Joseph Barnett

A Patriot of the American Revolution for PENNSYLVANIA with the rank of NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICER. DAR Ancestor # A006469

Joseph Barnett (February 11, 1754 - April 15, 1838)

Born February 11, 1754, Paxton Township, Pennsylvania

Died April 15, 1838 Port Barnett (Brookville) Pennsylvania

Married July 3, 1788

Elizabeth (Scott) Barnett

Born (?) 1773, Paxton Township (?)

Died August (?) 1838 Port Barnett (Brookville) Pennsylvania

Early Life

In sharp contrast to his "patriotic sire", the life of Joseph Barnett is well documented, remarkably so for an ordinary citizen of his time. This is due to the efforts of genealogists who have traced the land records and to Joseph’s status as the founder of Jefferson County (Pa.). Little is recorded about his wife Elizabeth Scott, though she and her brothers played a large role in settling the county.

A physical description of Joseph as an older man remains. He was a small man, being about five feet eight inches tall and weighing about 108 pounds. He had a " smooth shaved face and a frank and open countenance" and is also called a "rather homely man with prepossessing presence", which may have had something to do with the eye he lost in a fight while a young man. Other sources recall him as "a very eccentric, high-minded man (who) took a part in all the leading business transactions of the day", though this may refer to the settled patriarch rather than the pioneer.

In brief, Joseph and his brother Andrew were orphaned at an early age and raised by relatives. He participated in the Revolutionary War, crossing the Delaware with Washington. After the war, he settled near Jersey Shores (Pa.). He lost title to most of his land in a legal dispute, married and then at the turn of the century, moved his young family into the wilds of central Pennsylvania to found Port Barnett. He and his family are central to the early history of Jefferson county. He lived a long, eventful and well documented life.

Expect for his birth date, which he remembers seeing in his father’s family Bible, little is known of Joseph Barnett’s early life. His parents died when he was young and he was raised by unknown relatives in the Paxton Township area, just miles from present day Harrisburg. Born in the year that the French and Indian War broke out, his youth was doubtless full of the alarms and strife typical of the American frontier. At one point, the Conestoga Indians kidnapped a young Barnett from the area, who was later returned in a scene reminiscent of Richter’s "A Light in the Forest". The Scotch-Irish settlers felt exposed and abandoned by the British and colonial officials and were ready for action when revolution beckoned.

War Service

According to his Revolutionary War pension affidavit, Joseph enlisted in the 1st Company, 4th Bn., Northumberland County (Penn.) militia (commanded by Capt. John Clark) on September 26th, 1776. The company served in the Philadelphia area as Washington’s army resisted the British advance. Later the unit took part in the attack across the Delaware, where they saw action. They also fought off a British attack in the area of Perth Amboy (Ash Swamp). After going into winter quarters, where Barnett served as an orderly sergeant, the unit was discharged in April 1777.

In the fall of 1779, Joseph Barnett rejoined the Pennsylvania militia in a company commanded by William Allen. They marched north into the Wyoming Valley, where there were concerns about Indian attacks. They converted a house into a blockhouse near Bloomsburg and were billeted there for three months before again being discharged.

A 1782 roster of the Lancaster County militia, 2nd company, 10th Bn lists both Joseph and Andrew Barnett in Captain McMillan’s company. While it is not certain that these were "our" Barnetts, they listed their residence as Paxton Township, so it is likely.

Settler and Pioneer

Following the war, Pennsylvania granted 200 or more acres of the state’s wild land to veterans. In 1784 and 1785, Joseph and his brother Andrew exercised warrants for 400 acres of land in Pine Creek Township, near present day Jersey Shore. This land was located where the Pine Creek entered the Susquehanna River. This area was a legal nightmare, with conflicting claims, poorly done surveys, Crown grants, absentee landlords and Scotch-Irish settlers like Barnett calling for "Fair Play" for actual settlers.

By 1786, Joseph was serving as an election inspector. From 1786 to 1788, Joseph was listed as single and owner of a sawmill and 100 acres. Andrew, also single, owned 170 acres. It was during this time that Joseph apparently lost his left eye in fight at the sawmill. This was followed by a severe blow. In 1788, court ruled that the Barnett’s land warrant was invalid and a portion of his land was forfeit. This may have included his sawmill. For a single 34 year old veteran, this was a major setback.

