Several months earlier, a reunion of the Barfoot family, which is held annually in the Snoudon community, was described.

Today’s writing will be more in depth genealogy of that family who had a number of descendants who have resided in Covington County.

One has to be cautious in researching this family name as it has been spelled in numerous ways: Barfoot, Barefoot, Barfitt, Barford, Barefuld, Barefred, Barefoote, and possibly other ways.

For the sake of clarify and to use the form used most often by those residing locally, Barfoot has been chosen for this review.

According to available records, the name first appeared in England circa 1066.

The names of ancestors who came to this country appear in Maryland and Virginia as early as 1634. Some of the early generations settled in North Carolina, and the subjects of this writing came from South Carolina through Georgia and finally to Alabama.

One early ancestor, Miles Barefoot, was born in 1811 in South Carolina, but he later moved to Georgia where he was married in 1828 in Pulaski County to Eliza Broxton (1813-1850s), daughter of James and Avis Broxton. He was later married to Mary McGuire, and he died in 1860.

Miles and Eliza Barefoot reared the following children: Joel B., b. 1830, d. 1863, m. Margaret Jane “Permelia” Baker; Martha Jane, b. 1832, m. Samson P. Faulk (Confederate Veteran in GA Artillery); James, b. 1833; Shadrick “Shade,” b. 1835, m. Sarah Meredith; Lurary, b. 1836, m. Asa Swanner; Noah, b. 1838, m. Lydia C. Kelley; Elizabeth S., b. 1840, m. John S. Campbell; Nancy Young, b. 1842, d. 1860, single; Alexander Lucinal, b. 1844; Mary, b. 1846, m. ? Harwell; Sarah Ellen, b. 1849, m. George Washington Phillip Baggett; and William Oliver, b. 1852.

In 1845, Miles and Eliza with their nine children migrated from Georgia to Pike County, Alabama, by covered wagons.

Within the next seven years, they had three more children to bring their total to 12.

In the 1850 census, they were listed as residing in the China Grove community.

The oldest son, Joel B. Barefoot, was married in 1850 in Pike County to Margaret Jane Baker who was born in 1826 in South Carolina.

They had six children born to them before Joel B. enlisted in the Confederate Army on March 12, 1862, in China Grove.

He served as a private in Company F., 37th Alabama Infantry Regiment until his death on Feb. 13, 1863, in Mississippi.

Joel and Margaret Jane had the following children: Leander, b. 1850, d. 1932, m. (1) Dublin 1871 Corinthia Argin Anderson (1857-1918) (2) Ollie Dees; Elizabeth, b. 1852: Rachel F., b. 1854; Margaret Ann, b. 1857; Isaac Joel, b. 1859; William C., b. 1860; and John Alphus, b. 1861.

Leander and Corinthia Barfoot lived in North Bullock County or South Montgomery County. He was buried in the Pine Level Methodist Church Cemetery in Montgomery County, and she was buried in the Salem Methodist Church Cemetery in Bullock County.

They reared the following children: Joel Willoughby, b. 1872, m. Susan Ann Emma R. Meredith; Alonza Washington, b. 1875, m. (1) Sammie Estelle Wright (2) Mary Tucker; Margaret Jane “Babe,” b. 1877, m. Obadiah “Tobe” Alford; Lillie Belle, b. 1879, m. Edwin Blackmon McMoy; Leander Jackson, b. 1881, m. Jessie Lee Redmond; Corinthia Estelle, b. 1883, d. 1890; Hattie Roselle, b. 1885, m. William Frank Greer; Henry Sheffield, b. 1887, d. 1968, m. (1) Joanna McKinney (2) Mattie Belle Howell; Willie A., b.&d. 1889; Eugene Monroe, b. 1892, m. (1) Corine Grider (2) Mattie Lillian Cone; Calvin Flint, b. 1894, m. Bertie Marian Harwell; Eula Bae, b. 1896, m James Otto Townsend, Sr.; and Deborah M., b. 1898, d. 1899.

