She was 18 years old when she left Kentucky and made the difficult overland trip to California with her family in 1852. In California, Sarah married Allyn Mather Barnard on April 24, 1855 at the Lone Tree Ranch in Colusa County. Allyn was born in Monroe, New York on Feb.3, 1824. His father was Timothy Barnard and his mother was Julia Hills, both of Massachusetts.

The Butte County Great Register in 1878 listed Allyn as stablekeeper at Nord. He may have died on Feb. 18, 1902 in a Napa County, California sanitarium. Other sources state that he died on Jan. 31, 1902 in San Francisco or that he lived the last few years of his life at Half Moon Bay, just south of San Francisco. The Napa location was provided in a family diary, however, and is probably correct.

Sarah's daughter Marie Elaine Barnard, best known as Marie Russak Hotchener, grew up to be a singer and writer. She was a prominent member of the Theosophical Society. Marie became the international spokesperson for the Theosophical Society and lectured overseas on their behalf. She later designed houses in Hollywood, California. For more about Marie, see the link below on this page.

"Built in 1884 by Dr. C. C. Mason, this house has had ties to the university from the beginning. On the corner of Normal Street and Third Street, Dr. Mason built a residence in the fashionable Italianate style. Mason was a Chico Normal School committee member, as was Timothy H. Barnard. Barnard bought the home in 1891, after Mason's death. Serving seven years as a trustee for the school, Barnard was also a Civil War veteran, a state assemblyman and the owner of Barnard Livery Company. In the early 1910s, Barnard remodeled the Italianate house with the addition of such Classical Revival elements as the column and portico in order to keep up with the current fashions in architecture." Photo courtesy of CSU, Chico IMC.

Marie Elaine Barnard, born Oct. 7, 1865 in Four Corners, Butte County, Calif.
She led a very interesting life and married three times. In addition to being a singer, writer and architect, Marie was also a prominent leader of the Theosophical Society. She died in 1945 in Hollywood, California.