Barrett Family Papers

Captain John Barrett came to Grafton, Vermont in 1805 from Mason, New Hampshire and started the mercantile business. He served as a Selectman of the Town and also represented Grafton in the General Assembly. In 1841 the Freeman of Windham County elected Capt. John Barrett as one of their Senators. He married Lucy Joslyn of Grafton in December of 1822. They had four children: John H.,Charles, Susan, and Lucy. Charles, born in 1830, continued to live at the Barrett Homestead in Grafton until his death in 1892. He attended the Amaron Institute in Ramsey, Canada and later finished his studies at Dartmouth College. Like his father, Charles led an active political life. He served two terms in the State Senate, three in Legislature, and was Moderator and Town Clerk for Grafton many years. He also acted as Fish and Game Commissioner for Vermont. In 1859 Charles Barrett married Caroline Sanford of Orwell, Vermont, daughter of Emily Bascom and William Riley Sanford, a leading sheep farmer and president of the State Agricultural Association for many years.

Charles and Caroline had two sons, Charles S., born in 1860, and John, born in 1866. Their daughter Lucy died in infancy. Charles S. went to Exeter Academy and later worked for the Shepard & Morse Lumber Company in Burlington, Vermont. In Burlington he met Mary Brinsmaid. They married and moved to Freeport, Illinois, where Charles S. started a practice in optometry. His only child, John Walton, continued his father's practice after his death in 1937. Charles and Caroline's other son, John Barrett, was the most well known Barrett family member. He attended the Vermont Academy at Saxton's River and the Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. He then continued at Dartmouth College and graduated in 1889. Following his education, John Barrett traveled in South America, Asia, Hawaii and Europe as a special correspondent for newspapers on the West Coast. In 1894, President Cleveland appointed him United States Minister to Siam. John remained at that post until 1898 and on invitation by Admiral Dewey he traveled to Manila to act as a war correspondent during the Spanish-American War and part of the Filipino insurrection. After his return to the United States, John Barrett served as Minister to Argentina, Panama and Colombia. In 1902 to 1903 he visited China, Japan, the Philippine Islands, Korea, Liberia, India, Australia and the nations of Europe on behalf of the St. Louis Exposition. He was also instrumental in founding the Pan-American Union and was its Director-General from 1907 to 1920. Late in life Hon. John Barrett married Mary Tanner Wells Cady of Burlington. She died a few years before his death in 1938.

John Barrett's cousin, Heloise Brainerd, born in 1881, of the Sanford family branch, also played an important role in United States ties with Latin America. After she graduated from Smith College, Heloise spent three years in Mexico. Upon her return in 1909 she became connected with the Pan-American Union at Washington, D.C. and eventually she became Chief of the Division of Education which expanded into the Division of Intellectual Cooperation. Heloise Brainerd established scholarships bearing her name to support Latin American scholars in United States public schools and was an active member of the Jane Addams Peace Association. She participated in several Latin American Congresses and received special recognition for her work in education by the governments of Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela and Argentina. Heloise Brainerd died in 1969.

Other biographical sketches available in Special Collections:

Palmer, Francis A., History of the Town of Grafton, Vermont, (Brattleboro: The Shaw Press, 1954), p. 102-105.

Pettengill, Helen M., History of Grafton Vermont, 1754-1975, (Grafton: Grafton Historical Society, Inc., 1975), p. 51-56.