Southampton County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Obituaries.....Barrett, Richard C., 1928 

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RICHARD CRAWFORD BARRETT

R.C. BARRETT, TOWN’S OLDEST CITIZEN, IS CLAIMED BY DEATH

   Richard Crawford Barrett died at his home in First Avenue Wednesday 
afternoon, February 15, in his seventy-ninth year.  Mr. Barrett had been 
in feeble health for many months and the end came peacefully and quietly 
to this venerable Christian gentleman and citizen.  He was the oldest 
inhabitant of our town in Point to residence, being the first child born 
in Franklin after it was founded in the decade prior to the War Between 
the States.  He was the son of Richard Crawford Barrett, 1st and Mrs. 
Mary Murfee Barrett, both families being prominent figures in the early 
history of Southampton County.

   Mr. Barrett enjoyed the distinction of being a telegraph operator in 
the service of the Southern Confederacy and was probably the oldest 
telegraph operator in Virginia.  For a number of years he was purser on 
the steamers of the Albemarble Steam Navigation Co. and was telegraph 
operator for the Seaboard Air Line over a period of years.  When the town 
of Franklin was incorporated in 1876, he was its first recorder and 
treasurer, serving with his brother-in-law, the late Dr. J.F. Bryant, 
Franklin’s first mayor, and with the following councilmen; A.L. Gardner, 
J.H. Cutchin, A.M. Brownley, A.W. Norfleet, C.C. Vaughan Sr., and Frank 
Holland, Mr. Gardner being a sole survivor of the town’s first official 
board.  Mr. Barrett was a keen student of and authentic authority on local 
history.  His story of Franklin in earlier days being a valuable feature 
of the special edition of the Southampton Democrat published in 1924.

   For many years he had been a faithful and consistent member of Franklin 
Baptist Church, possessing a rich and abiding faith in the Christian 
religion and its abundant promises of the greater life beyond.  He was a 
familiar figure at the mid-week prayer services of his church where his 
talks were an inspiration indeed.

   On February 28, 1871, he married Miss Mary Estelle Powell of Murfreesboro, 
N.C., and their golden wedding anniversary celebrated here February 28, 1921, 
was an interesting and largely-attended event.  Mrs. Barrett’s death occurred 
on May 15, 1923 and the surviving children of this union are: Richard C. 
Barrett of Suffolk and R. Sidney Barrett of Franklin; Miss Claudia Barrett, 
Mrs. Frank E. Howell and Mrs. C.S. Rawls of Franklin; Mrs. V.A. Brinkley, Mrs. 
L.C. Holland and Mrs. P.S. Hill of Suffolk; a brother, Thomas O. Barrett of 
Franklin, and a number of grandchildren, among them are Malcolm Howell, Ida 
Malcolm Barrett, Charles and Malita Rawls of Franklin; Mrs. R.H. Jacobs, Miss 
Alice Brinkley, Reginald Holland, Richard Barrett, Inez Barrett and F.E. 
Howell Jr. of Suffolk.

   Funeral services will be held this (Friday) afternoon at 3 o’clock from 
the Franklin Baptist Church, conducted by the Pastor, Rev. R.D. Stephenson, 
assisted by the Rev. Dr. H.J. Goodwin of the Suffolk Baptist Church.  The 
body bearers will be: F.E. Howell, Jr., Malcolm Howell, Richard B. Barrett, 
S. M. Lawrence, Reginald Holland, Herbert W. Beaman, W.O. Bogart, W. Crawford 
Jenkins.

   Honorary pallbearers: I.E. Howell, J.R. Howell, A.L. Gardner, J.B. Gay, 
W.H. Lankford, J.H. Holland, J.D. Fowler, R.E.L. Watkins, M.E. Lawrence, R.A. 
Pope, Charles Webb, Exum White, Paul Scarborough, J.A. Johnson, Dr. B.J. Ray, 
George Ernest, J.H. Boyd, M.H. Moore, Dr. A.P. Cutchin, Dr. R.H. Cobb, H.W. 
Lloyd, R.A. Peters, Captain W.R. Hayes, Edgar Weede, Ernest Evans, L.L. 
Maddrey, J.A. Pretlow, I.O. Hill, A.A. Riddick, Willie Moore, Jonathan 
Lankford, J.C. Parker Jr., D.A. Holland, George Whitley, R.H. Peters, J.A. 
Williams, Ryland Camp, John Camp, N.L. Carr, E. Frank Story, J.R. Byrd, 
George Steinhardt, B.L. Holt, J.L. Camp Jr., L.B. Maddrey, Gardner T. Edwards, 
R.C. Campbell, George Gardner, W.C. Watson.

   Interment will be made in the family burial plot in Poplar Spring Cemetery.


Richard Crawford BARRETT (II)- 
Confederate, steamship & R.R. telegraph operator, 
first treasurer & recorder of the Town of Franklin, 
first child b. in Franklin, d. 15 Feb 1928, at home, Franklin, age 79, 
interred in Poplar Spring Cemetery (Section 2, Plot 41B*), Franklin, 
   17 Feb 1928, 
"The Tidewater News" (Franklin, VA), Feb. 20, 1928, p. 7 

*His parents are buried in Section 2, Plot 40B. 
   Southampton County Historical Society {SCHS} Cemetery Project, 
   Poplar Spring list: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/cemeteries/poplar2.txt 

His wife's obit ("Tidewater News," May 18, 1923, p. 1) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b630m5ob.txt 

Their son Richard Crawford BARRETT (III) is buried in Cedar Hill Cemetery, 
   Suffolk.  Actually, both II & III were styled Richard Jr. 
   Richard III's obit ("Tidewater News," Mar. 24, 1944) is posted at: 
   http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/nansemond/obits/b630r7ob.txt 


Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by 
Mrs. Bruce Saunders (bs4403@verizon.net), 
and re-formatted by File Manager. 

file at: 
http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/southampton/obits/b630r10o.txt