John Paul Barringer was born or baptized on September 12, 1721 in Schwaigen, Germany. His parents were Johaan Mattaus Beringer and Anna Catherina Boger. He had eleven brothers and sisters who all grew up there attending the Evangelical City Lutheran Church.

Not a wealthy man, John Paul migrated in 1743 and began his journey to America. Many who engaged in transoceanic travel perished as only the strongest and fittest could withstand the hardships. Children under seven rarely survived dying of hunger, thirst, or sickness. Few women escaped with their lives, often being buried at sea with their small children. Usually these immigrants had contracts for labor in the New World to pay for their passage. Upon arrival to America in Philadelphia, they were forced to sign a pledge of Allegiance to the British Crown.
John Paul arrived in America on September 30, 1743, and within a year he had fully met his contractual agreement for his passage. He met and married Ann Eliza Eisman, probably having done his indenture under her father. Catherine, their first child, was born in 1760. Sometime before moving to North Carolina, John Paul had sent for his parents and his brother to come to America. Both of his parents perished on the voyage. His brother Mathias did not and settled in Lincoln County, NC.

John Paul, Ann Eliza, and Catherine left Pennsylvania probably between the harvest of 1751 and the spring planting of 1752. Records in Bucks County indicated he vacated his land and moved. He had acquired land in North Carolina by April 1753. Most of the early settlers in Anson and Mecklenburg Counties were ‘squatters”; that is, they did not have a legal title to the land. John Paul was a squatter in Anson County near the present town of Mount Pleasant. Since 1792 this area has been in Cabarrus County. He applied for the legal title on April 2, 1753, and it was not granted until 1762.
Although no other people were more patriotic than the Germans, they were not the first to turn against the British government. However, once convinced that the cause for independence was right, the Germans were totally committed. John Paul was too old for active service in the Revolutionary war. At the beginning of the war, he was offered an appointment as a British officer but refused. He remained home during the conflict. During the later years of the war, the infamous Fanning Gang from east of the Yadkin, swept into the Dutch Buffalo settlement of Mecklenburg County. They robbed the Germans, destroying their property and carried about twenty of the leading citizens, including John Paul, to prison in Camden, South Carolina. Betsy Phifer Blackwelder, mother–in-law of John Paul, rode to Camden to try to secure their release, but the British refused. They were kept in prison until near the end of the war. When released, he made his way home only to catch smallpox. He conveyed the illness to two of his older children who were badly marked.

John Paul was a Captain in the local Militia, a member of the Committee of Safety, and was appointed to the Halifax Convention in 1776.

He died on January 1, 1807 and is buried in St Joh’s Church in Concord.