Colonel Levi Barnes, only son of Captain Enoch and Alice (Brown) Barnes, was born at the old homestead in Smithfield, Rhode Island, March 1, 1753, and became one of the most important men of his town. He succeeded his father in the ownership of the old farm, and was also head of a prosperous coopering business. To each of his three sons he gave a well-stocked farm, and to each of his six daughters $500 in cash, these gifts only being possible to a man of large means, and bears out the statement that he was one of the wealthiest men of his town. He served as a private in the Revolutionary War, in the defense of Newport, and it is related that his father, Captain Enoch Barnes, although then an old man, came to Newport and served as his son's substitute for a time. After the war he became prominent in the State Militia, and on May 12, 1788, was commissioned major of the second regiment, Providence County Militia, by Governor John Collins. Later he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment by Governor Arthur Fenner, the date, May 10, 1790, both of these commissions being preserved in the family. Like his father, he was a very religious man, and his home was often thrown open for public worship. He built a school house near his home for the use of his and the neighbors' children, that schoolhouse now being used as a dwelling. When the Powder Mill turnpike was built he donated one mile of right of way through his land, stipulating, however, that his posterity should travel the turnpike toll free as long as they owned and occupied the land. He was known far and near, but took little part in political affairs, preferring to serve his community as a private citizen.
Colonel Barnes married, July 2, 1775, Hannah Waterman, who survived him, a daughter of Resolved Waterman, of Johnston, Rhode Island. They were the parents of nine children: Jonathan, of further mention; Levi, born May 13, 1792, and was buried on his farm, he married Joanna Payne; Nathan, died unmarried; Nancy, married Annanias Mowry, and settled on a farm in what is now North Smithfield; Deborah, married William Mowry, and also resided in North Smithfield; Hannah, married (first) David Warren, (second) Dennis Balton, and lived in North Smithfield; Elsa, married Asa Manning, of Smithfield; Mercy, married Arnold Mowry, of North Smithfield; Mary, married Martin Tefft and lived in North Smithfield.
