Known as “Ensign Barnard” although his military rank was captain, Joseph Barnard was a Deerfield, Massachusetts, merchant who imported goods from Salem, Massachusetts, where his Uncle Samuel lived. He was prominent in town affairs, serving as selectman for fifteen years and town treasurer for nearly as long. He built a fine house in Deerfield, facing the common, with each room paneled in clear pine. The house was three stories high and two rooms deep, with a double-hip roof and elegant west and south doors. In 1740 he married Thankful Sheldon (1719-1772), who had grown up in Deerfield’s legendary “Old Indian House.” They had five children who survived to adulthood. Barnard’s fine house still stands on Deerfield’s main street and is now the Deerfield Academy headmaster’s home.