Received an email in May 2000 from Neil C. and Fran Barnhill who live in Texas.
Barnhill anecdote: "This story was told by Adolphus "Bill" Barnhill at the reunion, Oct. 22, 1994 at Marthaville, Louisiana.  Bill was 82 years old and lives in Houston, Texas.
Bill Barnhill also told the story of how William Hodge Barnhill who lived in Tennessee came to migrate to Louisiana.
Originally William Hodge Barnhill's family came from Kentucky.  They moved to Tennessee.  His parents had 12 sons and 12 daughters.  William Hodge Barnhill was being tried by the court for desertion in Tennessee.  He was being tried in the backyard of the courthouse.  His Daddy and 11 brothers were sitting there at the trial on a log.
Before the trial started, they brought the prisoner out of the jailhouse.  His Daddy walked over there and told him, "Now son, you listen to me.  If they find you guilty, there is a horse tied in those bushes down yonder."  He said, "If they find you guilty, run and get on that horse and leave this country as fast as you can. They won't bother you."  Sure enough, the court found him guilty.  His Daddy and 11 brothers stood up with their guns drawn.  They covered the court until he could get on his horse and leave.  William Hodge Barnhill rode his horse as fast as he could sout and settled down, married, and raised a family and is buried in Marthaville, Louisiana."