Most of what we know about the early Barrett family comes from their connection to the Joyner family. Frederick Joyner Sr. mentioned “my daughter Ruth Barret” in his will from 1818.¹ “Ruthy” Barrett is listed in the 1830 census in Lancaster County.² There appears to be a Will Barrett (although it may be Barnett) listed next to Frederick Joiner in 1800.³ This is the only Barrett other than Rutha in the early census records. He may be the William Barrett living in Kershaw County in 1820. It therefore appears likely that this was the husband of Rutha and he had died before the 1830 census.

From various records pertaining to the estate of Frederick Joyner Jr. (see the Joyner article for details), Rutha is known to have had six children: Joyner D. Barrett, Wesley Barrett, Jasper Frederick Barrett, Emily Barrett Auten, Newton D. Barrett, and Sarah C. Barrett Kendrick.

The family had moved to Alabama by 1840 and is found listed in the census in Covington County.⁴ Some of the children are listed there as customers of a store operated by James B. Parker in the Rose Hill area of the County known at the time as Cauleysville.⁵

Rutha probably died before 1850 in Covington County as she is not listed on the 1850 census. Most of the children had moved to Tennessee and some back to South Carolina afterwards, all before 1850. Wesley is the only one who appears to have stayed later in Alabama. He appears in 1850 in Chambers County, Alabama living with a Martha, born about 1785 in North Carolina, and three children, William age 18, born in North Carolina, Thomas age 15, born in South Carolina, and Frances age 12, born in South Carolina.⁶ Given the age difference between him and Martha, perhaps this was a deceased sibling or relative’s family or perhaps Martha was a widow with children when he married her. Also, based on the list of customers of the store in Covington in the 1830s, Wesley was there during that time, but these Barretts were born in North Carolina and South Carolina during that same time. There is a Prestly Barrett living near the Barretts in 1840. The ages of the children match the ones living with Wesley in 1850, so this is either Wesley or a brother who died between 1840 and 1850.

Meanwhile, Newton, Jasper, Sarah Kendrick, and Emily Auten had all moved to Stewart County, Tennessee by 1844 when they appear in a criminal court case.⁷ The State charged Newton Barrett, James P. Kendrick and Jasper Barrett with falsifying bills of sale in order to help slaves run away. Newton appeared to be the main culprit. He was let out on bond put up by Wilie/Wiley Barrett, but then after the first part of the trial escaped custody and eluded capture.⁸ Rewards were offered but he was not apprehended. The court did not make Willie pay the bond. Newton and his family were living in Lancaster County in 1850,⁹ so it’s likely he traveled directly back to South Carolina. Jasper followed him back eventually, and they were both living in nearby Union County, North Carolina in 1860.¹⁰ Joyner D. Barrett was listed in Stewart County, Tennessee in 1860.¹¹ It’s likely his family and the family of his sister Sarah Auten remained there. Sarah C. Kendrick eventually moved down to Georgia,¹² where her husband James died in 1895.¹³

Clues to Early Barrett Family

The post 1870 census records include the birth state for each parent for every individual listed (but not the name). These census records for Wesley and Jasper who both lived long enough to appear in these records list that the father was born in North Carolina and the mother in South Carolina. This fits with the mother Rutha being being in South Carolina as the Joyners lived in Lancaster County at the time she would have been born. This also indicates that the father, William Barrett, was probably born in North Carolina. Interestingly the family cemetery where Newton and Jasper are buried is located in Union County, North Carolina, just across the border from Lancaster County. It is not known how they came to acquire that land or how far back it goes.

Another clue is the association with Wilie/Wiley Barrett in Tennessee. His name is spelled Wilie Barrett in the court record in which he held bond for Newton Barrett during the trial. Other records give his name as Wiley Barrett. He was listed as Wiley Barrett in the 1860 census,¹⁴ living in Stewart County, Tennessee, the same county the court cases are from. He is listed as 86 years old (thus born c1774) and born in North Carolina. Given the comparable age and birth state, this could be a brother of William Barrett.

Another clue has been provided by YDNA testing. A descendant of Wesley Barrett has participated in the Barrett YDNA Project (Kit #971664) and some of the closest matches descend from a George Allen Barrett (13 Apr 1776 – 30 Aug 1836) who is buried in the Bethsaida Cemetery Posey County, Indiana.¹⁵ Very little is currently known about George, but he is thought to have been from South Carolina and had connections to Virginia.

Newton D. Barrett

Newton was born 3 Sep 1820 in South Carolina, probably the next to youngest of the Barrett children. His appearance in the court records of Stewart County, Tennessee has already been mentioned.

It appears that we have Newton’s signature, which appears with very similar style, in both the receipt where he acted as attorney for Joyner D. Barrett in receiving the portion of his uncle Frederick Joyner Jr.’s estate, and also in the court record from Stewart County, Tennessee.

A page from his family Bible was shared on Ancestry by Paul Dean McDonald, a descendant of Newton by his first wife, and by comparison with these signatures it appears he probably wrote at least the entry for his birth date and wife’s birth date.

