False Rumors, Files, Stories and Other Things Circulating About The Reuben Barrett Family
This page has been created with the help and guidance of Karen McCan Hett who has been researching the Reuben Barrett Family since the 1960's.
There are so many false statements out there that we have run across in doing research on the Reuben Barrett family. I decided to make a page to see if we can dispell some of these rumours. Once you get ahold of something it can lead you in a total opposite direction and make your research even more confusing.
Any person researching their family should have two major rules that they always follow:
1. Always insist on seeing solid proof of any fact before you believe anything you see, hear or read.
2. Always check out the sources of any information YOURSELF. Don't take someone elses word for it, and always document your sources well.
Reuben and Hannah
Rumor #1. "Reuben Barrett was born in VA. in 1755." THE FACT IS:
There is NO SOLID PROOF, We do NOT know where Reuben Barrett was born, or the exact year, if we knew this then someone would have already found his parents. A researcher found an exact date in the LDS files, but when he tried to contact her for the source she never answered him. He did give his birth year at the time he joined the Revolutionary War, so we can pin it down to 1755-56.
Rumor #2. Hannah's Maiden Name "Hannah Nelson, Hannah Dill, Hannah Doty"
THE FACT IS:
There is NO SOLID PROOF, No one has ever been able to prove what Hannah's maiden name was. There are a lot of theories out there depending on who you ask, the closest anyone has gotten is a letter that was found that was written by one of her great grandsons that refers to her name as Doty/Doughty."
The Dill version was begun by an early Barrett Researcher stating a theory, and it got passed around as fact, it has been shown to be erroneous.
A case can be made for the surname Nelson, but all the evidence is strictly circumstantial.
Rumor #3."Reuben's Fathers name was William Barrett." THE FACT IS:
There is NO SOLID PROOF what Reuben Barretts' fathers name was.
This rumor came from a paper that Karen Hett wrote back in the 1980's it was only a synopsis based on naming traditions in the family that she researched. She never meant it to be taken as fact, it was written as purely hypothetical and someone got ahold of it and took it as fact, published it in a book and donated the book to about every library in the free-world! It has been circulating for the last 20 years.
Rumor #4. "Reuben was a Quaker and therefore must be a son or grandson of Arthur and Lydia Barrett." THE FACT IS:
There is NO SOLID PROOF whether if he was a Quaker or not.
Karen Hett wrote a paper in 1987 about some records she had found at the Victoria, Texas library in the book called "Quaker Families of South Carolina & Georgia by William F. Medlin. Published by Ben Franklin Press. The book listed some Barrett's at a Quaker meeting, one of them being the name Reuben, She talked about it and sent the paper to several researchers at the time, one of them said "Maybe Reuben's name was on a wedding list". It was just an idea as to why Reuben would be at these Quaker meetings, as they were looking for an explanation.
This letter was circulated before she could do furthur research into the records. This does not constitute that he was a Quaker, only that he knew some Quakers. He educated his daughters which was common for Quakers. But he also owned slaves which was a definate no-no! He may have been a Quaker at one time and then turned Baptist, who knows? No proof has been found.
He may be related to Arthur and Lydia Barrett, but once again there has never been any proof of a connection, just assumptions. Dina McBride has been working on trying to find if there is a connection with this Quaker family and there is a link to a paper she wrote called "Reuben Barrett's Parentage" on the Reuben webpage, if you would like to investagate this furthur.
5. Reuben's name spelling. All the papers that have been found where Reuben signed his name, he spelled it REUBIN, but it has been spelled REUBEN for so long and by all the Barrett researchers, most of us just use the popular spelling.
David Barrett
Rumor #1."David Barrett and Elizabeth Whitten Barrett had a daughter named "Lucy"." I have seen this before on the internet many times,"One of the daughters of David Barrett according to old letters seen by Mr. Arthur Reagan was Lucy Barrett" "In the 1830 census of Fayette Co.TN it says in David's household there was 3 sons 10-15, 1 daughter 10-15, 1 daughter 5-10." Another one is: "They had 5 children, "3 sons and 2 daughters".
THE FACT IS:
There IS SOLID PROOF of who LUCY was.
David Barrett and Elizabeth Whitten had 4 children, John Whitten Barrett, Albert Gallitan Barrett, Mary Barrett and Miriam Hannah Barrett.This has been verified by the family Bible records of both John W. Barrett (copy in the Madisonville Library in DAR records) and of Albert Gallatin Barrett (original was in possession of Billy Barrett in Giddings during his lifetime.)
The "Lucy that is mentioned from the letter, was an old slave woman that David bought from his father's estate in South Carolina. There are legal documents from his father's estate where David said, talking about buying the slave Lucy, "The only reason I bought the old wench was she begged me to." Lucy went from South Carolina to Tennessee with the Barrett family and I presume she died there. The letter that Mr. Reagan was referring to was a letter that David wrote to his father in law about their trip, a copy can be read on David Barrett's webpage on this site.
Nancy Barrett Sellers
Rumor #1. "Nancy Barrett married James Sulurs." THE FACT IS:
There IS SOLID PROOF the name was "Sellers".
Nancy Barrett was married to James Sellers, although in Reubens will his name is spelled "Sulars".In all other legal documents the surname is spelled as "Sellers". Names in handwritten documents in this era were often mispelled.
Prudence Barrett Ward
Rumor #1."Prudence married Phillip Ward or William W. Ward." THE FACT IS:
There IS SOLID PROOF:
Prudence was only married once and it was to William J. Ward. There is a letter that I personally have a copy of that was written by William and he refers to Prudence in her old age, and of their life together. It is signed William J. Ward. There have been several census records and other records that list his name as William W. Ward.
When Lois Barrett O'Kelly was doing research in Greenville, one of the elderly ladies there told her that Prudence's husbands' name was Phillip Ward and it was circulated around for awhile,this was before the letter was found where he signed his name. I believe it is in the LDS files also.
more to come...............