The Original portion of the Barnes-Gibson Home was constructed of adobe in 1851 by John R. Barnes. In 1867-1869 he built the two story brick structure and it was purchased in 1941 by Mr. & Mrs. James R. Gibson.

The John R. Barnes House is located at 10 South 100 West in Kaysville, Utah and was added to the National Historic Register (#82004121) on July 23, 1982.

This house is significant because of its association with John R. Barnes, the dominant economic figure in Kaysville during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries, and because it represents several distinct stages of architectural design in Utah. Originally built ca. 1869 as a small adobe structure, the house was extensively remodeled in the mid-1870s using a folk/vernacular plan, and in the early 1890s it received a Victorian addition that dramatically changed its character. Epitomizing the height of fashion in two distinct buildings styles, the house reflects John R. Barnes’ attempt to maintain a residence fully consistent with his economic status and social position in Kaysville.

Barnes was born in England, July 28, 1833 and emigrated to Utah as a convert to the Mormon Church in 1853. He settled in the newly established community of Kaysville, twenty five miles north of Salt Lake City, and for the next ten years, farmed and taught school. In 1863 he opened the first general merchandise store in Kaysville. The business flourished and became the foundation for other business ventures, and he operated it for the rest of his life. He also remained in farming throughout his life, becoming one of the largest landowners in Davis County. In 1891 he established the Barnes Banking Co. in Kaysville, in 1902 the Kaysville Canning Co., in 1905 the Kaysville Milling Co., and in 1907 the Davis County Canning Co. Thus, by the early twentieth Century, he was the dominant force in Kaysville’s economic life, owning the towns’ leading store, its bank, its cannery, its mill, and running one of the largest farming operations in the county.

Barnes was also active in political affairs. He was a member of the Kaysville City Council from 1868 until 1882, mayor from 1916 to 1918, a member of Utah’s Constitutional Convention in 1895, and a member of the first Utah State Legislature as senator from Davis County. Also active in Mormon Church affairs, he served in the bishopric of the Kaysville Ward for thirty years, from 1877 until 1907.

Barnes was a polygamist and married three wives, Emily Shelton in 1853, Elizabeth Geeves in 1865, and Emily Stewart in 1869. According to his son and biographer, “He was gradually becoming a man of affairs, indeed so much that he felt he was able to follow the practice of the one principle of the Gospel he had embraced that was enjoined as essential to the highest glory in the Celestial kingdom of God, plurality of wives.” Barnes built this house for his third wife, Emily Stewart, following his marriage to her in 1869. At the time, he was living with his first two wives and their children in a house about one block south of this one. Barnes evidently divided his time between the two houses. In 1875 his first wife died. It is not clear whether her five children remained with the second wife in the house in which they had been raised, or whether they moved in with the third wife, who now had three children of her own. In 1887 Barnes was convicted of “unlawful cohabitation” under the Edmunds Act of 1882, fined $300 and sentenced to three months in prison. To avoid further prosecution following his release from prison, he decided to legally marry and live with one of his two wives. With the consent of Elizabeth, his second wife, he married Emily Stewart, and lived with her and their children in this house. If they had not done so earlier, the children from his marriage with his first wife now moved into this house.

The architect of the second section of the house was William Allen, a largely self-trained architect/brick mason who worked extensively in Davis County. His influence may be seen in other substantial brick and stone houses in Kaysville. Born January 1870 in London, England, he emigrated to Utah as a Mormon convert in 1863 and settled in Kaysville. He worked first as a farmhand and then followed his father’s trade as a brick mason. After studying architecture and drafting by correspondence, he became Davis County’s most prominent architect. In addition to this house, he designed the Kaysville Presbyterian Church (1888), the Davis County Courthouse (1889-1890) , the Barnes Bank Building (1910), the Kaysville Tabernacle (1912), the Kaysville Elementary School (1918), and homes for Henry H. Bloc4, governor of Utah from 1932 to 1940, John G. M. Barnes, Hyrum Stewart, James Smith, John Barton and his own house.