Sometime during that disastrous year, Joseph Barnett married Elizabeth Scott, whose family was part of the Paxton area Scotch-Irish community. No record of the marriage exists. At that time, Elizabeth Scott would have been about 16 years old, less than half Joseph’s age. The 1790 census lists the family as three, with a male over 16, most likely Andrew, but possibly one of Elizabeth’s brothers. The year 1790 also saw the birth of the first two Barnett children, the twins Sarah and Thomas, on March 11th. Shortly after that, the family moved back to Paxton Township area, apparently to Linglestown, where both Joseph and Elizabeth had relatives. Joseph reportedly worked on contracting and building bridges.

A second son, John, was born June 16, 1795, probably in Linglestown. This was also about the time that Joseph sent his brother Andrew and brother-in-law Samuel Scott to explore the French Creek area, with an eye toward a sawmill and settlement. The two stopped at the junction of Little Mill Creek (later Red Bank Creek) and Sandy Lick Creek. Returning to Linglestown, the group arranged to purchase the land. This land would become Port Barnett.

The area had many natural advantages. It was on a trail blazed in 1788, which was significant when large areas were trackless. That trail became a state road, then a highway and is now Interstate 80. The Red Bank Creek flows into the Allegheny, which enters the Ohio at Pittsburgh. Just 10 miles away the creeks flow to the Susquehanna and the Atlantic. This location at the head of navigation justified naming the hilly area "Port" Barnett. The mountains were heavily forested, ready made for a sawmill. Later generations would mine coal in those mountains. The site is at the intersection of U.S. 322 and state 236, east of Brookville, just south of where I-80 reaches its highest point.

In the spring of 1797, Joseph and Andrew Barnett, Samuel Scott and Scott’s adopted son, Moses Knapp, returned to the site. Joseph, as leader of the party, expressed his satisfaction with the site and the party began building a cabin and sawmill.

There are two stories about the construction effort, both involving neighboring Seneca Indians. One account says that the Indians would not work until they had eaten all the available provisions, which took three days. Then they said "Me eat, me sleep; now me strong, now me work!" A different account says that Barnett invited the Indians to dinner during construction, hoping for their help. After dinner, one of the remarked "Dinner, Indian sleep an hour, then strong" and then disappeared into the woods. An hour later, they reappeared and helped in the construction. The first story is commemorated in an engraving and both are part of local legend.

Joseph returned to his pregnant wife, while Andrew and Samuel Scott remained to finish the work. Andrew soon fell sick with cholera and died. Scott and two Indians buried him at the junction of the creeks. The grave was apparently rediscovered in 1900 and 1975. Alone in the wilderness, Scott returned to Linglestown.

After Scott’s return, the Barnett’s fourth child arrived, on November 22, 1797. The baby was named Andrew after his recently deceased uncle. The project was put on hold until 1799, when Joseph Barnett, Samuel Scott and Moses Knapp returned to finish the mill and saw the first lumber. Barnett returned and brought his family to Port Barnett in November of 1799.

Their possessions for the journey included two cows and seven horses, five of which carried packs and only two of which were ridden by the family. The party consisted of Joseph’s family, Samuel Scott, Moses Knapp and probably John Scott, another brother-in-law. Thus the Eighteenth Century ended with the Barnetts established in the wilds of Central Pennsylvania.

Port Barnett was indeed wilderness when founded. The nearest neighbor was 33 miles to the east, on the other side of the divide. Within a few years, other settlers began to filter in. Food was often scarce and the settlers lived on green corn and boiled pumpkin seeds at times. Lumber brought in cash, with the wood being sawed at Port Barnett and then rafted down to Pittsburgh. The settlers would the canoe the supplies back up the river. Flour was a needed staple and Joseph Barnett once carried a 60 lbs. of flour from Pittsburgh on his back, a trip of about 100 miles.

Joseph Barnett added a gristmill in 1801, helping to alleviate the flour problem. The same year, he invited a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Isaac Greer, to visit the area, which visit was repeated the following year. He also welcomed the first permanent minister, Rev. Robert McGarrah in 1809. The family were stout Presbyterians and took their children 40 miles to Indiana (Pa.) to have them baptized.

