The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-02-25
Or. BARRETT, OF ABBEVILlE.

Family.
Maj. VIM. Hoy in the Spartan.
1t lis just tifty-six years since be
came acquainted with DR.. j. p. Bar
rett, OF whom spoke in my sketch O
MIR. Van Patton. He was native y
England and one of Abbevills bes
citizens. DR.. Barrett made success
of every enterprise he took>hold OF
He was an expert in medicine, chem
istry, farming, botany, and most OF the
useful arts that he turned his atten
tien to. He was enthusiastic in the
support of early manufactures in Spar
tanburg County, giving all his pa
tronage and influence. He was partly
educated in this country, being q
school-fellow of McDuifie and other
eminent men OF South Carolina. He
had few equals in botany and had per-
haps the best flower yard in the United
States. 1t contained about two acres
of the rarest flowers that the world
could produces: have always regret
ted that did not get information from
! him concerning the resurrection
| plant, which people crossed continents
to see bloom. He had procured with
great trouble and expense for his botan-
ical garden, tree called by some
botanists the classic cypress, but the
doctor said 1t was simply the cedar Of
Lebanon spoken of in tho Scripture.
The leaf and taste were the same as
the native cedar of that country, but
the boughs were only three feet long
and grew square from the body CT the
tree. The doctor, predicted that in
time they would attain great height.
GS'had q splendid museum that will
| mention farther on.
/ The doctor was president of socie-
ty that / may fail in giving the cor
rect name. For that society | once
procured soapstone from what is now
| Moore's limestone rock from the
spring of that name, iron ore from
Gaffney's and presented them to the
society, for which l received the most
complimentary letter Of my life. The
letter thanked me for my contribution
to the aid OF science, the fine arts and
amongst mankind. The doctor once
presented me with a brick that he
said came from the walls around Jeru-
salem and a sword fish. Much to my
regret my negroes destroyed them
before got them home. The doctor
determined to grow tropical fruits in
Abbeville. He built what he called O
hot-house, three sides of the house
being brick, the fourth side wool and
portable. He hitched up his team and
went to Beaufort and procured some
fine specimens Of orange trees, loaded
his wagon with soil that was said to be
favorable to the growth Of the orange
tree, had two immense boxes made,
filling them with Be- ufort soil, plant
ing his trees in the boxes, and with
the aid OF a short portable roilroad he
could run them out on q warm day and
bring them in when cold. BY the same
process he could give them moisture
on rainy days. Attached to the back
part of his house he had heating IA
cilities and by the aid OF a thermomc-
tor could have any temperature he
desired. have seen his orange trees
loaded with fruit and lemons growing
whom there was snow on the ground.
He took premium at the State Fair
for those oranges.
AT another time the Doctor hitched
up his team and in company with his
hhool-master, Mr.. Read, went to Gov.
Ham-Fnond's farm in Florida to get
curiositie>ss for his museum. Governor
Hammond gave him assrj@+ance. /
have heard the doctor relate, ana !
prove it by Mr.. Read, an adventure he
had with an alligator. The doctor
stated that he and MIR. Read went out
In o boat into the Gulf of Mexico and
coming in contact with an alligator he
juriped astride it, stabbed it under It's
fore-leg, killing it instantly, and bring
ing it sale to land. 1t was about eight |
feet long. Mrs. Marshall, the doc
tors only daughter, removed her IA
ther's museum to house near her |
residence in Greenville. | saw the |
Mrs. Marshall will hand over the key |
q nd NJ, II frnn nf |
Th. Doctor must have been at |
least sixty years old when he had that |
DR.. Barrett got most of
the seeds that he used from England |
and divided them among his friends |
with N lavish liberality. He had a
neighbor by tho name Of Richmond
Still. He added Duke to his name
and was known by no other name than
the Duke of Richmond. The doctor
refused the presidency of several med
ical colleges. He lecturcd on scien-
tific subjects with great success, free
of cost. l once heard him in one Of
his lectures state that lime had to be
omnipresent to animal life and that
life, would not exist unless one-tenth
of the matter was lime. His corn and
cotton compared favorably with his
neighbors. His garden excelled. He
thought that cabbages would fatten
hogs cheaper than any other Kind OF
feed. In addition to his numerous
enterprises he carried on wagon MAX
ing and q blacksmith shop. After he
had made a success in all his under
takings he fixed up his residence. The
inside or parlor was the finest | ever
saw. He sent to the North and pro-
cured the services of Van Patton, the
brother OF the perpetual motion man.
This Van Patton was we'll known in
Spartanburg, and | have seen like
nesses OF men in Spartanburg that he
drew from memory at Montreal, Cana
da, that were almost perfection. From
Spartanburg he went to Europe and
took lessons at Rome and Athens, and
at the time he got back to Di. Barrett
his work was almost perfect. That
accounts for the DOCTORS fine parlor.
Why the doctor chose TO nave the bat
tie OF Lake Erie illustrated in his par
lor | do not know. Perhaps he had
become entirely Amerjcanized. The
painting was a gorgeous production,
representing Perry In brilliant naval
| uniform, leaping in his boat and car
rying the flag to the Niagara.
| think, Mr.. Editor, | can give q
short sketch of the doctors family
| that may interest some of your readers.
He married the widow Watson. BY
| Watson she had three children, one
daughter aud two sons. This daugh.
ter first married Perryman and had
some children. On Perryman's death
she married o. Mr.. Creswell, who was
alive q short time ago. He must be
near ninety. Her two sons, Richard
| and Edward, went to the Mexican war