Swinfield H. Barton

Surnames: BARTON, BORUM, DAVIS, LAWLER, PARSONS, STAHL, McNEELEY, THOMAS, WILLIAMS, SMITH, HUFF, PHILLIPS, WALTON, BRADSHAW, DOUGHERTY, DONNELL, RICHARDS, KOZEL

Swinfield H. Barton, b ca 1822 in Rutherford County, Tennessee, died by drowning in Big Creek or the Brazos River in 1860; was a son of David and Sarah (Borum) Barton II. He moved to Alabama with his parents before 1830, and about 1845 - accompanied his parents, two brothers, and a sister to the Falls County, Texas area (then Limestone County).

From August 2, 1846 to August 17, 1847, Swinfield H. and his brother, Fleming J. Barton, were Privates in the Texas Mounted Volunteers during the U.S.-Mexican War. About 1848, Swinfield was married to Mary Davis, b January 11, 1828 in Alabama, d May 20 1889 in Texas - a daughter of John L. Davis, Sr. and his wife, Elizabeth (Lolla-six Lawler) Davis of South Carolina, who had moved to Alabama. Mary Davis was a sister of Jane Davis, who married L. B. H. Barton, Swinfield's brother, and of Catherine Davis, who married John Parsons.

Swinfield H. Barton was listed among the Jurors in the early Falls County Minutes of the Commissioners Court, along with his father, three brothers - Isaac, L. B. H., and Fleming J. Barton - and his brother-in-law, Sheriff John W. Jarvis.

Swinfield and Mary Barton had three known children:
Nancy Caroline Barton, b July 26, 1849 in Texas - married in 1869 to Augustus Stahl, Jr. a son of Augustus and Wiihemina Stahl, Sr. Nancy died April 11, 1889, and was buried in a cemetery, which is now over-grown, on Brushy Creek (Highway 147 in Falls County). Her tombstone is on the ground, and the top is broken at this time in 1986. She and "Gus" reared Mary Elvira McNeeley - infant daughter of Joel N. and Mary Jane (Barton) McNeeley, and they are known to have had Thomas Stahl who married Addie Thomas, and Sarah Stahl who married Homer Thomas. Augustus Stahl, Jr. enlisted in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War - serving in Co. B. Wailer's Regiment, Green's Brigade.

Thomas H. Barton, b ca 1851 married February 2, 1875 to Alice Williams.

William David Barton, b August 18, 1856, d May 21, 1925 - married October 5,1875 to Mary Bell Smith, b June 6, 1857, d May 16, 1941 - a daughter of Erastus and Dorcas (Huff) Smith of Kentucky, who had moved to Anderson County, Texas, and thence to Falls County, Texas. Erastus Smith was a brother of Mrs. John R. McClanahan - also of Falls County. William David and Mary Bell had three children: Eugene O'Connell Barton, b 1876 - married Alma Phillips and had no children; William Thomas Barton, b April 1, 1880, d March 18, 1941 - married Fatima Walton, and had about nine children; and Rufus King Barton (later Sr.), b August 29, 1884 in Falls County, Texas, d September 1, 1967 in Missouri - married May 14, 1907 to Emma Alice Bradshaw, b January 6, 1885, d November 30, 1976 in Missouri - a daughter of Madison Lafayette and Mildred Matilda (Dougherty) Bradshaw of Weakley County, Tennessee, who had settled in Otto, Texas. Rufus and Emma Barton had one child, Rufus King Barton, Jr., b ca 1908 in Falls County, who now resides in Festus, Missouri - married first to Laura Ann Donnell and had a son and a daughter, married second to Mrs. Mary K. (Richards) Kozel. Rufus King Barton, Sr. and his eldest brother, Eugene, and a cousin started the Dyan Shine Shoe Polish Manufacturing Company in Falls County, moved to Waco, Texas prior to World War II, and thence moved the business to St. Luis, Missouri, where, Rufus King Barton, Sr. became tne sole owner in later years.

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.