The first white child born in what became Jefferson County was Joseph and Elizabeth’s fifth child, Rebecca, who was born August 6, 1802. The following year, the Barnetts and others started the first school. The Scotch-Irish were well known for their emphasis on education and Port Barnett had a school before it had a church, elections or a post office.

In 1804, the area was organized as Jefferson County, consisting of one township. Joseph Barnett named the township after his former home - Pine Creek. The first election were held in 1806 at the Barnett house. The first assessments were made in 1807, with Joseph Barnett’s holding including 100 acres of land, a distillery, one horse and five cows. Over time Barnett added mills (both saw and grist), expanded his house into an inn/tavern and started selling merchandise. He also introduced apple trees to the area. Among his other tasks, Joseph Barnett served as: Pine Creek Tax Collector (1813); Constable (1814) ; County Supervisor (1817).

The community continued to grow as the trail became a road and then a turnpike. The 1810 census showed 161 residents, of which nine were Barnett’s family. By 1826, daily stagecoaches were passing the Barnett Inn. When the county commissioners met for the first time in 1824, it was at the inn, where they rented a room to conduct business from. Andrew Barnett was one of the original commissioners. By 1826, Port Barnett merited a post officer and Joseph was named postmaster. The original Barnett-Scott store was purchased by Jared Evans (the source of the Evans name later used by the family) in 1826.

By 1830, Barnett was retired, then being over 75 years of age. In 1832, Congress passed an act providing a pension to the few remaining Revolutionary War veterans. He swore to a declaration of his active service and duly was awarded an annual pension of $26.66.

Joseph Barnett’s long and eventful life ended on April 15, 1838, at age 84. His wife lived another four months, dying at age 65. They are buried in the cemetery on Pickering Street in Brookville.

Barnetts and the Indians

The Barnetts had solid relationships with the local Indians, who were much reduced by warfare and disease. They used his grist mill and he acted as banker for them and the rest of the community. Once the Indians decided to withdraw their silver from his locked box and the account was counted out as 50 cents short. Joseph asked the Indians to recount the coins, but they came up short again. They then ordered him to come outside so they could shoot him. He complied but asked them to count again before killing him. They did and the missing coin was found. The Indians rejoiced that their banker was a true friend and not a thief. Joseph just rejoiced.

Another story told had to do with Indians camping near Barnett’s mill. They ate with the Barnetts and their leader became ill. The rest of the Indians told the family that if their leader died, they would kill the family. Everyone was thankful when the leader recovered.

The Indians also had a hidden source of lead, a valuable commodity on the frontier. They traded frequently with Barnett to their mutual benefit.

• Military service: 1776 - Private in Capt. James Ross' company, 1st Pennsylvania Continental Line
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Sep 26 2021, 23:56:26 UTC

Children of Joseph Barnett and Elizabeth Scott Barnett: 1 and 2 (twins) - Sarah Ann Barnett Graham (FAG 145171099) and Thomas Barnett (FAG 202112463) 3 - John Barnett (FAG 202113127) 4 - Andrew Barnett (FAG 170656045) 5 - Rebecca Barnett Butler (FAG 28065254) 6 - Joseph Potter Barnett (FAG 132814423) 7 - Margaret Annie Barnett Lattimer (FAG 41942974) 8 - Juliette Ann Barnett Carr (FAG 202112313) 9 - Joseph Scott Barnett (FAG 190469708) Contributor: C D Bird (49157592) •

Joseph was a Revolutionary Soldier and the First Settler of Jefferson County.

“Jefferson County Pennsylvania Her Pioneers and People, 1800-1915” Vol 2, by William James McKnight (1836-1918) Published in 1917 by J H Beers & Co, Chicago

Pages 1 thru 3 - Joseph Barnett, the patriarch of Jefferson County, was the son of John and Sarah Barnett, and was born in Dauphin County, PA in 1754. He was of Scotch-Irish extraction.

