John Dunsworth Barrette (1825 - 1915)

Born 8 Apr 1825 in Baltimore, Cork, Ireland

Husband of Margaret Elizabeth (Maybanks) Barrette — married 25 May 1851 in New Orleans, Jefferson, Louisiana, USA

Descendants

Died 21 Feb 1915 at age 89 in Davenport, Scott, Iowa, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Henry Chadwick [send private message]

Biography

John Dunsworth Barrette was born in Ireland.

This profile is part of the Barrette Name Study.

John Dunsworth Barrette was born on April 8, 1825 in Baltimore, Cork, Ireland

He came to the United States in 1846. He settled first in Thibodaux, Louisiana and moved to Davenport, Iowa during the Civil War, with a short stop in Galena, Illinois.

He married Margaret Maybanks (also spelled Maebanks) in 1851. They had eight children. Although Lydia Sinclair's memoirs say that he made money in sugar, he is listed in several census records as being a cooper.

He died in Davenport on February 21, 1915.^[1]

His granddaughter write this in her Memoirs:

THE BARRETTES

by Mary Lydia Barrette Sinclair

Papa, John Davenport Barrette, was born in Thibodauxville, Louisiana. His father and mother came from Ireland. I once asked Papa if he were Irish and he said no, his predecessors came to Ireland from Brittany with William the Conqueror, paused a generation or so in England, and finally arrived in Ireland - so they were not Irish. My sister Elizabeth claimed once that there was a story in the Barrette family that Grandpa were the gardener's boy who eloped with the daughter of the lord of the manor. Her name was Margaret Maybank[s]. They came from Baltimore, Ireland and they were not Catholics but ardent Protestants. According to Papa, his parents came to America to improve their condition, and settled in Louisiana. They made money in sugar until the Civil War came, when with the blockade they lost everything. Grandpa Barrette had bought a lot in Iowa, so he decided to take the family of growing boys and girls to Iowa and start anew.

Papa grew up in Davenport, Iowa. He started going to the university there, but with an appointment to West Point went into the Army instead. He graduated in 1885. He returned to Davenport a few times. Papa's father died when I was about twelve. We met Papa's sisters and brothers in the after years here and there.

The Barrettes were all of stern stuff, rugged individualists, but with the twinkle of mirth that carries over rough places. After meeting them I was always glad I looked like Papa and had some of the backbone that went into the family.

I was named for Aunt Mary Wallace, whose husband taught school for years in Mendota, Illinois. Aunt Lydia I think married a lawyer; she was Mrs. James Stewart of Rural Delivery, Davenport. Aunt Katherine married Arthur Parsons of Salt Lake City, and she taught high school in Salt Lake City. Aunt Katherine had the same twinkle I remember in Papa. Her eldest son, Arthur, married a Mormon. Uncle Will Barrette also lived in Salt Lake City. In 1917, after Manila, I left San Francisco to join Papa and Mama in the East and stopped for a few days in Salt Lake City to see Uncle Will and Aunt Elizabeth. Uncle Will was very grateful to Papa, since Papa had helped him through law school. Uncle Will's son, Walter, was about my age, and we saw him again when he was in the service. Walter's sister was Elizabeth. Papa's brother, George, also was a lawyer. Then there was Aunt Margaret, who taught all her life and stayed on in the old family house in Davenport until she died in the early 1940's. Aunt Margaret left each niece and nephew fifty dollars, which Uncle George mailed to each of us, from 1308 W. 6th Street, Davenport, Iowa.

I saw cousin Walter Barrette again when Aunty [she is referring to Katherine Wadsworth Terry ] took me on a jaunt to Fort Monroe. I had left Fort Monroe at the age of twelve, and now that I was twenty everything had grown so small. It was only two blocks from the dock and the Chamberlyn Hotel to our old house up Buckwheat Road. It had been such a long walk! And the old fortress was so small, but I knew my way, even past through the Postern Gate where Jeff Davis had been imprisoned after the war. The old Chamberlyn was the same, and it was then I believe that I last saw my great Aunt Maggie, Mrs. John Andrew Porter. She and Aunty were great pals, and later Aunty said that when she heard some tale either amusing or scandalous, she missed Aunt Maggie, who was as appreciative as she was. Aunt Maggie sat on the sofa in her room, and as on previous occasions terrified one or both of us with her sudden remarks. Walter Barrette, in uniform, and Gilbert Douglas[?], Mama's young cousin, both came to dinner with Aunty and me there at the Chamberlyn. Probably the young cousins were as awed by it all as I was.

