Welcome, all branches of the Barlar / Barlow family to Barlar.org... where our objective is to collect and maintain on the Internet as much information about the history of our family as possible -- the lineage of William Henry Barlow (Barlar) of NC  and Giles County, TN., and his wife Susan Frances (Phillips).

For those of you attempting to find details about your ancestors, we hope there will be useful information in the materials already gathered here to help further your own research; and we invite all who have additional information about our family roots to contact us.  We'll be happy to post any updates. 

The Barlar Surname

In 2004, confirming what the Barlar family at large had always been told, a genetic DNA test conducted on Larry J. Barlar -- one of William Henry Barlow's g. grandsons -- proved beyond any doubt that Barlar is not our actual family surname.

The test verified that the name, Barlar -- which began to be widely used by William Henry Barlow's descendants sometime after 1860 -- was a departure from the true lineage. While it is not our original surname, it has, nevertheless, remained in use by most, but not all, members of this particular branch of the family for almost 150 years.

Further revelations from the DNA test were that our Giles County, Tennessee branch of the Barlow (Barlar) family actually descends from the Isle of Wight, Virginia Barlow lineage,and that we are also closely related to both, the Alfred Hirton Barlow of North Carolina lineage and the Richard of West Virginia lineage, as well as the John Barlow (1784/95 - 18  ) of VA or NC lineage, which eventually migrated to Lawrenceburg, TN.  Susan Barlow Holmes maintains the research for the Isle of Wight, VA Barlow lineage and the Alfred Hirton Barlow of NC lineage, while research for the Richard of West Virginia lineage is maintained by Nancy Barlow, Bruns of Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Additional details from the DNA test result are available by clicking on the DNA Test Results link in the main menu.

In June 2008, an important record of the date of our ancestor William Henry Barlow's death and the location of his burial was discovered by family member and fellow researcher, Wayne Austin. Click here  for the details.