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 imon's life was lived
in interesting times. He progressed from what was undoubtedly a
disadvantaged birth in Martinique in the West Indies to a meeting with
the noted statesman, Tallyrand in the wilderness of 18th century
New York. He fought as a privateer and was wounded during the
Revolution, was one of the first settlers in Chenango County,
New York and was the scion of a large family that persists strongly to
this day. And yet, my first contact with his memory was to see his
broken tombstone propped against a tree in a horse pasture. The cemetery
had been abandoned and stones stolen to serve
as sidewalk pavers in the neighboring trailer park. Years
later, I returned with my son, John, to show him the stone. After a long
search we found it face down in the grass and broken further.
The exact location of the cemetery was unknown. With the property
owner's permission we took the stone away to preserve it. It
is now repaired and is erected in the Pioneer Cemetery in Greene, New
York next to that of another early settler, Stephen
Ketcham. It awaits its return to its original place once that
cemetery can be restored. One of the probable reasons the
cemetery was abandoned was that several people of color are
buried there, among them Simon Barnet. But, I'm getting ahead of the
story. First; to Martinique.
The island
of Martinique was
first settled by the French in 1635 having first been discovered by
Columbus in 1505. Plantations of sugarcane were planted and large scale
farming undertaken. In order to do this slave labor was required. The
native Carib Indian population were not useful for forced labor since
they were extremly fierce, violent, and warlike. They were all but
exterminated by the French. A remnant was settled on a neighboring
island. Beginning in the late 17th century black skinned African slaves
were imported and proved more useful. French colonists went there as
civil servants, as soldiers, and as prisoners. A search of records from
the time indicate two possibilities for Barnets in the islands. Census
of 1675 lists one Lieutenant Jean Pierre "Baret", a
soldier guarding the port, living with his fiance', another
gentleman, and 20 slaves. The name appears in another place as
Barnet. A search of the International Genealogical Index (IGI)
indicates several Barnet/Barnett individuals in the West Indies from
1674 until the present without giving us a definite match for
Simon.
Records from
the time of Simon's birth are difficult to access since
Martinique has been ravaged several times over the years by the
eruption of Mt. Pellee' and has changed hands politically
more than once. The 1902 eruption devastated the island, as seen here,
and killed 30,000 people. Naturally, records were lost. Also, many
records were sent to France for strorage in the archives and France, too
has been fought over much since 1743, the year of Simon's birth.
In any case
Simon was born and at age 11, (1754) according to family tradition,
he sailed on a French privateer, captained by his uncle, (perhaps
as a stowaway) to disrupt English shipping since what in America is
called the French and Indian War was in full swing at that time,
although not officially declared until 1756. As the story goes; and
it is reprinted in several histories with little variation, the ship was
captured by a British Man-o-war and taken as a prize to the port of
Philadelphia. The histories say Simon jumped overboard at
night and, with the help of a plank, swam to shore, finding shelter
with the sizeable group of refugees from the islands.
Simon became
an apprentice to Joseph Marsh, a well known ship builder and while
learning the trade met Margaret Sidell, daughter of a German
immigrant who was also bound to Mr. Marsh. Nearly twenty years
after coming to America, Simon married Margaret. The union was not
easily accomplished as the records of Locust Street Church indicate. The
statement of an anonymous pastor is recorded:
"Simon Barnet and Margaret
Sidell were married May 30, 1775 by Slaughter, by license. Application
was made to me, but I sent them off as he was a mulatto and she a white woman whose father
was present. Both served their time with Joseph Marsh, the
shipwright." ( I think the "both" referred to here are Simon and Mr.
Sidell, not Simon and Margaret)
The
"Slaughter" referred to is Rev. Michael Sclachter, a well known
Dutch Reformed minister of the day whose openess made
him widely sought after for marriages.
Simon
became active in the Revolution. His 1832 application for a
pension makes very interesting reading. He is aged 89 at the time
of his deposition and describes his service as
follows:
"That at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he resided
in the city of Philadelphia and was a ship carpenter there previous to
the taking possession of Philadelphia by the British, but the precise
time he cannot state. He performed the following service. He was
employed by John Wharton and Joshua Humphrey to build a Row
Galley mounting one 18 pounder which was armed, manned, and
stationed in the river as a guard to the city of Philadelphia and
in this service he was engaged one month.  He also helped build a
second Galley of the same description built by one Simon Shulick. This
was also stationed in the river as a guard to the city and in which
service he was engaged one month. Also he assisted in building another
in the yard of Shulick that was intended to be put to sea or stationed
off the hook. In this business he was engaged six weeks. (ed.
These small 12 - 18 man row galleys were intended to harass larger
ships and get in under their guns to mount boarding parties.) He
also assisted in building ten "chevaux-de-frise". One or two of them
he built at the city of Philadelphia and others on the Jersey Shore
five miles below the city. (ed. These were large timbered
obstructions with sharp upward and forward pointing spikes that were
submerged in the river channels to hold off or sink enemy ships.)
A part were sunk at Fort Mifflin and others at what was called
"Hog Island." 
" He worked at them at least six
months."
"He resided in the city of
Philadelphia until after the British evacuated the city and he was
then employed to build boats on the Swatara Creek to be united with
other boats built on the Otsego Lake and which came down with Sullivan
at the time of his expedition against the Indians. The boats were
taken up the river to Wyoming and from there up the Chemung River. In
this service he was engaged six months. He performed this last
mentioned service under Captain Robbins and Colonel
Mack."
