B A R T O N A N C E S T R Y . C O M

  Click HERE for dynamic PHP data pages.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

William Barton and Nancy Hunter
D E S C E N D A N T S
Updated July 13, 2025

The below register shows 8 generations from William and Nancy Barton. 
This page represents the website owner's PATERNAL line.
Living descendants are not shown on this page.

 Help is always requested in finding incomplete family links for the Barton line.
If you are related to this line and can help, please feel free to contact me.

EMAIL ME

Dave Barton, Prosper, Texas, USA
 

The below Barton family line, which begins with William Barton and Nancy Hunter, was compiled with the help of a number of people, including previous Barton family researchers who began tracing the Bartons long before the internet made this research so much easier.  I know it has been a source of frustration to many that this line hasn't been traced further.  It's commonly understood that this line came from England, possibly as close as one or two generations before William.  Previously researched information tells us that William and Nancy Barton began their family around 1790 in Orange County, North Carolina.  Seven out of their thirteen children were born there.  In about 1805, the Bartons moved to Kentucky, and by 1815, they had relocated to Lebanon, St Clair County, Illinois. When I began this project for myself years ago, I was given some history by an aunt who had been studying this line for many years.  She mentioned a trip she took to Orange County, North Carolina many years back and a discussion she had with a records custodian there.  The story she came away with was that during the Revolutionary War, the town clerk feared that the invading British army would find and seize the historical records, so they were taken away and buried in a safe place.  Legend says those records were never recovered, so this may account for the roadblocks so many people have found when trying to research past William and Nancy. During my research I have found some other trees (with little supporting evidence) which suggest William's parents (or possibly grandparents) were John Barton, 1728-1749, from Manchester, Lancashire, England, and Betsy, 1732-1749, from North Carolina. So far, I know of no compelling evidence records to support any information on William Barton's parents or ancestry. BARTON DNA CONNECTION In 2009 I submitted my DNA for testing through Family Tree DNA, to be included in the ongoing Barton DNA Project. Quite a large number of close and semi-close matches to other project members have been found over the years. These close matches seem to indicate the certainty of a common ancestor somewhere in the tree, however it may be an ancestor from many hundreds of years in the past.  One such recent match was found, designated as an exact Y-DNA25 match. An exact match would seem to indicate that the common Barton ancestor is not that far off, but it could still be a number of generations distant.  This DNA match was to the following line: Descendants of Ralph Barton, 1685-1740, from Wigan, Lancashire, England (web page now defunct) or here: https://jorge.home.xs4all.nl/gen/trees/report_barton_2.htm.   An interesting side note... a very significant branch of descendants from this Ralph Barton line migrated from England to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1800s. BARTON - HUNTER GENEALOGY CONNECTIONS Finding provable HUNTER family connections for William Barton's wife, Nancy Hunter, has not been successful so far. But there are some clues out there that have surfaced with persistence. This link: http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/ward2/pafg01.htm (another defunct page) outlined Jesse Divine Hunter b.1806 to Samuel and Lydia Hunter in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky. Samuel Hunter was originally from North Carolina according to the following information regarding Re: Jesse D.Hunter KY>IL>CA Mormon Battalion: http://genforum.genealogy.com/hunter/messages/4137.html.  Research tells us that the William Barton/Nancy Hunter family, which originated in North Carolina, moved to Kentucky by 1805 (Source: Birth of daughter Mary).  There exists a record for the marriage of daughter Esther Barton to George Nichols on 27 October 1808 in Christian County, Kentucky (Source: http://www.westernkyhistory.org/christian/marriage/bride.html).   They stayed in Kentucky until about 1814, when they moved to Illinois. So by this information I believe William & Nancy were in Christian County, Kentucky during or near the same period as the above Hunter family. Back to Jesse D Hunter and his wife, Keziah.  Clue #2. Their kids were: William Hunter, b. 1830 Greene, Illinois; Asa Barton Hunter b. 1832 in Lebanon, St. Clair, Illinois; Mary Barton Hunter b. 1834 in Lebanon, St. Clair, Illinois; Jesse Hunter b. 1839 in Johnson, Illinois; Samuel Divine Hunter b.1842 in Illinois, and Martha Hunter.  