Newton was married twice. First to Mary E. Barnett by whom he had children: William Jackson Barrett, Eliza Jane Barrett, Robert Angas Barrett, Newton Franklin Barrett, Mary Matilda Barrett, and Martha Alice Barrett. A number of these children died in infancy and are buried along with Newton and Mary in the Barrett Family Cemetery.¹⁶

As mentioned earlier, Newton was living in Lancaster County in 1850, but had moved to Union County by 1860. According to family knowledge recorded by Mr. William Barrett, Newton and Mary lived on or near the Charles Yarbrough Farm near Monroe in Union County.¹⁷

Newton’s first wife Mary died 10 Nov 1862.¹⁸ He remarried to Mary Catherine Blackmon, probably in 1864 or 1865. She was much younger, around twenty years old at the time, while he was about forty-five.

Newton was part of Company D, 1st (Butler’s) South Carolina Infantry during the Civil War. He enlisted on 19 Oct 1863 in Lancaster under Capt Billings and is marked as present in later rolls.¹⁹

The story of Newton’s death is one that has been passed down the family and apparently verified at times in the past with those who had first hand knowledge of the situation. He died 6 Oct 1865. Here is the story as recorded in the Hinson book:

“The following comes from an interview with Brady Green, an elderly neighbor, who lives near the scene of Newton D. Barrett’s accidental death…In Reconstruction days a Mr. McCain owned land and had corn planted on a large area between the Green family farm and the present Hwy. #522. They received a report that some of the Negroes were stealing a lot of his corn at night. A posse was formed to catch them. In the darkness two men were spotted coming out of the corn field. Two shots were hastily fired and, later, they learned they had accidently killed Newton Barrett, a posse member. They agreed that Alex Nesbit’s shot had killed him. (Nesbit was a neighbor and friend.)”²⁰

However, the local newspaper at the time had a different story to tell, one that makes Newton to be the culprit:

Newton’s young wife Mary Catherine was pregnant with their first child when Newton was killed. Newton’s children by his first wife Mary Barnett were raised by Newton’s brother Jasper F. Barrett who lived in Union County, just above Lancaster County. Jasper died in 1904, and he and his wife Elizabeth were buried in the Barrett family cemetery where Newton and his first wife Mary were buried. Jasper is not believed to have had any children.

The widow Mary Catherine remarried to William Estridge on 24 Oct 1875, about ten years after Newton’s death, and her son Albert Newton Barrett grew up in the Estridge household.

Mary Catherine died on 12 Nov 1926 and was buried in the Shamrock Baptist Church Cemetery in neighboring Kershaw County.

Albert Newton Barrett

Grandpa Barrett as he was called by the older generation was born 13 May 1866 which was about seven months after his father was killed. He grew up in the Estridge household after his mother remarried and is listed with them in the 1880 census as “Albert Barret.”²¹

Albert worked at a cotton mill in Rock Hill at one point. Later, the family operated a farm.²² He married Lauran Ann Crimminger, daughter of Robert Adam and Mary Jane Crimminger, around 1886. They had five children: Mamie, Theodicia, Ben, Robert, and Carrie.

According to his daughter Edna, Albert was given 67 acres around 1887 by his father-in-law Robert Crimminger. Albert build the house on the property about 1898 and added a bedroom and rebuilt the chimney around 1902-1904.

Laura passed away in 1900 and left Albert with five young children, the youngest two years of age. Albert remarried to Mary Jane Vincent the next year. Together they had nine children, the first of whom, Martha, died as an infant. The other children were Katie, John, Chapman, Eva Mae, Ernest, Edna, Daisy, and Fred.

Grandpa Barrett enjoyed photography. An item in the newspaper from 1901 reporting on a reunion of the Jefferson J. Reeves family in the Primus section stated that “Mr. A. N. Barrett took a photograph of the group.”²³

The local newspaper was often a way to share items of interest in the community and advertise local business and family news. The Lancaster News carried the following item in 1906:

A grandson, William Barrett, reported that Grandpa Barrett always had a car. He had a Ford Model-T and later a 1930’s era Chevy. The boys would sometimes sneak the car out at night and role it down to the creek before cranking it to go see their girlfriends. When they returned, they would shut it off at the top of the hill and coast down into the shed.²⁴

The Barrett family began having reunions yearly around the time of Grandpa Barrett’s birthday mid-May and later moved it to the beginning of June. Reunions were held at the old family place and later often at nearby Oakhurst Baptist Church.

Grandpa and Grandma Barrett lived in the house until 1951 when Grandma Barrett died. Afterwards Grandpa stayed with Uncle Chapman. In 1954, Grandpa went out one day to get the mail while Chapman was away. On his way back into the house, he was reading the newspaper and stumbled over a chair and broke his hip in the fall. While in the hospital, he contracted pneumonia and passed away.²⁵

Edna Dixon Barrett Reeves

Grandmama Reeves, as our family called here, was born 22 Dec 1915.²⁶ She grew up, along with all her siblings, at the house her father had built on Barrett Rd. She and Stanley “Granddaddy” Reeves were married 4 Nov 1933.²⁷ They moved several times, eventually settling on some property on East St. in Heath Springs where they raised their family.