His father, a native of Ireland, located in Pennsylvania in the early part of the eighteenth century and was a farmer. His mother died early, and Joseph was “brought up” by his relatives. He was raised on a farm, and was thus peacefully employed when the Revolution commenced. As the son of a patriotic sire he could not resist taking part in the struggle, and so joined the army and served for some years. The exact duration of his service cannot now be ascertained, but “he was a brave and efficient soldier, and never faltered in the path of duty.” He also served in the State militia in the campaign against the Wyoming boys. After the war he owned a large trace of land, but was dispossessed of it by some informalities of the title. Here he was married to Elizabeth Scott, sister of Samuel Scott and daughter of John Scott, July 3, 1794.

Joseph Barnett was assessed in Pinecreek township, Northumberland county, April 28, 1786; in 1788, he was assessed in the same township and county with a sawmill and as a single freeman. This was his sawmill at the mouth of Pine Creek, and the mill where he lost his eye. The property is now in Clinton County.

After losing his mill and land, Barnett returned in the nineties to Dauphin County, PA and engaged in contracting for the building bridges. In 1799, he was again assessed in Pinecreek township, then in Lycoming County, PA with 225 acres of land. This was his Port Barnett property, whither he migrated with his family in 1800 and here he engaged in the erection of mills and in the lumbering business that eventually made Port Barnett, then in Lycoming County, the center of business for a large extent of territory.

In a short time a tub gristmill was added to his sawmill, with his "Port Barnett flintstone binns," he made an eatable, if not a very desirable, quality of flour. The Indians (Senecas) then in the country were good customers, and what few whites there were for thirty or forty miles around would make his cabin a stopping place for several days as a time. His log cabin became a tavern, the only one in a seventy-miles' journey, and was frequented by all the early settlers. His Indian guests did not eat in the house, but would in winter make a pot of mush over his fire and set out it out in the snow to cool; then one fellow would take a dipper and eat his fill of the pudding, sometimes with milk, butter or molasses; then another would take it and go through the same process until all were satisfied. The dogs would help themselves from the same pot, and when they put there heads in the pot in the Indian's way, he would give them a slap over the head with the dipper.

He kept a hotel, rafter lumber on Sandy Lick and Red Bank, and at the same time attended his saw and gristmills. He was assessed in Pinecreek township in 1800 as a farmer.

The Seneca tribe were friendly and peaceable neighbors, and often extended their excursions into these waters, where they encamped, two or three in a squad, and hunted deer and bears, taking the hams and skins in the spring to Pittsburgh. Their rafts were constructed of dry poles, upon which they piled up their meat and skins in the form of a haystack, took them to Pittsburgh, and exchanged them for trinkets, blankets, calicoes, weapons, etc. They also made sugar.

It is said they caught the sap in small troughs, and, after collecting it into a large trough, dipped hot stones into it to boil it down. They were friendly, sociable, and rather fond of making money. During the War of 1812, the settlers were apprehensive that an unfortunate turn of the war upon the lakes might bring an irruption of the savages upon the frontier through the Seneca nation.

Samuel Scott resided here until 1810, when, having scraped together, by hunting and lumbering, about two thousand dollars, he went down to the Miami River and bought a section of find land, which made him rich.

It is related that Joseph Barnett at one time carried sixty pounds of flour on his back from Pittsburgh. Their supplies of flour, salt and other necessaries were frequently brought in canoes from that place. These supplies were purchased with lumber, which he sawed and rafted to that city, and which in those days was sold for twenty-five dollars per thousand. The nearest settlement on Meade's Trail eastward of Port Barnett was Paul Clover's, thirty-three miles distant, on the west branch of the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands; and westward Fort Venango was forty-five miles distant, which points were the only resting places for the travelers through this unbroken wilderness.

