The James Barnett Papers, 1845-1906 and undated, consist primarily of personal and business correspondence, reminiscences, sketches, and manuscript chapters of a history of the Ohio First Light Artillery. Also included are diaries; one bound volume containing stable reports, a muster roll, lists of recruits, reserves, and officers, and a brief listing of accounts; miscellaneous earnings reports and business documents; and muster rolls. The bulk of the correspondence covers the Civil War era or the 1880s, when Barnett was especially active in civic matters, campaigns for aid to veterans, and the Grand Army of the Republic.
It should be noted that this collection contains numerous letters written by General Barnett addressed to his wife, to Colonel Wilbur F. Hinman, and to Major A. J. Williams, and several letters from other persons to Hinman and to Charles H. Randall, chairman of the committee to collect subscriptions to fund the preparation of the regimental history. These materials may have been returned to General Barnett in the course of this work.
Materials gathered to aid in the preparation of the First Light Artillery's history consist of reminiscences in letter or essay form by numerous members of the company and various official and personal records, including the diaries of three individuals, a bound volume belonging to General Barnett, muster rolls, and other miscellaneous documents. Several manuscript chapters of the book are also included.
Barnett's interest in the Bethel Associated Charities and in the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company is represented by a small amount of correspondence and official documents relating to the two organizations. materials related to the Bethel Associated Charities include correspondence, committee listings, copies of miscellaneous minutes, receipts for contributions made by General Barnett, and documents relating to various projects. These materials include letters to General Barnett as Director of Charities and Correction Warden in Cleveland. The Railway Company items include company correspondence to stockholders, correspondence in relation to official railroad matters, and miscellaneous earnings reports from 1904-1905.
The material in this collection center largely around the American Civil War, particularly General Barnett's involvement as reflected in his letters to his family, and the role of the Ohio First Light Artillery as reconstructed in the recollections of its members and the chapters on the various batteries. Other major topics include the activities of the Grand Army of the Republic and General Barnett's efforts on behalf of veterans of the Civil War. The information on the Bethel Associated Charities and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Company may be of only limited value because it is not very extensive. But the collection on the whole is quite representative of a distinguished officer of the Civil War who went on to achieve outstanding respect in civic and business circles.