We don’t know if the Robert M Barnett of Morgan County, Alabama, who acted as attorney for Moore Barnett’s heirs was the same Robert Barnett who married Lucinda Millwee—and if so, where the middle name of Stephen, quoted by many researchers, came from.
It is interesting to note that there is only one Robert Barnett (actually recorded as “Ro.”) in the 1830 Morgan County, Alabama, census. An “Eliz” Barnett was enumerated two households away from him; the ages and sex of the children recorded in her household fit with those of Moore & Elizabeth Barnett’s children.1
On 18 September, 1833, Robert McCall Barnett purchased land in Township 6, Range 3 West, Section 15 in Morgan County,2 and in February 1843, he purchased land in Section 33.3 This land lies a couple of miles north and west of present-day Somerville, Alabama. The location ties in with the enumeration of RM Barnett in the town of Somerville in the 1840 Morgan County census.4
“Robert M Barnitt” was one of the customers of Troup’s General Store in Somerville, Alabama, in February 1836. His name appears in a ledger along with that of James Millwee, who was probably Lucinda Millwee’s brother.5
We know that a Robert M Barnett was in Sevier County, Arkansas, by at least April 1843, because he served on a Grand Jury.6 And in February 1844, he reported “his mark to be a crop and split in each ear.”7 The name is recorded clearly as Robert M Barnett in these two documents.
The 1843 purchase of land in Morgan County in February is somewhat puzzling in light of the jury duty in Arkansas in April. It does not seem likely that he would have bought land in northern Alabama in February, and could have lived in southwestern Arkansas long enough by April to have served on a grand jury. However, the land purchase was from the federal government rather than from a private party, so it may have been initiated several months or years previous to the final date on the certificate.
Of course, it is also possible that we are looking at two different people. However, we have not found Robert McCall Barnett in Alabama later than 1843, and we have not found a Robert Stephen Barnett in any documents.