Hugh Barton was born on March 9, 1799, the 5th child of William Barton and Nancy Hunter. He was born in Orange County, North Carolina. His siblings were Esther Barton, Joel Barton, Candis Barton, John Barton, Asa Barton, and Malinda Barton, born in Orange County, North Carolina; Mary Zebby Ezebbier Barton, Matilda Barton, Nancy L. Barton and Lewis Barton born in Kentucky; Lewis Barton, Phoebe Ann Barton, and David Barton born in Lebanon, St Clair County, Illinois.

William Barton and Nancy Hunter were my Great Great Great Great Grandparents on my father's side of the family: Richard Easton (1938) -> Ray Easton (1911) -> Eva Jane Barton (1879) -> John Hunter Barton (1858) -> William Barton (1821) -> John Barton (1796) -> William Barton (1762)

Compiled by Dave Barton, Prosper, Texas, USA

The below Barton family line, which begins with William Barton and Nancy Hunter, was compiled with the help of a number of people, including previous Barton family researchers who began tracing the Bartons long before the internet made this research so much easier. I know it has been a source of frustration to many that this line hasn't been traced further. It's commonly understood that this line came from England, possibly as close as one or two generations before William.

Previously researched information tells us that William and Nancy Barton began their family about 1790 in Orange County, North Carolina. Seven out of their thirteen children were born there. In about 1805, the Bartons moved to Kentucky, and by 1815, they had relocated to Lebanon, St Clair County, Illinois.

When I began this project for myself a few years ago, I was given quite a bit of history by an aunt who had been studying this line for a long time. She mentioned a trip she took to Orange County, North Carolina a number of years back and a discussion she had with a records custodian there. It seems during wartime, the town clerk feared that the invading British army would find and seize the historical records, so they were taken away and buried in a safe place. Legend says those records were never recovered.

During my research I have found some trees which suggest William's parents (or possibly grandparents) were John Barton, 1728-1749, from Manchester, Lancashire, England, and Betsy, 1732-1749, from North Carolina. So far, I know of no records that support this.

In 2009 I submitted my DNA for testing through Family Tree DNA, to be included in the ongoing Barton DNA Project. Quite a number of close and semi-close matches to other project members have been found. These close matches seem to indicate the certainty of a common ancestor somewhere in the tree, however it may be an ancestor from many hundreds of years in the past. One such recent match was found, designated as an exact Y-DNA25 match. An exact match would seem to indicate that the common Barton ancestor is not that far off, but it could still be a number of generations distant. This match was to the following line: Descendants of Ralph Barton, 1685-1740, from Wigan, Lancashire, England. An interesting side note... a branch of descendants from this Ralph Barton migrated to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the early 1800s.

Finding provable family connections for William Barton's wife, Nancy Hunter, has not been successful so far. But there are some clues out there that have surfaced with persistence.

This link: http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/ward2/pafg01.htm outlines Jesse Divine Hunter b.1806 to Samuel and Lydia Hunter in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky. Samuel Hunter was originally from North Carolina according to (http://genforum.genealogy.com/hunter/messages/4137.html).