Dr. James Barnsfather
From the book
Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 7th ed.,
Dr. James Barnsfather was born in Banff, Scotland in 1838, the son of Stenhouse Barnsfather, who was professor of languages in the academy in Banff; the latter was a son of James Barnsfather of Stenton, Scotland. The mother of our subject was Margaret (Clyne) Barnsfather, daughter of a distinguished naval officer under Lord Nelson at Trafalgar, and a niece of the Governor of Tasmania. Having been educated in the classics and chemistry at Edinburgh, and read medicine in London, Dr. Barnsfather came to the United States in 1866, and studied in both Miami and the Cincinnati Medical College, graduating in 1873 and becoming a naturalized citizen in 1877.
In 1871 he married Annie Dernbach, who died November 8, 1876, and the Doctor then married Anna Belle Clark, daughter of John S. Clark, of Pleasureville, Ky.
He practiced in Cincinnati and Dayton, Kentucky securing a large practice. But his chief service to his profession and to the world, besides his frequent distributions to medical literature, was while engaged as a microscopist. Files of the Cincinnati Medical News show that in 1875 Dr. Barnsfather discovered the bacillus of scarlatina maligna, but the editor advised him not to give the discovery to his brethren. The same year he found the bacillus of consumption, which was found by Koch eight years later. Dr. Barnsfather did not recognize the tremendous importance which the profession has since accorded to the finding of the bacillie.
During the latter half of the 19th century, he and several other local physicians began an expensive hobby-microscopy. This remarkable man registered fro his Kentucky State License in 1893. In early as 1900 he was still practicing in Dayton. He died from pneumonia on July 19, 1903 at his home, 129 Sixth Avenue, Dayton, Kentucky.