William Barnett

Who was William Barnett?

William Barnett was an American politician and soldier.

Born in Amherst County, Virginia in 1761, Barnett moved with his father to Columbia County, Georgia. At the start of the American Revolution, Barnett and his brother returned to Virginia to fight under Marquis de Lafayette and were participants in the surrender of Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown.

Barnett returned to Elbert County, Georgia, after the war and settled on the Broad River. He was the county sheriff from some time and was elected to the Georgia Senate and presided as that body's president. Upon the resignation of Howell Cobb in 1812 to accept a captain's commission in the United States Army to fight in the War of 1812, Barnett was elected as Democratic-Republican to the 13th United States Congress and served from October 5, 1812, until March 3, 1815.

After his congressional service, Barnett was appointed in 1815 as a commissioner to establish the boundaries of the Creek Indian reservation. He moved to Montgomery County, Alabama and died there in April 1832. He was buried in the Gilmer-Christian-Barnett Cemetery, near Mathews Station in that county.