John Bryan Barnett, MD
SURNAMES: BARNETT, SANSOM, CROCKETT, PIERCE, DRURY, JONES, MCALLISTER, TORBETT, HUTCHINGS, SMITH, ALEXANDER, DANIELJohn Bryan Barnett, M. D., b August 10, 1896 in Oletha, Limestone County, Texas, d May 27, 1962 at his in Marlin, and buried there in Hillcrest Cemetery - was a son of William and Mary (Sansom) Barnet. His maternal grandfather, James L. Sansom, was a physician who commanded a company known as the "Talohoma Hardshells" in the Eighth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, of the Confederate States Army during the Civil War. The Sansoms came to Texas when the Civil War ended, and James L. Sansom was buried in the Sansom Cemetery near Seale, Texas.
Dr. Barnett attended grade school in Thornton, graduating from the Mexia High School. He attended The University of Texas, Austin, and received his medical degree in 1920 from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. His internship and residency were served at the Kansas City General Hospital, with postgraduate work at Harvard University, the Polyclinic in New York City, and the University of Texas Medical Branch.
John Bryan Barnett, M. D., was married first to Gladys Crockett, who died after the birth of three children:
Dorothy Elaine Barnett - who died in 1985 in Waco, McLennan County, Texas.
William David Barnett, M. D. - a surgeon in Dallas, Texas for the past twenty years, who married Betty Pierce of Dallas. They have one child.
Frances Jo Barnett - who married Max Drury, and had Frances Jo Drury, and Thomas Drury.
On January 1, 1934 in Kosse, Limestone County, Texas, John Bryan Barnett was married second to Hallie Mae Jones - a daughter of John Jerry and Bertha Mae (McAllister) Jones, of Kosse. Mr. Jones was a con- tractor of the Kosse Community.
In 1940, Dr. Barnett was appointed Chief of Internal Medicine of the Torbett Clinic and Hospital in Marlin, Texas - a position he held until his death. In addition to being a director and trustee of the latter medical care facility, he was also a director and trustee of the facility which replaced it - Torbett, Hutchings, Smith Memorial Hospital and Clinic; and he was considered one of the outstanding diagnosticians in central Texas.
John Bryan and Hallie Mae (Jones) Barnett had one son:
John Bryan Barnett, II - a Plastic Surgeon in Dallas, Texas, who married Maria Alexander of Dallas. They have one son, Bryan Hunter Barnett. Dr. Barnett was a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians, Texas Chapter, as well as the Texas Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Texas and American Heart Association, the Texas Tuberculosis Association, and the Falls County Medical Society. He served as president and secretary of Falls County Medical Society, and was a delegate many times to the Southern Clinical Society, of which he was a charter member. He wrote many articles for the Texas Medical Journal, and received citations from President J. F. Kennedy and Governor Price Daniel for his service as a medical examiner to the Selective Service. He was a past commander of the American Legion Post in Limestone County, and received a certificate of distinguished citizenship from the Legion in 1931.
He was an officer of the Marlin Chamber of Commerce, a member and past director of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, member and past president of Marlin Rotary Club, a director of the Marlin Country Club, a member of the executive board of the University of Texas Dad's Association, and of the Boy Scouts of America. He belonged to Phi Beta Pi Medical Fraternity, and the Masonic Lodge. He was a devout worshipper in the First Christian Church.
Dr. Barnett's zest for living and for his fellowman won him much recognition throughout the state, for which he was proud. The Muleshoe, Texas' "Mule Memorial" was an example of his love for the terrestrial, as well as the urbane; and he was very proud of his family of four children, and four grandchildren. Mrs. Barnett continues to reside in Marlin, where she is a member of the First Presbyterian Church. Before her marriage, Hallie Mae taught school in the Stranger School in East Falls County, Texas.
Some biographies from "Families of Falls County", compiled and edited by the Falls County Historical Commission.
Permission granted to Theresa Carhart by the Falls County Historical Commission, for use on this page.
