Elbert County Georgia Biographies

DR. WILLIAM BARNETT was a son of Nat Barnett, who came from Amherst county, Va., to Georgia in the Revolutionary period, and he was kin to the Crawford family which cut such a large figure in Georgia history. William Barnett and his brother Joel were both gallant soldiers of the Revolutionary struggle, both being then young men. He married Mary Meriwether, a daughter of Frank Meriwether, also Virginians, and located first in Columbia county, but later settled in Elbert. The opening of a new country is always a cause of much sickness, and when that is combined with a mild climate, the sickness is increased. There was in that early time a great demand for doctors, and with some natural aptitude for the profession, Dr. Barnett took up the practice of medicine. He was of kindly temperament, very agreeable in his manners, and plausible in speech. Of limited education, he was yet a close observer and quick of perception. Though there was much need for doctors, there were many in that pioneer day unable to pay for their services, and Dr. Barnett gave his services freely to the poor, without regard as to whether they were able to pay him or not. He became, as a result of his personal popularity, sheriff of his county. He was then sent to the General Assembly for a number of years and became president of the Senate. In 1812, when the elder Howell Cobb, then a member of the Twelfth Congress, resigned to take up active service in the army, Dr. Barnett was a candidate to fill out Mr. Cobb's unexpired term. His opponent was the celebrated John Forsyth, one of the great men of Georgia history, and whose reputation was afterwards national and international. Dr. Barnett ran as a States-rights Democrat, and an evidence of his popularity is to be found in the fact that he beat Forsyth in that campaign. He was reelected to the Thirteenth Congress, which carried his service up to March 2, 1815, and immediately after the close of the session he was appointed by President Madison a member of the commission to establish the boundaries of the Creek Indian reservation.

This was his last appearance in the public life of the nation, though he may have later served his constituents in positions of a local character. His wife, who bore him six children, was profoundly devoted to him, and her death was brought on by that devotion. The doctor was desperately ill of a fever and his life despaired of. She became so wrought up and despairing of his condition that she fell ill and died, while he recovered. Years later he married Mrs. Bibb, a widow and the mother of William Wyatt Bibb, United States Senator and Governor of Alabama. Both were then somewhat advanced in life, with grown children, and their interest being mainly in their children, with much time spent in visiting them, eventually they drifted apart, and Dr. Barnett moved to Alabama, where, after a residence of few years he died.
[Source: "Men of Mark in Georgia: a complete and elaborate history...", Volume 2 By William J. Northen - Transcribed by Barb Ziegenmeyer]