Several years ago, thanks to Kelly Robbin's kind post at Genforum.com/helton, I was able to gather tons of information about Mattie Helton, Elizabeth Helton Eddins's mother, Blakely's mother-in-law, and Simmin's grandmother. You can find that post here:
http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/pageload.cgi?colvin::helton::2772.html
One digression always puzzled me:
On January 30, 1877, Eliza's grandmother Mattie Colvin Helton applied for a War of 1812 pension. Blake Edins, aged 54, and J. B. Barnet, aged 34, attested to her identity. According to that application, Barnet was born about 1843.
Two months ago I checked FamilySearch.org's Historical Records Collection, which has a wealth of information on Alabama. Stuff that no one else has. For example, when you search for Eddins/Edins marriages in Bibb County 1864 - 1884 on the Ancestry.com Alabama Marriage Index, you get nada. When you do the same search at FamilySearch.org, you get three:
- Simon A. Edins and Lou Barrett in 1868 (Simmin's first wife Lou Barrett died between 1870 and 1874)
- Elizer E. Edins and J. R. Barnett in 1874
- S. A. Edins and J. C. Honeycutt in 1874. (This is actually the marriage of Simmin and Mary Drucilla Edins as explained in a previous post.)
Whoopie-doo!
Blakely A. and Elizabeth Helton Edins/Eddins had a daughter named Eliza E. She was undoubtedly named after her mother's sister Eliza Helton Hardy. In the 1860 US Census for AL Eliza E. lives with her parents on the East Side Cahaba River. In the 1870 US Census for AL, Eliza E. is 13 and living with her parents in Beat 6, Shelby Springs, Shelby County.
On March 28th, 1874, Elizer E. Edins married J. R. Barnett in Bibb County. She was 16 or 17. The bondsman was Charles Fulton, and Jackson Gardner was the Judge of Probate. J. B. Barnett was likely 31.
So that answers one question. J. B./R. Barnett was Eliza Edins's 14-years-older husband and Blakely's son-in-law.
Can we find out anything else about him?
One thing we can prove is that he is not the Jackson T. Barnett who married Martha Elizabeth Smith in 1876 in Bibb County. JTB and MES are living together in several later censuses (Unless J. B./R. Barnett was a bigamist. But I digress).
https://www.familysearch.org/search/records/index#count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3Ajackson~%20%2Bsurname%3Abarnett~&collection_id=1674672
I suspected that J. B./R. had served with either Blakely or Simmin in the Civil War. So I checked the Civil War Soldier Database at the Alabama Department of Archives. (http://www.archives.state.al.us) Bingo! Blakley served in the 20th Alabama Infantry in Pratt's Unit. J. B. Barnett served in the 20th Alabama Infantry, Company B. (Maybe he had a boogie sound that no one else could play?? More digression) He enlisted as a private on September 9, 1861.
There's also a James Barnett aged 27 who mustered into Company H on the same date in Montgomery. He would have been born in 1834. Probably not the same, as the birth dates are so different. It bears more research. But I digress....
A check at the Civil War Soldiers database at Ancestry.com shows that J. B. Barnett mustered into the 20th Alabama, Company C (not B), and that his rank upon release was still private.
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&MS_AdvCB=1&db=NPS_civilwarsoldiers&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=2&msT=1&gss=angs-d&gsfn=j.+b.+&gsfn_x=1&gsln=barnett&gsln_x=1&msipn__ftp=Alabama%2c+USA&msipn=3&msipn_PInfo=5-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3246%7c3%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c&msipn_x=XO&msipn__ftp_x=1&dbOnly=_F0003CA3%7c_F0003CA3_x%2c_F0003CA4%7c_F0003CA4_x%2c_F000278D%7c_F000278D_x%2c_F0003CA7%7c_F0003CA7_x%2c_F0003400%7c_F0003400_x%2c_F0003CA8%7c_F0003CA8_x%2c_F0003CAB%7c_F0003CAB_x%2c_F0003CAC%7c_F0003CAC_x&uidh=wy5&pcat=39&fh=0&h=2674261&recoff=5+6+7
Can we learn anything else?
Noticing the similarity between the names of Simmin's first wife Louquincy Barrett and J. B. Barnett, I looked in the 1860 US Census for AL for Bibb County. Sure enough, Louquincy is listed in the household of Daniel BarNett on the East Side Cahaba River area, Six Mile Post office. More importantly, there's a Jackson Barnett, 17, born 1843.
In addition, the AL Death and Burial Index at Ancestry.com lists Nannie Elizabeth (Barnett) Walsh, died 1931, as the daughter of J. B. Barnett and Elizabeth Eddins.
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&MS_AdvCB=1&db=FSAlabamaDeath&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=2&msT=1&gss=angs-d&gsfn=j.+b.+&gsfn_x=1&gsln=barnett&gsln_x=1&dbOnly=_83004005%7c_83004005_x&uidh=wy5&pcat=34&fh=9&h=655887&recoff=23+67+68+69
While there's no smoking gun, the preponderance of evidence suggests that J. B./R. Barnett was Jackson Barnett, born 1843, the son of Daniel Barnett and Harriet Frazier (m. 1826 in Bibb County), brother of Louquincy Barnett, husband of Eliza E. Eddins, and father of Nannie Elizabeth Barnett Walsh.
Digressions and connections. Gotta love 'em.
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