Jesse Barnett (abt. 1803 - abt. 1862)

Born about 1803 in Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Providence (Conaway) Barnett — married 18 Mar 1824 in Bourbon, Kentucky, United States

Husband of Sarah A. (Rozzell) Barnett — married 5 Mar 1846 in McLean, Illinois, United States

Descendants

Died about 1862 at about age 59 in Illinois, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jim Kennedy [send private message]

Biography

Jesse Barnett was born in Kentucky about 1803.^[1] His parents were Robert Barnett and Nancy Davis. As described in the WikiTree profile for his father Robert Barnett, the family moved from Pennsylvania to Bourbon County, Kentucky about 1796, and then to to Darke County, Ohio about 1816.^[2]

Jesse apparently returned to Bourbon County, Kentucky as a young man, where he married Providence Conaway on March 18, 1824.^[3] Her parents were William and Nancy Conaway, who had a large family in Bourbon County.

Jesse Barnett was in the annual tax list for Bourbon County, Kentucky in 1825 and 1826, but was not found in 1827 to 1830.^[4] Jesse and his family apparently left Bourbon County Kentucky by 1827. Their son Harrison was born about 1828, but the 1850 US census has him born in Indiana and the 1860 US census has Illinois.^[5] Illinois may be more plausible because the parents and at least seven of the married siblings of Jesse’s wife Providence moved from Bourbon County, Kentucky to Illinois in the late 1820s and early 1830s (as described in the WikiTree profile for her father William Conaway).^[6] Jesse and Providence may have joined them. However, it is also possible that both census records are incorrect and Harrison was actually born in Ohio.

Jesse and Providence were living next to Jesse’s father in Darke County, Ohio at the time of the 1830 US census.^[7] In 1831 Jesse’s father and the extended family moved to Cass County, Indiana. Jesse and Providence apparently went with them because their daughter Nancy was born in Indiana in December, 1831.

By 1833 Jesse and Providence had settled in McLean County, Illinois where Providence’s extended family lived. Jesse and Providence’s later children were all born in McLean County.

A family tree passed down from Robert Claude Barnett, a grandson of Jesse’s son Thompson “Tip” Barnett, had a list of the children in Jesse’s family. The family tree is generally assumed to have come from Thompson Barnett. The family tree had a list of names without birth or death dates and appears to be by descending age.

The list of the children of Jesse and Providence from the family tree is given below, with the dates of birth and death and the locations of their births and burials for those that have been identified. The birth dates and locations are from obituaries, census records, and military records. References to sources are not provided here but may be found on the profiles for the children. Estimates about the birth years for the children that have not been identified are also included based on the ages of the other children and the date of marriage for Jesse and Providence.

To the extent known: (birth: mo., year, county, state — death: year, burial county, state)

• Robert (birth: estimate 1825)
• Morgan (birth: estimate early 1827)
• Harrison (birth: probably late 1828, 1850 census has birth in IN & 1860 census has IL — death: 1863, McLean Co., IL)
• Matilda (birth: estimate early 1830)
• Nancy (birth: Dec., 1831, IN — death: 1910, Jewell Co., KS. Married William Barnett.)
• Merit (birth: Nov., 1833, McLean Co., IL — death: 1925, Decatur Co., KS)
• Chalton (birth: estimate early 1835, McLean Co., IL — death: 1861, Cole Co., MO. Died in a hospital as a soldier in the Civil War.)
• Harvey (birth: estimate late 1836)
• Thompson (birth: April, 1838, McLean Co., IL — death: 1931, Jewell Co., KS)
• Amos (birth: March, 1840, McLean Co., IL — death: 1870, Vermilion Co., IL)
• Elvira (birth: June, 1843, IL, probably McLean Co. — death: 1922, McLean Co., IL. Married Robert Householder)
  

Providence apparently died sometime after the birth of her last child in June, 1843. No records of her death or burial have been found, including searches of records at local libraries and local newspapers.

Jesse married Sarah (Rozzell) Hale on March 5, 1846 in McLean County, Illinois^[8]. She was born about 1808 in North Carolina. As described in her WikiTree profile, she had previously married Isaac G. Hale.

