Tyler had to do a heritage project for school. It's a big deal for the entire 4th grade. They present their poster to the class and they bring in a dish for all of 4th grade to sample. Of course, this turned into a pretty big project for me. :-/ We decided that it would be fun to look up the men on the Barrett side and I actually enjoyed digging around on the internet and finding out information. I was able to trace all the way back to Tyler's 10th great-grandfather Barrett from England. That's 13 generations of Barretts. A few notes from what I found out: Tyler's 10th great-grandfather was Ralph Barrett, born in either Cheshire or Islington, England around 1630. His 9th great-grandfather was Arthur Barrett, born in Cheshire, England. He is the one that came to the US in the late 1600's. He was a Quaker and I was able to find actual minutes on record. We assume he came to the US for religious freedom and to own land. His son, Benjamin Barrett, (Tyler's great-uncle) is believed to have built the historic Barrett house at Green Spring in 1770, but I couldn't find details. Tyler's 8th great-grandfather was William Barrett, born in Pennsylvania. I also found Quaker minutes on record for him. Tyler's 7th great-grandfather was Reuben Barrett, born in 1775. I found that he was a Private horseman in the South Carolina Militia during the Revolutionary War. He was also a large plantation owner. He died 03/03/1813 in South Carolina. Tyler's 6th great-grandfather was John Barrett, born in 1776 in North Carolina. John Barrett’s sons (James Terrance Barrett, John R. Barrett and Reuben N. Barrett) founded Barrettsville in Dawson County, Georgia. Around 1830, James Terrance bought a trading post from Indians. The land was deeded to him by the state of Georgia. His brother John R. (Jack) and half-brother Reuben N. joined him, thus Barrettsville was founded. Some descendants remained in Dawson County, but as land opened up in the west, the younger Barretts sought new homes in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. All that remains is a grocery store and two church cemetaries. Tyler's 5th great-grandfather was John R. Barrett, born 01/28/1820 in Hall, Georgia. He died 01/29/1890. Tyler's 4th great-grandfather was John A. Barrett, born in 1844 in Lumpkin, Georgia. They are the ones that moved to Texas around 1870. He died in 1902 in Austin, Texas. Tyler's 3rd great-grandfather was John Franklin Barrett, born 12/28/1876 in Copperas Cove. He built and operated the first gas station in Pontotoc with his son, Merle Barrett (Tyler's 2nd great-grandfather). Merle Meredith Barrett was born 06/03/1896 in Pontotoc, TX. He was the County Commissioner. He died on 11/8/1951. Tyler's great-grandfather was John Perry Barrett (aka, Grandpop), born 10/16/1916 in Pontotoc. Lots of John Barrett's.
A couple of things that I couldn't find more details to confirm: I couldn't find out who Ralph Barrett's (10th great-grandfather) father was because it said that the government confiscated the documents, but his mother was Sarah Jenkins (which would have been Tyler's 11th great-grandmother). Her dad was Daniel Jenkins (12th great-grandfather). His dad was Sir Richard Henry Jenkins Knight (Tyler's 13th great-grandfather), born around 1566 and died 1611. I read that in order to become a Sir, the Crown has recognized your services to England and that Knights were generally given land for services rendered. Pretty cool! It also appears that they could have ties to the historic Barrett Farm in Concord, Massachusetts that was built in 1705. James Barrett's farm was the storage site for all of the town's military gunpowder and weapons during the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the American Revolutionary War. I couldn't confirm if James Barrett was a great uncle or cousin. I got a little history lesson looking all of this up and it was so interesting. I'd love to find out more details and then definitely look into my side of the family more when I have some time.
The dish that Tyler brought to school was cucumber/dill sandwiches and English tea. :-)
