BARTON REUNION

The descendants of William Dobson and Rebecca Hudson Barton met at Smith’s Chapel church a mile north of Red Boiling Springs on Sunday, June 27^th, in a reunion. It was a very enjoyable occasion and brought together about 80 members of the family, counting the “in-laws.” Some were from Detroit, Toledo, and Oklahoma, Florida, and other distant points. The exercises of the day consisted largely of singing, in which all members of the Barton family are much interested. It was decided to make this an annual affair and to meet next year on the fourth Sunday in June at the same place.

Dobson Barton was born in Sequatchie Valley, Tenn. in 1816, the son of Wm. Barton. He married Rebecca Ann, daughter of Obadiah Hudson, born in 1802 and died in 1867. Obadiah Hudson died about 1851, after residing on Cave Fork of Jennings’ Creek for a number of years.

Rebecca was part Indian, from her father’s side of the house, but we do not know how much Indian blood there was in her veins. She had another brother, Wm. Hudson, who lived at Red Boiling Springs for a number of years.

Dobson Barton’s father Wm. Barton, was a North Carolinian by birth, but died in Sequatchie Valley. He is said to have been of Scotch descent. His widow married a man named Smith and became the ancestor of the numerous Smiths in the Red Boiling Springs area.

Wm. Barton is said to have had a brother, Isaac Barton, a Baptist minister, born near Frederockton, Md. On August 16, 1746. He was the son of Joshua Barton whose father died rather young and left his mother a widow. The mother was from Holland. In 1753 or 1754, Joshua Barton moved to N. Carolina, settling on a branch of the Yadkin River. Later, the family moved to Virginia, settling on Pig River, in Franklin County.

It may be possible that Isaac Barton was an uncle of William Barton instead of a brother, as there was a wide gap in point of time between the dates of their births.

On March 25, 1786, Jonathan Mulkey and Isaac Barton constituted “the Church of Christ on French River,” or “Lower French Broad” church, three miles northeast of Dandridge, the constituents being “twelve in number.” It should be added that many Baptist churches of 100 to 200 years ago were frequently called the Baptist Church of Christ, at the various places. Dixon’s Creek, organized on March 8, 1800, was frequently referred to in its old records as “the Baptist Church of Christ on Dixon’s Creek.” Not many years ago, the church at Union, this county, was referred to as the “Baptist Church of Christ, worshipping at Union.”

Isaac Barton died on Nov. 10, 1831 in his 86^th year. Elder Isaac Barton was the ancestor of some noted men. Dr. W. A.. Montgomery, one of the South’s ablest ministers of a few years ago, was a grandson. David Barton, U.S. Senator from Missouri shortly after it became a state, was the son of Elder Isaac Barton. He is said to have been the first Circuit Judge that ever held a court west of the Mississippi River. Other noted descendants included Judge Robert Barton, formerly of the Chattanooga Bar, and Senator R. M. McKinney Barton, a great grandson of the pioneer preacher.

William Barton, who died in the Sequatchie Valley, had a son, John Barton who married Polly Andrews; Eli Barton, a Presbyterian minister who married a Kirby; and a daughter, Margaret Barton who married a Davis and removed to Arkansas. John Barton was pastor of churches in Effingham Co., Ill. where he died about 1865. His children were, so far as we have been able to learn were: Charlie, Albert, Stephen, John, Eliza Jane, and one other daughter, whose name I do not know.

Eli, the Presbyterian minister, was the father of Walker, John, Finis, James, and Dobson.

Dobson Barton, the ancestor of the group who met Sunday at Smith’s Chapel, was the father of William A. Barton who married Eliza Clark and moved to Columbia, Missouri; Eli Barton who married Agnes Crabtree and removed to Texas; Sarah E. Barton who married W. T. Whitley; Martin J. Barton who married Mary Marsh; Mary Barton who married John H. Bell; John T. Barton who married Katie Glover; M D. “Kige” Barton who married Martha Hargis and later Cox; Obadiah Barton who married Samantha Glover, a sister of Katie Glover; and Margaret Barton who married Thomas Wainwright Davis.

We have quite a lot of additional information on the Barton family. If any reader desires the publication of this information, let us know and we will be glad to publish the same. We cannot expect to live many more years and it is our desire that such family records as we have be published and passed on to others who may read them long after we have gone into eternity. We are sending two copies of the paper each week to the Tennessee Public Library at Nashville, where they are filed away. We are also sending the paper to some other places where they are preserved after being made available to the public.

One of our 19 brothers in law is Wiley Clarence Barton, a son of M. D. Barton, above mentioned. He married our sister, Miss Clara Barton Gregory, in June 1917. He is one of the best men we have ever known, a former teacher in the schools of the county, a Christian gentleman, former Tax Assessor of this county, a devoted husband, an excellent father, and a friend to every man, and one of our most public-spirited men.

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This Article Appeared In The Times

But Was Not Actually In Cal’s Column

MACON COUNTY’S FIRST SHERIFF

SERVED FROM 1842 THROUGH 1846

Above is the likeness of King Kerley, Macon County’s first Sheriff. He was the relative of Oscar Shrum, Floyd and Carl King and many others who still live in this county. King Kerley became Sheriff of this county in 1842 and served four years, till 1846. Among the duties of the office that fell to him was the hanging of the Negress salve, belonging to the Meador family, for killing a small Meador child near the present Meadorville during the period of Sheriff Kerley’s tenure of office.

Reports differ on what was used to kill the Meador child, who was an uncle of our own Wilson Meador, a citizen of Lafayette at this time. We believe the child’s name was Wilson. Some reports are to the effect that the child was beaten to death with an old-fashioned “piggin,” and others say that a stick used to separate cows from their calves, was used by the slave woman. Anyway, the child was beaten to death not far from the rear of the present Ewing Hoskins property at Meadorville.

The slave woman was given a trial and found guilty. She was sentenced to be hanged, and King Kerley prepared the scaffold that was erected somewhere in Lafayette. Some say it was on Scottsville Road. The Negro woman gave her head to a local physician for all the ginger cakes and cider she wanted. After the hanging was completed, the doctor is said to have used his pocket knife to sever the head from the body, then placed it in a red bandanna handkerchief and bore it to his office.