I love the World Wide Web and searching for my roots. My husband and family will attest to my obsession over the years as I study the family tree, collect death certificates, connect to other researchers, and peruse articles about east Tennessee. My biggest surprise through the years was the discovery of the Sutton-Barnard Feud. I was shocked to find the following article located at: historical-melungeons.com/hancock_county entitled, “Hancock County - Moonshine, Feuds, & Malungeons, Actual Manners and Ways of the Men and Women” published on November 29, 1891 in The New York Sun. The writer of this article claims, “The Sutton-Barnard feud is the most exciting and also the most brutal of any in the history of this county.” Names are often incorrect in these articles but what it boils down to is it’s my ancestors and the newspapers were (and still are) a for-profit business. Many reporters took liberties in writing their stories of the people of Hancock County.
What really caught my attention in reading this was the mention of Henry Sutton. Was it possible that this was Henley Sutton who was mentioned in Charlie Sutton’s research? Could it be that my family had a secret? Wait! I had my great-grandmother’s death certificate and it listed her mother as Martha Barnard. My father had always told me that the mother of Allie Sutton (nee Epperson) was Martha Barnett. Was this story related to my direct line? These were questions that could not be answered quickly.
Some time passes and eventually an online search for Thomas Sutton (my 3x’s great-grandfather) brought up a Google book entitled, The Southwestern Reporter, Volume 12, Supreme Courts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee, Court of Appeals of Kentucky, and Supreme Court and Court of Appeals (Criminal Cases) of Texas. Permanent Edition. August 26, 1889 – March 10, 1890. The index listed a case, State, Barnard v. (Tenn), page 431. Aha! This was related to the indictment of John Barnard, Clint Barnard, Elisha Barnard, John Barnard, and Anderson Barnard for murder. They were defendants in error of the court decision for the murder of Henley Sutton. There was a statement that caught my eye that was made by John Barnard who I would later learn was known as “Big John Barnard”. He mentioned an incident that happened five or six years earlier while out hunting with Noah Sutton near Henley Sutton’s property when someone fired three shots in their direction. Could he be referring to my great-grandfather?
Now my gut feeling was saying there is a connection to my great-grandmother’s maternal line. Her mother, Martha, married James Nelson Epperson and they are listed on page 5 of the Hancock County, TN, Brier Creek census in 1860 while an older couple named Anderson and Nancy Barnard were listed on page 9. Hmmm, I decided to place Martha as their daughter and couldn’t help but post the stories I found on the Sutton—Barnard feud and the case summary found in the Southwestern Reporter on my Ancestry tree. It didn’t take long to be contacted by a fellow researcher, in Oregon, named Sandy Barnard about Prior Barnard’s line. Prior was her husband’s ancestor. She explained that Prior and his wife, Mary Barnard (nee Winkler) were buried on their farm in Oregon! We exchanged information and Sandy ordered the chancery court case file on The State of Tennessee V John Barnard, Sr., Elisha Barnard, Anderson Barnard, John Barnard Jr. & Clint Barnard. She transcribed some of the depositions from the case and shared the information with me. An ancestry trip to Sneedville, TN was planned for the fall of 2013 and she invited me to meet them there.
The depositions from the case file were very interesting and it was amazing to see my great-grandfather Noah listed among the names. His brothers, Thomas and Henry (aka McHenry), were also deposed as was his uncle, Ishom Sutton. There was a show of support for the defendants. However, Noah also revealed what I had suspected for a while. He states, “I was acquainted with Henly Sutton. Some few years ago Big John Barnard and myself were had [ ] out hunting, and while in the road near Henly Suttons, someone fired three shots, I supposed at us. I thought I heard bullets strike the fence near where one of us was splitting some pine while the other held the light. We went back next morning and examined, but could find no sign of the bullets. I am acquainted with Sutton's character, and it was that of a dangerous man. I was a cousin of Henly Sutton.” In cross-examination, Noah states, “I married a cousin to Defts.”
It was well worth posting the stories to Ancestry as it led to this wonderful collaboration and family find. Noah’s statement establishes Allie as a first cousin to the Barnards and her mother’s maiden name was Barnard! Sandy left with some great photos of Prior Barnard’s family that were brought to our meeting at the Hancock Co. Historical & Genealogical Society. I left with a great memory of my first trip to east Tennessee. Such a beautiful place! I wish I had been as lucky to discover some old photos of my Sutton line. So here is Big John Barnard and he was quite a handsome guy:
Oh and what was the decision of the Supreme Court of Tennessee? They overturned the conviction of the Barnards in 1889. However, the proclamation of innocence was short lived as I discovered another story:
Freeborn County Standard
9/16/1891
9/16/1891
John Barnard, of Hancock county, Tenn., was fatally shot by Tilman Sutton, who in turn was immediately shot and killed by a brother of Barnard.
Sigh!
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