Ambrose D. Barnett, son of John P. Barnett (native of Culpepper County, Virginia), was born in Nicholas Co., Kentucky on July 24, 1809. He located in Johnson County, Indiana about 1821; married Sophronia Riggs, May 3, 1839 in Johnson County, Indiana; and had nine children:
- William H., b: 27 February 1841;
- Benjamin F., b: 08 July 1842;
- Martha J., b: 31 October 1843;
- Mary A., b: 22 September 1845;
- Susan, b: 27 January 1847;
- Henry C., b: 12 December 1848;
- Dewitt C., b: 19 June 1850;
- Lucy J., b: 07 May 1852; and
- America E., b: 09 April 1858.
The family moved to Hamilton County, Indiana about 1853, but returned to Johnson County in 1864 and located near Nineveh. Ambrose died May 20, 1885. His wife and seven children were still living when Banta’s History of Johnson County, Indiana was published in 1888.