Duval County FlArchives Biographies.....Barnett, William D. 1852 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 4, 2008, 3:30 pm Author: B. F. Johnson William D. Barnett Whatever the scientists may say as to heredity, physical and mental, there is no question of doubt in the lay mind as to the existence of certain traits of character handed down from father to son in many families. The proof of this exists in every community in our land. Indeed, our country has been made up of strong sons, of strong fathers. The English nation itself, and the American people, an offshoot from the English nation, is convincing evidence of strong traits of national character. William D. Barnett, one of the leading financiers of Jacksonville, comes of one of these virile families. His father, William Boyd Barnett, was a pioneer in three States and the founder of the bank which his two sons are now managing. William D. Barnett is the oldest son, born at Leesburg, Ind., April 3, 1852. His father, William Boyd Barnett, was born in Nicholas county, W. Va., in 1824. He was a son of another William Barnett, who was a native of Northumberland county, Pa., served as a captain in a Pennsylvania regiment in the War of 1812, and in his early life was a pioneer of West Virginia and Ohio. William Boyd Barnett moved on from Ohio to Indiana, where in 1848 he married at Leesburg, Sarah Jane Blue. On April 3, 1852, William B., the eldest son, was born in that town. In 1858 his father moved to Kansas, then the "Far West." After a successful business there as a banker and public man, in 1877 he moved to Florida and engaged in the banking business in Jacksonville. In the meantime William D. had grown up in Kansas, attending the common schools of Hiawatha and later the university at Highland and the State Agricultural College at Manhattan. In 1869, a youth of seventeen, he left college and engaged in the drug business at Hiawatha, in which he built up a good business, but on account of his health sold out in November, 1874. Before going to Florida he had married on April 8, 1872, Miss Lilla C. Harrison, daughter of Harlow S. and Lucia S. Harrison, of Kingsville, Ashtabula county, Ohio. Of this marriage two children have been born, one of whom, Harlow Barnett, is now living. In 1875 he settled in Jacksonville, Fla., and engaged in the furniture business and continued in this line of business until 1880, when he joined his father who had established a banking business under the name of the Bank of Jacksonville, taking the position of cashier. This bank was established in 1877 and was succeeded first by the National Bank of Jacksonville, and second, by the present Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville. Mr. Barnett served as cashier of the Bank of Jacksonville untill 1888, at which time it was converted to the National Bank of Jacksonville, when on account of ill health he withdrew from active participation in the management of the bank and moved from Jacksonville to the mountains of western North Carolina in the spring of 1888. In the spring of 1889, his health being benefited by the stay in North Carolina, he purchased a general merchandise business in Hendersonville, N. C. and continued operating the same until the spring of 1893, when he returned to Jacksonville and accepted the position of treasurer and paymaster under the receiverships of the Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West Railway and the Florida Southern Railway, which position he held until the receiverships were closed in 1897; he then resumed active work in the bank as cashier of the National Bank of Jacksonville, which position he held until his father's death in October, 1903, when he was elected vice-president of the bank, which position he held until the bank was changed to the Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville, when he was elected vice-president of the same and now holds this position. Like a majority of the successful men of our day, Mr. Barnett has found his greatest pleasure as a reading man in books of history, to which special works on finance have been added as contributing to his business information. In no sense a politician and never a seeker after public place, he has when called upon given public service as an Alderman of the city of Jacksonville. Like his brother he has been interested in the local military affairs, and served for several years as Captain of the Wilson Battery of Jacksonville and in 1888 was commissioned Major of the 1st Battalion, Florida State Troops. Prominent in a social way, as well as in business circles, he holds membership in all the leading clubs of Jacksonville, such as the Seminole, Elks, Country Club, Germania, and church clubs, in addition to which he is affiliated with the Florida Lodge, Number one, of Odd Fellows. Certainly, few families can be found who have contributed more to the upbuilding of various States than this Barnett family. There was the old soldier captain who did his share in West Virginia and Ohio, the able banker who contributed valuable service to Indiana, Kansas, and Florida, and now these younger men, who, at the head of the largest financial institution in the State of Florida, are doing their share to put that great Commonwealth in the commanding position to which it is entitled by virtue of its natural resources. In every generation since the Revolutionary period, this family has contributed industrious, persevering, faithful and patriotic citizens to the nation. William D. Barnett possesses the same traits of character which have made each member of the family not only valuable, but popular citizens of Jacksonville and Florida. No sketch of the life of William D. Barnett would be complete unless it carried with it a statment of the love and esteem in which Mr. Barnett is held by his associates. To successfully fill the positions held by him requires an amount of character and ability seldom combined. The greatest evidence of Mr. Barnett's success in life is the fact that the "soldier boys" and railroad men with whom he was associated loved him, the bank clerks he controls love him, and the citizens of Jacksonville love him. Open hearted and generous, none of his associates in any business that he has been in have ever failed to find in him both sympathy and aid and a heart ever ready to respond to any appeal made by them. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/photos/bios/barnett53gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/duval/bios/barnett53gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 7.3 Kb