William Barton (1745-1809) was from Warren. He married Ruth Thomas in 1768. William and Ruth had four children: Amos Thomas, Lillis, William, and Patience. As of the 1774 Rhode Island Census, there was one black person (likely enslaved) living in the Barton household. In 1775, William became a justice of the peace. He was Warren’s town clerk from 1776 until his death. During the 1778 Rhode Island Campaign, he served in William Throope‘s company of militia for ten days. Ruth died in 1779, and William remarried to Elizabeth Miller. William and Elizabeth had six children: Molly, Samuel, Thomas, Rebeckah, Alfred, and Betsey. William was the Collector of Excise for Bristol County in 1783. In 1792, he became a justice of the Bristol County Court of Common Pleas, and in 1793 he was the Collector of Interest on Paper Money Bonds. At the time of his death, he was chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. He died “very suddenly” and was described as “justly honoured and deeply lamented”.
He could be confused with another William Barton who was born in Warren in 1748.
Rev War Bristol 