"After this, but the time he
cannot state, he enlisted on board the brig Fair American
Captain Stephen Decatur for a three month cruise. He enlisted at
Philadelphia, cruised off Charleston and had an engagement off New
York and took the brig Arbuthnot in which engagement he
was wounded in the thigh. They took several other prizes. They
returned to Philadelphia and refitted after serving out his three
month cruise. He again entered on board the same brig and the
same captain for a second three month cruise. During this cruise they
had an engagement with another ship (name not recollected) and
fought her from daylight until twelve o'clock and took her. This
vessel mounted ten guns and the Fair American sixteen.
They also took a refugee schooner, ran her aground and also ran
aground themselves. They also took the ship Lady Margaret
invoiced at thirty five thousand pounds. (ed. The American
ships were part of the "Pennsylvania Navy"; actually privateers. The
captain and crew shared the proceeds of the sale of their prizes.)
He served out the three months cruise and was discharged. He
afterwards engaged on board Captain Casson's ship of twenty guns,
called the Rising Sun for a three month cruise and served out
the time.  They
took seven prizes and brought some into port. Some were retaken. He
also entered on board the ship Washington (actually Lady
Washington) Captain Josiah, and went on a nine month cruise to
France in company with the ship St. James Captain Kane, each
of them of twenty guns. On the way they took a ship of forty guns
called the Lion. They also took the ship Luxforce
(?) and a cutter called the Will. While in France they
heard the news of peace and brought the news home to America. At this
time he served full nine months as he believed."
Even
with all this detail Simon was denied a pension apparently because,
at the time of his service he was not enlisted
in the Continental Navy. I consulted Charles Claghorn's book,
Naval Officers of the American Revolution and was able to verify
every one of Simon's claims as to times, ships, and captains.
Also, the Pennsylvania Archives record the names and duties of the
officers and shipbuilders he worked for. If the log books of the ships
can be located Simon's presence may also be verified directly. The
activity in that he was engaged in was obviously very dangerous on its own
merits but even more so should he be captured. As Privateers and not
"Regular Navy" the British felt free to treat captured sailors
and officers as pirates. Many were killed as such and others imprisoned
in inhuman conditions. The American government was obliged to threaten
retaliation on its British prisoners before Britain changed its
behavior.
Sharing in the prize money awarded for captured
ships left Simon with some assets. Philadelphia land records
indicate that in May of 1783, "Simon Barnett, shipwright, bought a
frame house and lot from Thomas Davis, a wharf builder, that was on the
west side of the alley near Swede's Church in the Southwark district, in
the County of Philadelphia." A description of the Southwark district of
the time is seen in Rudolph Walther's on-line history of
Philadelphia. He says:
"Southwark, immediately on the river front, was marked
by great wood-yards for supplying fuel before the days of anthracite
coal, also by the sheds and yards of boat-builders and mast-makers,
and by ship-builders’ yards down to the site of the United States Navy
Yard.
A great many of the Southwark dwellings were inhabited by sea
captains and seafaring men, and down to quite a recent period a
considerable portion of its inhabitants were the families of seagoing
people and "watermen.""
Only four years later the records
show that Simon and Margaret sold this property to Jaques le Ray de
Chaumont. This man was a French aristocrat, not interested in living in
the house. In fact, he liked larger accomodations and had his own large
establishment as seen here.  He came to America after the
Revolution, to collect on loans made by his father to the country. While
here he speculated in land. I believe he purchased Simon's
house and lot as part of an agreement to settle him
on a part of the land he had bought in what is now Otsego
County, New York. It must have been a good offer to get Simon out
of sight and smell of the sea. Events in France soon led
to intentions to create in Chenango County, New York, a
haven and settlement for aristocratic refugees from the French
Revolution, including Queen Marie Antoinette and the Dauphin. Simon
was engaged, I believe, as their interpreter and site manager. That
this is so is reinforced by the fact that Simon named his son, born in
Otsego County in 1792, after the leader of the refugee group, Charles
Felix du Bulogne. This was before he and the group settled in
Chenango County. M. du Bulogne preceded a group of refugees
including M. du Chaumont and purchased a tract of land from Treat and
Morris. Part of that tract was sold to Simon
Barnet.
It was during this time in 1794 that
the French colony was visited by M. de Tallyrand who, as late
minister of the king of France, had fled the revolution. He rode on
horseback from Philadelphia to see what progress had been made on
the part of the refugees. A small village had been created and
farms cleared. However, in 1795, while riding to Philadelphia with
payment for the remainder of their mortgage, M. du Bulogne was drowned
while trying to cross a rain swollen Loyal Sock Creek. This caused the
mortgage to be forfeit and the land reverted to its original owners. The
French colony was unable to survive this blow and by 1796 all had left
to take up another attempt at colonization in Bradford County,
Pennsylvania. The place was called Asylum and eventually Frenchtown. It
was not sucessful.
Simon Barnet
stayed behind in Chenango County. His title to his
land was forfeit and he was forced to purchase it a
second time. In the growing community of Greene, New York he made his
living and raised his only remaining child, Charles Felix Bolyne
Barnett. Family lore holds that when Charles F. was a small boy his
father took him to New York City to be educated. Indeed, the 1800 census
shows them there in the 7th Ward. Also present is another adult man
between 25 and 45 and a girl between 16 and 25. These are possibly
Charles' siblings who either died or moved away. There was a very severe
Yellow Fever epidemic in the city around this time. No record has yet
been found of them outside these census pages. In 1810 all are back
in Chenango County and Charles is married and living separately. In this
census three men over 18 and one girl under 10 are shown. Margaret died
March 17, 1836 and Simon March 1, 1837. He was 94 and she 83 at the time
of their respective deaths. They lived through a tremendously
momentous era of our history and left this world quietly and with a
lasting legacy.
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Simon
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