Hello cousins, Rosemary posted this site and place a letter written by Alvin Barton on it. What a wonderful treat of information to find. It was at: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/6804/rosemary.html I have read and reread the letter and have placed it in my notes for my family with her permission and passed it along to fellow cousins of my family. Thanks again Rosemary. What I would like to discuss is this part of the letter: "Grandfather's grandfather or great grandfather emigrated from Wales. There were four brothers of them; one settled in New York, one in Rhode Island, one in Mass. and the fourth went back. They were shipwrecked coming over. I sprang from the Mass. Bartons. I know nothing of these ancient Bartons except one was Penuel Barton. My great grandfather's name was Joshua Barton." Now he spoke of there being four brothers. If you went as far as his Grandfather's G-Grandfather that would get you to Matthew born in ME, son of Edward who came from England. This story of 4 brothers may have been passed down from the previous generations. Penuel was about 15 years younger (born in 1712) than his G-Grandfather Joshua, born in 1697. I have only found this next article thus far before the hand written letter of Alvin Barton surfaced: "The surname of Barton first appears in New England records among the early Puritan settlers at Salem, in what is now Essex County, Mass., and Edward Barton is the first-mentioned of the name. It is possible, but not probable that he was related to Roger Barton, who settled in New Netherland (New York), and to Rufus Barton, who settled in Rhode Island about the same time. In the seventeenth century there were several families of Bartons in the American Colonies, but it is doubtful if all the early Bartons in America were related, or all the earlier Bartons in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales." from The New England Historical & Genealogical Register Vol. 84 Issue 4 October 1930, pg 401 Fredrick A. Virkus What are your thoughts to this and has anyone found any other pieces that might connect these Barton families together? Thanks, Tami Barton TAMI KAYE11 BARTON (RONALD JAMES10, HARLEY WALTER9, HORACE BYRON8, OZIAS PRESTON7, ALPHEUS6, TIMOTHY5, JOSHUA4, SAMUEL3, MATTHEW2, EDWARD1) http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/b/a/r/Tami-K-Barton/