I learnt that any Barrett with an "e" on the end, Barrette, in the United States, probably is a relative. I have not seen any other Barrettes since. If I had not remembered my old address book, dating from 1914, I doubt if I could find names, and certainly not addresses, such as I found after sixty-six years.^[2]

Questions

John Dunsworth Barrette founded a family in America that included many educated professional people in each succeeding generation, but information about his biography prior to his immigration is extremely difficult to find. There are several questions that would be interesting to answer, such as:

1. Why is there an e at the end of his name? The name Barrett (without an e) is very common in Ireland, but rare with an e. On the other hand, early census records show his name without the e. Was this due to a mistake by the enumerator or did John Barrett adopt the e later?^[3] Most Barrettes in America seem to be descended from French ancestry, usually through Canada.
2. He came to America in 1846 and settled in the New Orleans area. This was during the great Irish immigration caused by the Potato Famine of 1845-1849. Southern Ireland lost more than 30% of its population during this period.^[4] Did this have anything to do with his moving to America?
3. He was a Protestant, presumably a member of the Church of Ireland, as he was a member of the Episcopal Church in the U.S. and both churches are part of the Anglican community. According to Mary Lydia Sinclair (quoted above) his family came to Ireland by way of England and were part of the Norman Conquest of Ireland, which took place in the 12th Century under the Norman King of England, Henry II.^[5] When King Henry VIII formed the Church of England and the Church of Ireland was officially associated with it, most of the Irish refused to follow it and remained Roman Catholic. It is also possible that John Barrette was actually of Huguenot descent, since "many Huguenots settled in Ireland in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, encouraged by an act of parliament for Protestants' settling in Ireland" ^[6] and this would account for the French origin of his name.

Census Data

• 1850: The 1850 Census contains two John Barretts living in New Orleans, born in Ireland, neither of whom has the final e. It is impossible to determine whether either of them is John Dunsworth Barrette.^[7]

• 1860: In 1860, J. Daniel Barrett (no e) was living in Thibodaux, with wife Margaret, daughter Lydia (6), son George (4), daughter Mary (2), and "infant" (4 months). The middle name Daniel doesn't check out, but everything else does. "Infant" was apparently Katherine.^[8]

• 1870: The Barretts (still no e) now live at 1308 West Sixth Street, Davenport, Iowa. There are now eight children listed, including Benjamin age six months, who is missing from subsequent census listings and must have died as a child. John's occupation is listed as "cooper".^[9]

• 1880: The Barrettes now have an e. Otherwise the listing is the same except that only five chi;dren still live at home.^[10]

• 1885: In this Iowa state census, the family is the same except that only three children live at home and a Daniel T. Barrette is living with them, age 52, birthplace Ireland, employed as a cooper. Is this John's brother? I will research this further.^[11]

• 1900: John Dunsworth Barrette is living with his wife and unmarried daughter Margaret together with his son George and his wife and three children. John's occupation is now listed as "gardener".^[12]

• 1910: The 1910 Federal Census record for the Barrettes is somewhat confused, perhaps because John is now 85 years old. It gives John's birthplace as Illinois, but since the address is the same as before, it appears to be a mistake.^[13]

Burial

John Dunsworth Barrette is buried in the Oakdale Cemetery, Davenport, Iowa.^[14][15]

Sources

1. ↑ Obituary for John Dunsworth Barrette, Davenport Daily Democrat, February 22, 1915, see Image 1
2. ↑ Memoirs of Mary Lydia Barrette Sinclair, privately published, in possession of Henry Chadwick.
3. ↑ Wikipedia article on Clan Barrett
4. ↑ Wikipedia article on Irish Potato Famine
5. ↑ Wikipedia article on Norman Invasion of Ireland
6. ↑ Wikipedia article on Huguenots in Ireland.
7. ↑ Year: 1850; Census Place: New Orleans Municipality 2 Ward 3, Orleans, Louisiana; Roll: M432_237; Page: 105A; Image: 213 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
8. ↑ Year: 1860; Census Place: Thibodaux, Lafourche, Louisiana; Roll: M653_413; Page: 71; Image: 70; Family History Library Film: 803413 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
9. ↑ Year: 1870; Census Place: Davenport Ward 1, Scott, Iowa; Roll: M593_418; Page: 148A; Image: 260; Family History Library Film: 545917 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
10. ↑ Year: 1880; Census Place: Davenport, Scott, Iowa; Roll: 363; Family History Film: 1254363; Page: 462A; Enumeration District: 271; Image: 0605 Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
11. ↑ Ancestry.com. Iowa, State Census Collection, 1836-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa via Heritage Quest.
12. ↑ Year: 1900; Census Place: Davenport, Scott, Iowa; Roll: 458; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 0125; FHL microfilm: 1240458 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.
13. ↑ Year: 1910; Census Place: Davenport Ward 2, Scott, Iowa; Roll: T624_422; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0131; FHL microfilm: 1374435 Source Information Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.
14. ↑ Iowa Cemetery Records, Author Ancestry.com, Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.Original data - Works Project Administration. Graves Registration Project. Washington, D.C.: n.p., n.d.Original data: Works Project Administration. Graves Registration Project. Washington, DC.
15. ↑ Find a Grave