The American and English Descendants
of William Barnes and Anne Spacy
Updated February 21, 2022 (Corrections made to information for Bennett C. Barnes.)
My Barnes family story begins with John S. Barnes (1813 AL-aft 1853 TX) and Martha Cannon (1817 SC-bef 1874 TX). Their eight known children were Sarah Jane, Rhoda Ann, Mary Elizabeth, Emily Josephine, Berry Henderson, Martha F., Elmira Tennessee "Tinnie," and John Seaborn (better known as Seaborn or "Seab" Barnes, member of the infamous Sam Bass Gang). John was the son of William Barnes, Sr., and Sarah Sanderson. Documents, handwritten family history notes, and DNA results for descendants have helped to identify John's siblings: Lilburn, William Jr., Bennett C., Robert, and Mary "Polly." The 1830 Fayette County, Tennessee, census for the William Barnes, Sr., family shows three other likely daughters, but their names are unknown. Robert, probably the oldest child, died relatively young. He had at least two sons: Joseph M. Barnes and Robert Jasper Barnes. Mary apparently married a Morrison, who was a cousin; her dates of birth, death, and other information are unknown, as yet. [If anyone reading this can identify her or other sisters or who may have even the tiniest clue, please contact me.] In addition, there may have been a son named F. A. Barnes, who resided in Lafayette Co., Mississippi. We are also seeking further information about him from anyone who may have some ideas. There is a separate web page for Martha Cannon's ancestry here: simcockcannongenealogy.com. Included also on this page is information about James Skinner, Jr., who married two daughters of John S. Barnes and Martha Cannon, Sarah Jane and Rhoda Ann. Apparently, both daughters died young, and James Skinner eventually married again. His father was James Skinner, Sr., but little else is known of these Skinners.
This web page includes family group sheets and timelines for John's parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents in the Barnes family. They are, respectively, William Barnes and Sarah Sanderson, Joseph Barnes and Selah DeLoach, Jacob Barnes and Julian Whitley, and Edward Barnes and Sarah Pope. The father of Edward Barnes has not been proved but is highly likely to have been Jacob Barnes of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, who arrived in Virginia from London, England, about 1677. Jacob's wife is unknown, but she may have been a daughter of William Smith II (1634-1705) and Mary Cooke (abt 1634-1715) of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. Jacob Barnes of Isle of Wight County attended at least one Quaker meeting, and Sarah (Pope) Barnes was a Quaker. Jacob Barnes also witnessed a will mentioning Sarah's half-sister, Susan Pope. The Quaker ties suggest that Edward was Jacob's son, although this possibility needs more research.
The parents of Jacob Barnes of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, were Edward Barnes and Mary Mills of London. Edward's first wife was Alice Cock. They baptized and buried their children in several London churches, all Church of England. There is no evidence that anyone from this family was in Quaker meeting records or the Nonconformist records, nonconformists being any religion not Church of England. It appears that Jacob Barnes who came to Isle of Wight Co., Virginia, was a convert to the Quaker faith, and may have emigrated because of the persecution of Quakers at that time in England. According to the biographical entry of Cambridge University alumni for Jacob's brother, Joshua Barnes, Edward Barnes was a merchant-tailor of London. He married (1) Alice Cock on 21 June 1635 and (2) Mary Mills on 26 May 1645, both times at St. Botolph Bishopsgate, located near the London wall. Other churches used for baptisms and burials included St. Bride Fleet Street, St. Stephen Coleman Street, and St. Giles Cripplegate, all relatively near each other. Maps of the parishes can be obtained at Familysearch.org and Wikipedia.
Joshua Barnes was an eminent Greek scholar, about whom a famous historian named Thomas Hearne wrote. There is an entry about him in the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 3, by Arthur Henry Bullen. Joshua wrote an account of his family in a letter that was later published in a book, Remarks and Collections of Thomas Hearne, (Dec. 1, 1714-Dec 31, 1716), edited by D. W. Rannie, M.A., Oxford, printed for the Oxford Historical Society at the Clarendon Press, 1885, page 278. See the file called "Joshua Barnes's Letter in Hearne's Book."
This source tells us that the father of Edward was William Barnes, a plumber and glazier, of Bishops Stortford, a town a little northeast of London, in Hertfordshire, England. This web page contains family group sheets for the family of William Barnes and wife, Anne Spacy.
I have not included all the family group sheets and timelines for all individuals in these families but can supply them upon request.
The Sandersons and the Burtons
Some research on Sarah Sanderson's family is included here: Her parents, John Sanderson and Elizabeth (probably Burton); Elizabeth's likely parents, Nathaniel Burton and Elizabeth unknown; parents of Nathaniel, Isaac Burton and Obedience unknown, Isaac's parents, John Burton and Elizabeth Fowler, and John's parents, Thomas Burton and Susannah (perhaps Lockett).
I have researched these families for more than 20 years and want to make the results available to other descendants. I have put my database online at www.ancestry.com. Look for a database called Famconnections (numbered 7, 8, or higher). Many people have helped me over the years. If your name has been omitted or if you know of someone I've overlooked, please let me know. I'd like to acknowledge the research of Jean Jones of Longview, Texas; the late June Rayfield Welch of Dallas, Texas; the late Gene Cole of Russellville, Arkansas; Dan Hale of Garland, Texas; Dianne Doyle Stevens of North Andover, Massachusetts; the late Thomas Houston Barnes, Jr., of Little Rock, Arkansas; Billy Blair of Fort Worth, Texas; Roy Barnes of Italy; Gerald Copher of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Myrtle Barnes Jones of Washington, DC; Sam Winchester, co-administrator of the Barnes Y-DNA Project at Family Tree DNA; Don Simmons of Boaz, Kentucky; professional genealogist Laine Sutherland of Antioch, Tennessee; and James E. Ward, Sr., and Karen Baker Ward, Certified Genealogists of Richmond; Virginia; among many other genealogists who have kindly shared family data over the past 20 to 25 years. If you use any of the research on this website, please give appropriate credit. If you find errors or new information, please let me know. You can contact me at:
Cecilie Gaziano, 4511 Fremont Avenue So., Minneapolis, MN 55419-4744, USA; cgaziano@prodigy.net OR cgaziano1@gmail.com