Amos Barnard was born on March 10, 1821, in Montgomery County, Ohio. The family moved to McLean County, Illinois, around 1841. He worked as a farmer in Bloomington, Illinois, and by 1850, he owned $3,000 of real estate. He married Arvestia Moulton around 1856, and they had at least seven children: Charles, born around 1857; Frank, born around 1859; Park, born around 1861; Jessie, born around 1863; Bertie, born around 1867; Hale, born around 1869; and Jennie, born around 1877.
They lived in Dale, Illinois, and by 1860, he owned $9,000 of real estate and $8,500 of personal property. According to an early biographer, he and his brother Osborn “went into partnership for the purpose of dealing in stock.” He developed heart disease around 1870 and travelled to California to recover his health. He supported the Republican Party, but he reportedly “took especial pains to keep out of politics.” He amassed a “large fortune,” rumored to total $150,000 at the time of his death. He died of blood poisoning near Dale on April 14, 1881.