BY JIM HANSEN
We believe there are 11 members of the Michael and Mary McFadden Barrett family buried in unmarked graves on lot 34 of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Walnut, Iowa. There is not a single marker on the lot. Our research found much conflicting information.
Barrett names listed on an old sketch from the Catholic church records are: Mary Ann, Margaret Ann, Patrick Howard, Michael and son John, Francis, Bridget, Martin and Patrick. The patriarch Michael and wife Mary McFadden are believed to be buried in the walkway on the north side of lot 34.
In the early 1870’s, Michael and Mary Barrett arrived in Iowa from Ireland with two unmarried sons, Martin and Michael. They lived and farmed in Section 11, Lincoln Township, Pottawattamie County.
Martin married Mary Ann Howard on April 17, 1882, in Atlantic, Cass County, Iowa. Children born to them were: Margaret Ann, Patrick Howard, Mary Ellen, Delia Catherine, and M. Francis. Michael married Bridget Ryan on February 23, 1886, in Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut, Iowa. The child born to them was John Barrett.
Generation 1- Michael Barrett born abt. 1810-death possibly after the 1885 Iowa Census and before 1890. Mary McFadden Barrett born abt. 1820, died Mar 8, 1890.
Generation 2- Martin Barrett (born abt. 1848 per marriage record of Apr 17, 1882), died Apr 26, 1902. (Wife: Mary Ann Howard Barrett born 1857, died Sept 22, 1925.)
Generation 2- Michael Barrett born 1844 to 1849, died Feb 25, 1907. (Wife: Bridget Ryan Barrett born abt. 1858, death unknown.)
Generation 3- The children of Martin and Mary Ann Howard Barrett: Margaret Ann, born April 4, 1884, died May 23, 1939; Patrick Howard, born April 15, 1885, died June 7, 1928; Mary Ellen Maher, born August 13, 1888, died December 1, 1970, and buried in the Atlantic, Iowa Cemetery; Delia Catherine Paulson, born March 13, 1890, died May 12, 1969, and buried in the Atlantic, Iowa Cemetery; M. Francis, born December 5, 1896, died September 20, 1900.
Generation 3- The only child whom we found of Michael and Bridget Ryan Barrett was John Barrett, born September 24, 1887, died November 13, 1887. We have not been able to find another Patrick, who is shown as being in the lot. All persons named on this page, with the exception of Mary Ellen and Delia, are supposedly buried here together. The Walnut Genealogy Society would like the Barretts who are buried here to have a marker on lot 34. Our next effort will be to find descendants of the family.
JH