The Barton middle names are interesting, aren't they? And of course the fact these Hunters moved from Christian County, Kentucky to Lebanon, Illinois, about the same time the Bartons did.... this seems to be much more than coincidence? Then in February 1851 (the 1850 California census was taken late) we find Mary (Brown) Barton (wife of Asa Barton, son of Wm Barton), with daughter Sarah Barton, and 3 year old granddaughter Mary Barton (Dewitt) living near Temecula (then San Diego County) near the Jesse Hunter and Keziah Brown family. There is also compelling speculation that Mary Brown Barton and Keziah Brown Hunter were sisters, but that has not been proven as far as I know. So, how do we know if these Hunters actually knew the Bartons?  The below info was compiled From Mormon pioneer handcart history. Asa Barton, son of William & Nancy, 1847 Travel History with Hunter Family 18 June 1847: Asa Barton was traveling with wife, Mary (Brown), daughter, Sarah Barton DeWitt, and Sarah's husband, Martin DeWitt.  On this date, they departed from the Elkhorn River, west of Winter Quarters, Nebraska, with the 1847 Daniel Spencer/Perregrine Sessions wagon company.  The wagon company arrived at their destination, Salt Lake City, Utah, on 25 September 1847. The Sessions company consisted of 75 wagons and 1,885 pioneers going west. Asa Barton was chosen as a captain of ten. Included in the fifth ten, led by Asa Barton, was: Mary (Brown) Barton, Elizabeth Harris Browett, Harriet Browett, Solomon Chase, Sarah Ann Dewitt, Elizabeth Gates, George Gates, Samuel Newton Henderson, Sarah Holden, Asa B.(Barton) Hunter, Jesse Hunter, Keziah (Brown) Hunter, Martha Hunter, Mary B.(Barton) Hunter, Samuel Hunter, Elizabeth A. Matthews, Elizabeth Jane Matthews, Emma Louise Matthews, Ezekial Cunningham Matthews, John Lynn Matthews, Maria Marcissa Matthews, Nancy Melissa Matthews, Thomas Marion Matthews, William Matthews, James Kemp McClenahan, Nancy McClenahan, Armenus Miller, Silas Miller, Fanny Parish, Joel Parish, Priscilla Parish, Samuel Parish, Clarinda Pollock, James Pollock, Priscilla Pollock, Thomas Pollock, Aaron Dunham Thatcher, Alley Kitchen Thatcher, George Washington Thatcher, Harriet Ann Thatcher, Hezekiah Thatcher, Hyrum Smith Thatcher, John Bethuel Thatcher, Joseph Wykoff Thatcher, Katherine Mary Thatcher, and Moses Thatcher. Ok, so now we know Asa Barton oversaw Jesse D Hunter's wife and kids during their trek west.  Jesse (the father) wasn't with them during this journey.  It seems at the time he was an officer in Brigham Young's Mormon Battalion (from July 1846 until July 1847), during which his second wife, Lydia, accompanied him (Yes, he was a poligamist). When the Battalion reached Southern California (Source: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1626722/posts) it was disbanded. Jesse remained in California, where his family joined him later.  Jesse fell in love with Southern California and felt it was a perfect place to settle.  In correspondence to church leaders in Utah, Jesse suggested Southern California as a viable alternate settlement location for Mormons. "There is not a man, woman, or child, but would rejoice at the very idea of our settling in this country,." Jesse stated.  Should the main body remain in the Salt Lake Valley, Jesse suggested a Pacific coast settlement where Mormons would have a port for trade.  Brigham Young eventually established the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino in 1851. Sometime after his family joined him, Jesse Hunter was appointed U. S. Indian Agent for Southern California and he moved to San Luis Rey (Source: http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/79summer/mormon.htm).  By 1852, Jesse was living in the Mormon settlement of San Bernardino.  After the Mormon settlement was abandoned, Jesse then moved to Los Angeles, where he became a brick manufacturer and businessman.  In 1854, he bought and moved to Rancho Cañada de los Nogales in Los Angeles County (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rancho_Ca%C3%B1ada_de_los_Nogales). So it's apparent the Bartons and Hunters knew each other closely enough to be family, but were they family?  I don't have anything solid for that yet, but it certainly seems likely.  As mentioned above, it has been speculated that Mary Brown Barton and Keziah Brown Hunter were sisters. Beyond that, perhaps Jesse Hunter was a nephew or cousin of Nancy Hunter. Jessie Hunter DNA Link to William Barton and Nancy Hunter In September 2015 I received information from a direct descendant of Jesse Hunter and Keziah Brown who had a DNA profile created through Ancestry DNA. The result pointed to a less than specific relationship to William Barton's and Nancy Hunter's line.  Hopefully more information will surface. CLICK HERE FOR THE HUNTER FAMILY LINE

The below register shows 9 generations from William and Nancy Barton. 
This page represents the website owner's PATERNAL line. 
More detailed information is contained in my Ancestry.com trees.
Living persons are not shown in this page.