1. Kershaw County, South Carolina Equity Roll 243. [Original], [Transcript]  ↩︎
2. “United States Census, 1830”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHGY-766 : Fri Mar 08 14:29:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Rthy Barrett, 1830. ↩︎
3. “United States Census, 1800”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRH-BK9 : Wed Mar 06 16:42:20 UTC 2024), Entry for Will Barnet, 1800. ↩︎
4. “United States Census, 1840”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHT8-DVR : Thu Jul 18 01:40:06 UTC 2024), Entry for Rutha Barret, 1840.  ↩︎
5. Tracking Your Roots – Excerpt of article “How Did Rose Hill Get It’s Name?”, The Opp News, 18 Oct 1973. ↩︎
6. “United States, Census, 1850”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHPT-K6Q : Tue Dec 03 21:27:00 UTC 2024), Entry for Wesley Barrett and Martha Barrett, 1850. ↩︎
7. “State vs. Newton Barrett, James P. Kendrick, Jasper Barrett – Falsifying bills of sale to
   assist slaves in running away from John James and Daniel Luton” – Stewart Co., Tennessee Court Case, 1846 [Original] ↩︎
8. “State vs. Wilie Barrett – Forfeited recognizance bond in the state case vs. Newton Barrett” –
   Stewart Co., Tennessee Court Case, 1846 [Original] ↩︎
9. “United States, Census, 1850”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8QJ-SPT : Tue Dec 03 21:51:33 UTC 2024), Entry for D N Barret and M E Barret, 1850. ↩︎
10. “United States, Census, 1860”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDD5-KC6 : Mon Jul 08 16:34:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Newton D Barrott and Mary Barrott, 1860. ↩︎
11. “United States, Census, 1860”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8T2-9VW : Mon Jul 08 22:28:46 UTC 2024), Entry for Joiner Barret and Martha Barret, 1860. ↩︎
12. “United States, Census, 1870”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MC3R-2ZF : Tue Mar 05 01:34:54 UTC 2024), Entry for Jas P Kendrick and Sarah Kendrick, 1870. ↩︎
13. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/25680313/j_p-kendrick: accessed December 3, 2024), memorial page for J P Kendrick (13 Nov 1809–20 Feb 1895), Find a Grave Memorial ID 25680313, citing Mount Olive Baptist Church Cemetery, East Point, Fulton County, Georgia, USA; Maintained by Sarah Locklin Taylor (contributor 46921363). ↩︎
14. “United States, Census, 1860”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8T2-7WL : Mon Jul 08 22:37:34 UTC 2024), Entry for Wiley Barrett and Eliza Hardison, 1860. ↩︎
15. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34301349/george-barrett: accessed December 5, 2024), memorial page for George Barrett (13 Apr 1776–30 Aug 1836), Find a Grave Memorial ID 34301349, citing Bethsaida Cemetery, Posey County, Indiana, USA; Maintained by New England Family (contributor 47735816). ↩︎
16. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54628330/newton_d-barrett: accessed December 5, 2024), memorial page for Newton D Barrett (3 Sep 1820–6 Oct 1865), Find a Grave Memorial ID 54628330, citing Barrett Cemetery, Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Paul McDonald (contributor 46977293). ↩︎
17. Barrett, William Alexander. (2005) Our Barrett Family History, p26 ↩︎
18. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63746744/mary_e-barrett: accessed December 5, 2024), memorial page for Mary E. Barnett Barrett (28 Jul 1830–10 Nov 1862), Find a Grave Memorial ID 63746744, citing Barrett Cemetery, Monroe, Union County, North Carolina, USA; Maintained by Paul McDonald (contributor 46977293). ↩︎
19. Fold3.com. US, Civil War Service Records (CMSR) – Confederate – South Carolina, 1861-1865 ↩︎
20. Whitaker, Mary Hinson. Our Hinson Heritage in N.C. and S.C., p192 ↩︎
21. “United States, Census, 1880”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6SJ-392 : Sun Mar 10 22:22:30 UTC 2024), Entry for William Estridge and Mary C. Estridge, 1880. ↩︎
22. Barrett, William Alexander. (2005) Our Barrett Family History, p33 (Interview with Edna Barrett Reeves, 1996) ↩︎
23. Lancaster Enterprise, 20 Mar 1901 ↩︎
24. Barrett, William Alexander. (2005) Our Barrett Family History, p35 ↩︎
25. Barrett, William Alexander. (2005) Our Barrett Family History, p35 ↩︎
26. South Carolina Electronic Records Archive – Edna Dixon Barrett Birth Certificate ↩︎
27. “South Carolina, County Marriage Licenses, 1911-1951”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Z4SX-DQ2M : Sat Mar 09 05:42:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Stanley Boyd Reeves and Edna Dixon Barrett, 4 Nov 1933. ↩︎