Life History

Notes

• In the first US census reporting the names of every member of the household, Thomas Barnett is in the home of his father Jorile (Jorial) and stepmother Nancy (Powell) Barnett in Monroe County, Tennessee, adjacent to Cherokee County, North Carolina, where he and his siblings were born.
  
  1850 Federal Census, Monroe County, Tennessee, 12 November, 14th Civil District, page 229 (scan 115), Hse/Fam #1608
  Jariel [Jorial] Barnett 42 M Farmer $600 Real Estate. $200 Personal  b SC
  Nancy Barnett 25 F b SC
  -- page 230 --
  Thomas Barnett 15 M b NC
  
  In 1860 we find Thomas has moved to Washington County, Illinois, with his father and siblings, but is not in his father's household, having married and established his own household with Mary E Morgan.  He married Mary in December 1858, about a year after his father Jorile married Sarah Morgan Gibson.  It appears that Mary Morgan is the daughter of one of Sarah's brothers, William J Morgan.
  
  One discrepancy occurs, in that the marriage certificate gives the name Mary E, while Sarah Morgan's niece is named Mary J Morgan in the Morgan genealogy.  Middle initials vary widely in the records of that period.  Assuming the identity of these two entries on the basis of all the other supporting family information, I have entered the relevant information from an anonymous genelaogy in Ancestry World Tree that has good details about the Morgan family, including Mary J Morgan, but lacks Mary's husband.
  
  Illinois Marriage Index, Book B, Entry 58
  Barnett, Thomas - Morgan, Mary E     01/14/1858 Washington County
  
  Some present a Civil War service record as Thomas.  The name was Thomas R Barnett.  This Thomas is from Washington County, Illinois, where our Thomas lived, but the birthplace of Thomas R Barnett was Pennsylvania, while Thomas Barnett, son of Jorile, was born in North Carolina.
  
  -------------------------
  BARNETT,  Thomas R
  Pvt; CO F. Unit 44 IL US INF
  Residence Ashley, Washington County, IL
  Age 36, Height: 5’7” Hair Light; Eyes Light, Complexion: Light; Single, Mechanic
  Nativity PA
  Joined July 1, 1861 at Ashley, IL; registered by W. J. Stevenson, Period: 3 yrs
  Mustered in Sept 13, 1861 in Chicago, IL
  Mustered out July 15, 1865 at Springfield, IL by Cpt Huntington
  --  Illinois Civil War Detail Report, http://www.il sos.gov/genealogy/CivilWarController.
  -------------------------
  
  The family of Sarah Morgan's brother William J Morgan are given in the Morgan genealogy as follows:
  William J. MORGAN
  Birth 1804/1810 in Perry Co, MO
  Death ABT 6 Feb 1843 in Washington Co, IL
  Father Benajah (1) MORGAN b: 1775 in Jones Co, NC
  Mother Elizabeth MIDDLETON b: 1786 in TN
  Marriage 1 Lavisa MIDDLETON b: 1814 in LA
  Married 2 May 1830 in East Feliciana Parish, LA
  Children
  1. Elizabeth Ann MORGAN b: 1832 in LA
  2. Benajah H. (3) MORGAN b: 1834 in IL
  3. Asa (2) MORGAN b: Apr 1836 in Washington Co, IL
  4. Female MORGAN b: 1830/1835
  5. Minerva J. MORGAN b: 1838 in IL
  6. Mary J. MORGAN b: 1840 in IL
  --  http://awtc.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=:2845213&id=I740&ftm=1
  
  The genealogy gives no death date for Mary J Morgan.  The compiler proposes two possble marriages, neither of them being to Thomas Barnett.  Evidence is strong that this Mary Barnett is the one recorded in the Illinois Marriage Index as Mary E Morgan, the bride of our Thomas Barnett.  From all the good information, including census records, wills and other documentation and family information, I would think the initials and other details of the genealogy are from Morgan family information.  I am reporting Mary's name on that basis as Mary J Morgan.

Sources

• 1. 1850 Federal Census, Monroe County, Tennessee
  • 12 November, 14th Civil District, page 229 (scan 115), Hse/Fam #1608
• 2. Illinois Marriage Index
  • Book B, page 58