Williams Barfield of Rutherford County

By Mari Byers Williams Barfield was my 4g-grandfather.  (I wonder if they called him Bills for short).  I've not been able to find who his parents were but I'm guessing he was named after one of the many Williams family members who intermarried with the Barfields, or maybe they thought he was gonna be twins  <G>.  I first found Williams in Murfreesboro, Tn., in 1803, where he witnessed several deeds, etc, for Frederick and James Barefield.  At the time the documents were written, Frederick, James and Williams all spelled their last names Barefield.  At some point, they all changed to Barfield.  Williams also dropped the s at the end of his first name.  (Hmmmm....probly a good call on his part.)  He was part owner of Barfield, Stramlar and Barfield, a firm that bought and sold tobacco and cotton, shipping it up and down the river between Nashville and Natchez or New Orleans.  Next I found him in Amite Co., Mississippi, in 1810, where he married Harriet Sophronia Tarkington, of Williamson County, Tn.  They moved to Rutherford Co., Tn., the same year, as they're on the Murfreesboro, Tn., 1810 census, also.  They were members of either the Baptist or Methodist (Their daughter, Eliza, became a big Methodist so maybe...)  Church and Williams was one of the town's leading citizens.  He was on the board of directors of the Bank of Murfreesboro.  Williams was also an alderman for the town of Murfreesboro.  He had a place of business in a building on the town square and things seemed to be going great for him and his growing family of five daughters and possibly two or three sons, till the tobacco crash of 1819....sigh   Poor Williams owed most everyone in town and couldn't pay.  (Well, if he just hadnt put in that expensive jacuzzi!)  From what I gather, he suddenly wasn't the most popular man in the 'Boro.  Around 1820, Williams, Harriet and the kids went down the river to Natchez, Ms., and never looked back!   (I found a letter dated 1824 in the dead letter office of the Murfreesboro post office... addressed to Williams Barefield.  They thought I was a bit strange when I asked to see it.  I'm still wondering where it is!)    Anyway, Harriet (or perhaps both of them under her name)  opened a boarding house in Natchez that still stands. The home is called "Dixie".  She later sold it to members of the Bowie family.  (Yep, the dude with the knife!)  There is absolutely NO mention of Williams in any of her deeds, papers or anything else  from Natchez although both the 1820 and the 1830 Adams County censuses show Williams and Harriet married with five daughters and three, then two sons.  My Mother has a very old copy of daughter Eliza's death announcement, where her relatives are all mentioned...except for Williams.  I went to wife Harriet's grave in Natchez and BEGGED her to give me information!  (I'm still waiting for an answer!)  I found a land deed Williams Barfield bought in Natchez in 1820 but it was in Warren County, Ms.   Several other Barfield family members  went "out west" about that same time, to Yee Haa, /Don't Mess With Us, *TEXAS* <VBG>.  (I was raised there and am still a Texan at heart.)   Stephen listed my Williams as a heir in 1794 and gave him land in Montgomery County, Tennessee.  I do not believe, at this time, that Williams was Stephen's son.  I now live very close to where Williams' plantation stood in Old Jefferson, Tn. (There were four Barfields who owned ajoining land...Frederick, James, Williams and Stephen, who was in Williamson County...next door).  Blake Barfield, one of Stephen's sons was also in Rutherford County.  It's very frustating knowing that I'm so close...and yet so far.                  Mari Byers, 2002