In the 1850 US census for McLean County, the family included a son Jas (or possibly Jos) Hale age 6 born in Illinois, as well as Jesse’s children Chalton age 17, Thompkins [Thompson] age 13, Amos age 11, and Ellen [Elvira] age 8 from his first marriage and Elliott age 4, and George age 2 from his second marriage.^[9] By the time of the 1860 US census the family was living in Vermilion County, Illinois.^[10]

Jesse and Sarah had three sons:

• Elbert F. (birth: March, 1847, McLean Co., IL — death: 1919, Garfield Co., OK)
• George (birth: Dec., 1849, McLean Co., IL — death: 1920, Orange Co., CA)
• Jesse (birth: Nov., 1851, IL — death: 1909, Orange Co., CA)

Jesse died about 1862, according to the obituary for his son Jesse.^[11] No records of his death or burial have been found, including searches of local library records and by the local Illiana Genealogical & Historical Society.

Research Notes

At least three sources provide evidence that Jesse was the son of Robert and Nancy (Davis) Barnett. First, the family tree passed down from Robert Claude Barnett had a list of siblings in Jesse’s family as: Jim, Moses, Harris, Thompson, Henry, and Jesse. That is an accurate but incomplete list of the children of Robert and Nancy Barnett, as can be seen from the WikiTree profile for Robert Barnett (1772-1852). The family tree may have been compromised by transcription errors over the decades. The siblings for Jesse and for his wife Providence Conaway (misspelled as Conway in the tree) are on the same line. The siblings for Providence include Asbery and Bob, who have not been found in the Conaway family, but are missing siblings for Jesse.

Second, a biographical summary about Robert Barnett (1772-1852) in a book states that his sons James, Robert, and Jesse all died in Illinois.^[12] As described in the WikiTree profiles for James Barnett and Robert Barnett (1807-1894), there is independent evidence that they were brothers of Jesse, and all died in Illinois.

Third, the 1830 US census for Darke County, Ohio with Jesse Barnett’s family living next to Robert Barnett (1772-1852) is a perfect match for Jesse’s family at that time.^[7] The census has counts of the number of males and females in specified age groups. The list of Jesse’s children above maps perfectly to the census counts as shown below:
2 males < 5 years old: Morgan 3 and Harrison 2,
1 male 5 to 9 years old: Robert 5,
1 male 20 to 29 years old: Jesse 27,
1 female < 5 years old: Matilda less than a year,
1 female 20 to 29 years old: Providence 27.

Sources

1. ↑ Jesse Barnett was born about 1805 in Kentucky according to the 1850 US census, and about 1802 in Kentucky according to the 1860 census. He would have been born in 1803 or earlier if he was 21 when he married in 1824.
   "US Census, 1850," Jesse Barnett, McLean County, Illinois. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8RQ-HY8
   "US Census, 1860," Jesse Barnet, Carroll Township, Vermilion County, Illinois. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXH5-3Y4
2. ↑ Robert Barnett, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Barnett-12300
3. ↑ “Conaway Marriages in Bourbon County, Kentucky, 1795-1830” https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Conaway_Marriages_in_Bourbon_County%2C_Kentucky%2C_1795-1830
4. ↑ The tax list searches were done by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Public Records Division, Archival Services Branch, https://kdla.ky.gov/researchers/Pages/recordsrequestforms.aspx
5. ↑ "US Census, 1850," Harrison Barnett in household of George W. Price, Bloomington Precinct, McLean County, Illinois. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8RQ-MCD
   "US Census, 1860," Harrison Barnett, West Township, McLean County, Illinois. https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXHL-9P2
6. ↑ William Conaway, https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Conaway-202
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} "US Census, 1830," Jesse Barnett, Greenville, Darke County, Ohio, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB3-RZW
8. ↑ “Illinois Marriages, 1815-1935”, image 574, Jesse Barnett and Sarah Hale married March 5, 1846, McLean County, Illinois. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-8924-R9MC-J
9. ↑ "US Census, 1850," Jesse Barnett, McLean County, Illinois. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8RQ-HY8
10. ↑ "US Census, 1860," Jesse Barnet, Carroll Township, Vermilion County, Illinois. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXH5-3Y4
11. ↑ Jesse Barnett obituary, Santa Ana Register, Santa Ana, California, December 4, 1909. The obituary for Jesse, Jr. says that his father died when he was 10 years old, which would make his father’s death about 1862.
12. ↑ History of Cass County, Indiana, from its earliest settlement to the present time, 1913 by Jehu Z. Powell, page 573, https://archive.org/details/historycasscoun00unkngoog/page/n612/mode/2up