Spanish-American War Vet Barnett Dies at 90

William T. Barnett, 90-year-old veteran of the Spanish-American War, died Thursday at the Elsmere Veterans Administration Hospital, where he had been a patient for three years.

Mr. Barnett, a member of the Delaware Militia serving at the Middletown encampment before joining the Army when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, was the subject of a News-Journal feature story Nov. 11, 1965 - Armistice Day.

The story told of his full life until two or three years before his hospitalization, and of the loneliness at the hospital in his comment, "Nobody comes to see me. How can I celebrate (Armistice Day)?"

Fifteen days later, there was a sequel to that story - a Thanksgiving Day with a sizable group of relatives, including several nieces and nephews-his closest relatives-who lived nearby but who had not known of his whereabouts for years.

Mr. Barnett took his first job when he was 9 years old, shortly after arriving in Wilmington from his native Elkton, MD. He spent most of his life in the Wilmington area, working at a variety of jobs. In his time he was a railroader, a special policeman, a power plant worker, a ferryboat hand, a painter and a bartender. His time in the Army was spent mostly near Harrisburg, Pa.

His late wife was Mrs. Margaret P. Barnett, who died about the time of World War I.

Services will be Monday afternoon at 2 at the C. Everett Kelly Funeral Home, 23d and West Sts. Friends may call an hour before services. Interment will be in Riverview Cemetery.

(Evening Journal, Wilmington, DE, 13 May 1967 (Saturday), Page 23)
(Newspapers.com)

Spanish-American War Vet Barnett Dies at 90

William T. Barnett, 90-year-old veteran of the Spanish-American War, died Thursday at the Elsmere Veterans Administration Hospital, where he had been a patient for three years.

Mr. Barnett, a member of the Delaware Militia serving at the Middletown encampment before joining the Army when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, was the subject of a News-Journal feature story Nov. 11, 1965 - Armistice Day.

The story told of his full life until two or three years before his hospitalization, and of the loneliness at the hospital in his comment, "Nobody comes to see me. How can I celebrate (Armistice Day)?"

Fifteen days later, there was a sequel to that story - a Thanksgiving Day with a sizable group of relatives, including several nieces and nephews-his closest relatives-who lived nearby but who had not known of his whereabouts for years.

Mr. Barnett took his first job when he was 9 years old, shortly after arriving in Wilmington from his native Elkton, MD. He spent most of his life in the Wilmington area, working at a variety of jobs. In his time he was a railroader, a special policeman, a power plant worker, a ferryboat hand, a painter and a bartender. His time in the Army was spent mostly near Harrisburg, Pa.

His late wife was Mrs. Margaret P. Barnett, who died about the time of World War I.

Services will be Monday afternoon at 2 at the C. Everett Kelly Funeral Home, 23d and West Sts. Friends may call an hour before services. Interment will be in Riverview Cemetery.

(Evening Journal, Wilmington, DE, 13 May 1967 (Saturday), Page 23)
(Newspapers.com)