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James Withee, age 99, of Mason wrote:
"Barrett
was in a company that went a great way off, south
or west. I remember I have heard him and a
Mr.
Smith
tell afterwards how they were crossing a river on
logs and both fell in and Barrett came very near
drowning, but Smith kept above the water easily. It
was a great way off that he
and
Smith
fell into the water. I think that he (Barrett) was
at the battle of Bunker Hill and I know he was in
the army after that." He also states that he knew
Nathaniel
Barrett
in Mason when he was a boy and remembers that the
father of this one was also called
Nathaniel.
Nathaniel
Smith, of Mason,
wrote:
"He [Barrett] had connections in Mason and
I have often seen him in that town. He used often
to bring articles which he had manufactured from
wood at Nelson, and I remember I have seen a mortar
which he had made from a knot for his sister,
Mrs.
Baldwin,
now Mrs.
Proctor."
.... "Have sat by the hour and heard his stories of
the war. I recollect this: He was put upon guard
one night at a fort from which the sentinel had
been piecked off very night for several nights. He
put his great coat and hat upon a stake and kept
one side of the usual place. He kept his gun cocked
and at last there was a flash and a report from the
bushes near. He fired where he saw the flash and
the next morning a dead Indian was found on the
spot. I remember to have heard him speak of being
at the Bunker Hill Fight. I have heard him say that
some time or other in the war he enlisted for three
years. I have always understood that he lived at
Mason previous to the war, and during or after the
war that his home was a Milford or Amherst, after
the war until her removed to
Nelson."
Isaac
White of Nelson
wrote:
that he knew Nathaniel
and Mercy
Barrett
from his youth, and
"My father was a Revolutionary soldier and I have
often heard him and Barrett talk of hardships,
trials, and services which they endured. I have
heard Nathaniel
Barrett
say that he was in
Captian
Isaac Frye's
Company and speak of being in other companies, but
I do not remember thename of any officer except
Captian Freye. I recollect of hearing Nathaniel
Barrett tell a story as follows: That he was in
service in war of the Revolution, when with a party
of Americans he went onto what I think he called
Hog Island for the purpose of stealing horses and
cattle in the night time and were about crossing
Mystic River when they were alarmed by the British
and in the hurry and confusion said Barrett was
left a little behind and barely escaped by plunging
into the river. He seized a colt by the tail, and
by the grace of God and the efforts of the colt he
was carried safely across and saved from the enemy.
Barrett could not swim. I have heard him relate
many other incidents."
John
Wilson of
Stoddard...
says he was a neighbor of
Nathaniel
and Mercy
Barrett,
and "he further declares that he has often heard
the Old Gentleman
Nathaniel
repeat the story of his services and hardships in
the war of the Revolution. That he connot
distinctly recollect the names of officers whom he
named, but well remembers his saying that he served
to the end of the war; that he never heard it
doubted among the people. That said Nathaniel ever
had the reputation of being a warrior and was so
talked of among the boys."
Moses
Day of Nelson
....
says he knew Nathaniel
and Mercy
Barrett,
and their son, John, and daughter, Hannah, and that
there were three other sons and one other daughter,
all of whom are dead, except
John
Barrett
of Stoddard. "
Relief
Barrett of
Stoddard
says that her maiden name was
Relief
Stevens.
That she knew Nathaniel
Barrett
very well and often heard him "tell the story of
his services in the War of the Revolution. That he
used to say he was in Captain Frye's Company; that
he served until the end of the war and boasted of
it. That her father
Daniel
Stevens
was also a soldier and he and Barrett used to
recite often; that she used to listen to the tales
and distinctly remembers."
Jonathan
Bachelder of
Mason
says he knew Nathaniel Barrett, having frequently
seen him at Mason "with wooden bowls, trays, etc.,
which he had made at Nelson and brought from there
upon his back." and that he had the reputation of
having been a Revolutionary soldier.
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