David G. Barton
Surnames: BARTON, BANKHEAD, OAKES, JACKSON, NEAL, McNEELEY, CHURCH, WILSON, RICH, McCLANAHAN, SMITH, WARD, KING, COKE, PERKINS, ANDERSDavid G. Barton, b ca 1823 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, d ca 1871 in Falls County, Texas - was a son of Robert and Mary ("Polly" Bankhead) Barton who married January 7, 1817 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. David came with his parents and brothers to the Republic of Texas about 1837, settling first in Harris County. By 1846, the family was in that part of Limestone County, Texas which became Falls County, where Robert Barton had purchased land on the Brazos River. Both Robert and "Polly" Barton died before 1850, and their three sons, John, James B., and David inherited the property.
In 1847 in Texas, David G. Barton married Fredonia (Oakes) Jackson, a young widow with a son, Michael Jackson, and a daughter of Charles and Susan (Neal) Oakes. David G. and Fredonia (Oakes) Barton had one daughter, Mary Jane Barton, b 1848, when Fredonia died, who married Joel N. McNeeley.
David G. Barton and his brothers, John M. and James B. (who had married Elizabeth Marian Church in 1850), acquired land near Bucksnort (an extinct community which was the first settlement in present-day Falls County on the east side of the Brazos River after the Texas Revolution in 1836), and established the "Barton Brothers Ranch" south of presentday Marlin. They also acquired land on Sandy Creek near the McClanahan community.
About 1853, David G. Barton married secondly to Mary Paralee Wilson, b ca 1835, d 1870 in Falls County, who had recently moved to Falls County from Rutherford County, Tennessee with her parents, Robert and Elizabeth (Rich) Wilson, and her brothers and sisters.
David G. and Mary Paralee (Wilson) Barton had five children:
Martha Elizabeth Barton, b June 8, 1855, d August 11, 1893 - married John D. McPherson, b August 6, 1849, d October 16, 1916 and both buried in McClanahan Cemetery in Falls County, Texas.
James Barton, b February 15, 1857, d October 1, 1916 at McClanahan and buried in McClanahan Cemetery - married Alice McClanahan, b January 25, 1864 at McClanahan (then called "Center"), d September 24, 1956 and buried by her husband - a daughter of John R. and Katherine ("Kate" Smith) McClanahan.
Emily Barton, b ca 1859 - died young.
Lida Barton, b ca 1861 - died young.
Isaac Barton, b October 11, 1868, d June 18, 1905 - married July 31, 1887 to Allie Oakes, daughter of Robert Allen and Mary Helen (Ward) Oakes.
When David G.'s two brothers died in 1867 and 1868, he was forced by James's widow, who had no children and had remarried to Thomas R. King, to divide the "Barton Brothers Estate." David had to hire a lawyer, Richard Coke of Waco, at a cost of $1,000 to him personally.
Paralee (Wilson) Barton died in 1870, and David G. Barton died in 1871 - leaving the fate of their minor children in the hands of administrators, John W. Perkins and James H. Anders. By the time the estate P was settled, the orphaned David 0. Barton children were left with very little.
David 0. Barton was a most admirable and honorable man. He had the responsibility of his own family, and added to that the care and support of the widow and children of his cousin, Swinfield H. Barton, who drowned in 1860. He also assumed responsibility of his brother, John's, three sons. When David, himself, died, his daughter, Martha Elizabeth (Barton) McPherson, reared her young brother, Isaac.
The original log cabin built by David 0. Barton in 1853 on present-day McClanahan Road, was still standing in 1950, but is gone now in 1986. David 0. Barton was a true pioneer and had many descendants who still reside in 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.
