Henry Manning Barr was born circa 1930, to James Barr and Minnie Schieberl-Barr, in Shackelford, Missouri, the sixth of their twelve children, where they would grow up on the family farm.

Henry would serve in WW II with three of his brothers, Henry at Pearl Harbor, Seaman Third Class, where he would once see his brother Donald "quite unexpectedly" once during the war, the "first time" the two had seen each other in two years". It is unknown whether Henry would marry or remain in Missouri after the war.