San Martin Barnett, farmer, blacksmith and manufacturer, was born in Benton County, Tenn., June 1, 1839, the eldest of five children of Mansfield C. and Mary (Barnett) Barnett, and is of English and French descent. His parents were born in Humphreys County, Tenn., in 1812, and 1810, and died in 1863 and 1853, respectively. The father resided in Perry County the greater part of his life. Our subject resided on the farm and attended the common schools, and after this learned the blacksmith's trade, which he has followed, in connection with farming, up to the present time. He owns 104 acres of land and is comfortably situated in life. During the late war he enlisted in the Fifth Regiment Tennessee Infantry, Confederate States Army, and served under Col. W. E. Travis. He participated in the battles of Shiloh and Murfreesboro, where he acquitted himself as a gallant and trustworthy soldier. He was finally discharged (1863) after a service of over two years for disability. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and is a liberal thinker in religion, and an active Democrat in politics; He is unmarried.