VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR FROM WALNUT, IA
WILLIAM T. BARRETT
The Iowa G.A.R Post Records for J. A. Dix Post #408 at Walnut, which were in our October 2003 Antique City Roots newsletter, listed member William F. Barrett. It said that he was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Stuart, Iowa, so I thought that I might not find much information on him.
I finally discovered that the reason that I wasn’t finding him, was that his middle initial is actually a T.
William and his wife, Susan, were in Walnut in the 1880 Census. He was 33 and a section foreman for the railroad, born in New York. Susan was 29 and born in Ireland. James Barrett, 37, brother of William, born in Ireland, was listed with them. At familysearch.org I found that William T. Barrett had married Susan Ryan in Guthrie County, Iowa on July 22, 1878.
By the 1895 Iowa Census, they were living in Guthrie County. In the 1920 Census, they were at Stuart in Guthrie County and her name was spelled Susana. The 1925 Census said that William had been in Iowa for 55 years of his 77. He owned a house in Stuart, valued at $2000. His parents, Thomas and Margaret O’Donell, were born and married in Ireland. Susan Barrett was listed as also 77; her parents, James Ryan and An_ Mclean, were born and married in Ireland.
By the time the 1930 Census was taken, William was 83 and widowed, still living in Stuart, Iowa.
There is a photo of their tombstone at Calvary Cemetery in Stuart on findagrave.com. Both William and Susan were born in 1846, according to their stone. However, in the 1880 and 1920 Censuses, William was 4 years older than Susan. In the 1895 Census, there was only one year’s difference in their ages. Susan died in 1929 and William died in 1930. I didn’t find any children with them in any of the information that I found.
KH