My Genealogy Hound

Edwin G. Barrett. Prominent among the prosperous and intelligent young farmers of Craighead County, may be mentioned the name of Edwin G. Barrett, a native of the county, born April 21, 1859. His paternal grandfather was Caswell Barrett, a native of South Carolina, who was reared in that State and all his life followed agricultural pursuits. He was born in 1793 and died in 1830. His wife, Nancy (Ferguson) Barrett, also a native of South Carolina, was of Irish descent, and to their union were born two sons and two daughters, the only survivor being Arthur J., who is now a prominent planter of Craighead County. He was born in Greenville District, S. C., August 31, 1821, and was reared on the farm, receiving a very good education. In 1858, to better his fortune, he concluded to come to Arkansas, and with his wife and three children and household goods, started in a wagon for this State. After traveling sixty days, he drove up and unhitched his wagon at his present farm, where he has lived ever since. There are 140 acres in the homestead, about ninety under cultivation, and he has also eighty-three acres of very rich land on the edge of “Cache Bottom.” He has always been a Democrat in politics, but has never aspired to office. Before the war, he was county surveyor for one term, and during the war was in the Confederate service. He was married October 11, 1849, to Eunice Barton, a native of Georgia, whose parents were Willoughby and Sarah (West) Barton, both natives of South Carolina. Her mother died in 1844, and her father afterward came to Arkansas and died in White County in 1862. Of Mr. and Mrs. Barrett’s ten children, only five are living, viz., William F. (married to Marzee Watkins), Mary (wife of Peyton Watkins), Edwin G. (the immediate subject of this sketch), and Sarah and Eliza at home. Those deceased are: Albert, Gilford, Luther, John and Nancy. Nancy was the wife of S. A. Neal, and left three little children, Arthur, Marvin and Ida Myrtle. Mr. and Mrs. Barrett and their entire family are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and those deceased were members. Edwin G. was reared on his father’s farm, receiving a very fair education. He has been principally engaged in farming, but was for a while a clerk in the mercantile trade. He has a nice farm of seventy-five acres, forty of which are splendidly improved. January 20, 1885, he married Julia Dodds, a daughter of Allen and Julia (Saye) Dodds, residents of this county. This union has been blessed by two children: Alva and Margaret. Mr. Barrett is a man of strong political convictions, and is a Democrat. Both he and his wife are devout Christians, the former a member of the Missionary Baptist Church, and the latter of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.