About the year 1802, Joseph Barnett consented to act as banker for the Indians around Port Barnett. The Indians were all "bimetalists," and had the "silver craze," for their money was all silver; and bringing their monometallism to Mr Barnett, he received it from them and deposited it in their presence in his private vault - a small board trunk covered with hogskin, tanned with the bristles on. On the lid were the letters "J. B." made with brass tacks. The trunk was now full; the bank was a solid financial institution. In a short time, however, the red men concluded to withdraw their deposits, and they made a "run" in a body on the bank. Barnett handed over the trunk, each Indian counted out his own pieces, and according to their combined count, the bank was insolvent; there was a shortage, a deficiency of one fifty-cent piece. Mr Barnett induced the Indians to recount their silver, but the fifty-cent piece was still missing. The Indians then declared Mr Barnett must die; they surrounded the house and ordered him to the porch to be shot. He obeyed orders, but pleaded with them to count their pieces the third time, and if the fifty-cent piece was still missing, then they could shoot him. This the Indians considered fair and they counted the silver pieces the third time, and one Indian found he had one more piece than his own, he had the missing fifty-cent piece. Then there was joy and rejoicing among the Indians. Banker Barnett was no longer a criminal; he was the hero and friend of the Indians.

The following sketch of the first white settlement within the county was principally derived from Andrew Barnett, Jr Esq in 1840:

"Mr Joseph Barnett was the patriarch of Jefferson County. He had done service on the West Branch under General Potter during the Revolution, and also under the State against the Wyoming boys. After the war, he settled in Northumberland County, as the mouth of Pine Creek, and very probably might have been one of the Fairplay Boys; at any rate, he lost his property by the operation of common law, which superseded the jurisdiction of fair play. Again, in 1797, he penetrated the wilderness of the Upper Susquehanna by the Chinklacomoose Path, and, passing the headlands between the Susquehanna and the Allegheny, arrived on the waters of Red Bank, then called Sandy Lick Creek. He had purchased lands here of Timothy Pickering & Co. He first erected a sawmill at Port Barnett, where Andrew Barnett, Jr now resides at the mount of Mill Creek, about two miles east of Brookville. His companions on this expedition were his brother, Andrew Barnett, and his brother-in-law, Samuel Scott. Nine Secenca Indians, of Cornplanter's Tribe, assisted him to raise his mill.

Leaving his brothers to look after the new structure, he returned to his family in Dauphin County, intending to bring them out. But Scott soon followed him with the melancholy news of the death of his brother, Andrew, who was buried by the friendly Indians and Scott in the flat opposite the present tavern. This news discouraged him for awhile; but in 1800, he removed his family out, accompanied again by Mr Scott. They sawed lumber and rafted it down to Pittsburgh, where it brought in those days twenty-five dollars per thousand. The usual adventures and privations of frontier life attended their residence. The nearest mill was on Black Lick Creek, in Indiana County.

Mr Barnett knew nothing of the wilderness south of him, and was obliged to give an Indian four dollars to pilot him to Westmoreland. The nearest house on the eastward was Paul Clover's (grandfather of General Clover) thirty-three miles distant on the Susquehanna, where Curwensville now stands; westward Fort Venango was distant forty-five miles."

Mr Barnett's children were as follows: Sarah and Thomas, twins, born in 1790 in Pinecreek Township, Northumberland (now Clinton) County John, born in Linesville, Dauphin County, June 16, 1795 Andrew, born in Dauphin County, Nov 22, 1797, where Joseph Barnett was engaged in contracting for building bridges in the nineties Rebecca, born in Port Barnett, Lycoming County, Aug 6, 1802 (she was the first white female child born within the present limits of Jefferson County) J Potter, born at Port Barnett, Lycoming County, May 23, 1800 Margaret Annie, born Oct 22, 1805, at Port Barnett, Pine Creek Township, Jefferson County Juliet, born Apr 12, 1808, Port Barnett, Pine Creek Township, Jefferson County Joseph Scott, the youngest, and the first white male child born in the county, born Apr 12, 1812 at Port Barnett, Pine Creek Township, Jefferson County.

Joseph Barnett was rather a homely man in face and features. In stature, he was five feet, eight inches and would weigh about one hundred eight pounds. His presence was prepossessing, and with his smooth-shaved face, and a countenance open and frank, his appearance was such as to attract attention of all. He was a practical business man, a strict Presbyterian, a Christian and had his left eye gouged out in a rough-and-tumble fight at his sawmill.

He died as he had lived, a true-hearted man, on the 15th of April, 1838, and was buried in the old graveyard, above Church Street.

His wife passed away four months later, in her sixty-fifth year and was buried there also.

Contributor: C D Bird (49157592) • cdb4204@netzero.com

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Sep 26 2021, 23:58:33 UTC