Thomas (3), son of Thomas (2) and Susanna (Riggs) Barden, was born in Attleboro, February 24, 1765. In 1788-89 he disappeared permanently from his hone in Attleboro, and never returned, nor was he ever heard from. It was thought at the time that he might have gone to the then district of Maine, where many young men from Massachusetts were settling as pioneers at that time, but this supposition was never verified. The Thomas Barden previously referred to as the ancestor of the Ontario county family, was, according to information at hand, born near Boston and settled in the town of Seneca in 1790. It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that he was the identical Thomas Barden who disappeared from Attleboro in 1788-89, and turning westward instead of eastward found an acceptable home in the wilderness of Western New York. For a number of years Thomas Barden operated a sawmill at Bellona, manufacturing lumber on quite an extensive scale, and he furnished the material for the old Geneva Hotel, which is now (1910) the Hygienic Institute of that city. In 1795 he purchased of John McKinstry a farm of one hundred acres, and in 1807 he bought another hundred-acre lot of Daniel Smith, the latter being a part of what was known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchases. Both of these farms were located in the town of Seneca. At the breaking out of the war of 1812-15, he entered the army, holding the rank of captain, and was killed in battle.
