nice variety of fruit.  Charles raised good crops on the farm and they soon began to prosper.  The Barkers lived in their log cabin for several years.  Family tradition has it that Charles secretly put money in a pipe or can buried in the yard.  One day when he had saved about $2,000.00 he said to his wife: "Lets build a nice brick house."  Fannie laughed and wanted to know where he thought  he would get the money.  He said, "Oh, maybe we could just dig it up in the yard."  Which is exactly what he did.  They built a two story red brick home about 1890 which stood until the late 1940's when it was replaced by a beautiful modern home by a grandson, Willard Barker.

They raised a family of four children.  The other three children were born to Charles and Frances in Taylorsville.  Elizabeth Ann born 17 April 1867, Mary Agnes born 7 June 1870, and Charles Willard born 3 January 1873.

Charles was not privileged to have an education so he could not read or write.  Fannie had received some education in England and could read and write.

It is said that Charles and Fannie were a very devoted couple to each other.  The weekly trips into town, Salt Lake City, with a buggy and a good team of trotting horses was something they enjoyed together.  One day early in December of 1904 when they went to town it was cold and stormy.  They both caught cold and were sick.  The home remedies weren't sufficient to help them and the doctor was called.  Fannie passed away on the 20th of December 1904 at the age of 63.  Pneumonia set in for Charles and death took him 17 days after the death of his wife, 7 January 1905.  They are buried side by side in the Taylorsville Cemetery, Taylorsville, Salt Lake, Utah.

NOTE:  Thanks to Mildred June Lindley for her help with this life sketch of Charles and Fannie Barker.  Mildred is a great granddaughter of Charles and Fannie.

Children of Charles Barker and Frances Kitchen

Select name for more information on each child and their descendants.