When the son, Henry Sheffield Barfoot, was a young man, he visited some kinfolks in the Opp community.

While there he met Joanna McKinney, and they were married on March 6, 1907.

They “set up housekeeping” in that area, and he began to farm.

Their first daughter, Mary Lee, was born in 1908, and the second, Cora Frances, was born in 1910.

Mary Lee married John Sanders, a Baptist minister in the Luverne area, and Cora married a Mr. Newberry.

When the two girls were very young, their mother, Joanna died soon after Cora’s birth.

Cora’s parents took them into their home to help rear them.

A few months later, Henry was visiting Livings kin in the Rose Hill community and met Mattie Howell, daughter of James Arthur and Arkansas Missouri (Sweatt) Howell.

That same year, 1910, they were married and began “house-keeping” in Mattie’s Home community of Rose Hill.

Their first two children were born there.

Around 1915, they returned to Henry’s home community in Ramer where the third child was born.

After making and gathering one crop, the family moved back to Rose Hill to settle on the old Howell home place, located about three miles east of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church on Rabbit Branch Road.

The house was located next to Campbell’s Chapel School and near the Los Wiggins Store.

While living there and farming, they continued growing their family with five additional children.

Following the tragedy from the Flood of 1929 or the Elba Flood, they had lost their farm, which was washed away.

This was a great loss to the family as they had cleared and prepared the farmland by hand, and Henry had built a tenant house.

Sometime in 1930, the family once again moved to the Straughn community, about one mile northeast of the current Straughn School.

After farming there for eight years, they moved to the Ruis Woods place on the Straughn/Mt. Pisgah Road.

After two crops, the family finally settled on a farm in the Zion Hill community about two miles west of Straughn.

The parents lived out their lives in this home, and the youngest son, Preacher, made his home across the road from them.

­­Henry and Mattie reared the following children: Henry Ralph, b. 1912, d. 1935, m. 1932 Gladys Icy Jackson; Grady Willard, b. 1913, d. 1994, m. 1937 Frances Myrl Folmar; Minnie Ethel, b. 1915, d. 2008, m. (1) William Grady Folmar (2) James Wesley Thomasson; James Andrew, b. 1917, d. 1994, m. 1935 Idel Jackson; Arthur Laymon “Ted,” b. 1919, m. 1952 Eugenia Kegley; Lillie Belle, b. 1922, d. 1994, m. 1952 Merlyn Garlick; Morgan Dempsey, b. 1925, d. 1993, m. 1947 Dorothy Morris; and William Horace “Preacher,” b. 1929, d. 2008, m. Mary Knovis Bundrick.

Henry’s brother, Eugene Monroe Barfoot, was married to Corine Grider in 1914.

They had one son before her death due to the flu epidemic in 1919. He was Roderick, b. 1916, d. 1961, m. (1) 1934 Johnnie Ree Sullivan (2) Effie Mae Robbins.

Eugene and his second wife, Mattie Lillian (Cone), had the following five children: Era Mae, b. 1921, d. 2004, m. (1) Clarence Houston Bird (2) Reuben Patrick Scott; Elizabeth Jamalyn, b. 1936, m. Lacey Lee Smith; Rendall Eugene, b. 1938, m. Neva Hicks; Mattie Faye, b. 1942, m. Jackie Bean Gaston; and Norman Craig, b. 1944, d. 1958, single.

That of Henry Sheffield Barfoot is the line and family, which has made Covington County their home, and a few of the other descendants may have lived here at times. Descendants of Henry and his brother, Eugene Monroe Barfoot, wrote family stories for The Heritage of Covington County, Alabama and The Heritage of Montgmery County, Alabama, which served as resources for this writing. Appreciation is expressed to Jamalyn (Barfoot) Smith of Montgomery for providing additional family data.

Anyone who might have any corrections to the above or additional information on this Barfoot family is requested to contact this writer, Curtis Thomasson, at 20357 Blake Pruitt Road, Andalusia, AL 36420; 334-222-6467; or E-mail: cthomasson@centurytel.net.