Herschel was the son of John Robert Barnett and Rachel M. Hall. On 25 Aug 1910 he married Laura Jane Mitchell, the daughter of Robert Ancil Mitchell and Willie Bertha Knapp. Herschel and Laura were the parents of: Elvie (Barnett) McDaniel, Marie (Barnett) Thornton, Bob Barnett, Chester Barnett, Beulah (Barnett) Lewis, Carl “Bud” Barnett, Roland Barnette, Hope (Barnett) Rice, Opal (Barnett) Casto, Lucille "Midge" (Barnett) Schwartz and Inez “Tootsie” (Barnett) Garrison. Herschel and Laura enjoyed 41 years of marriage. Following her death in 1951, Herschel re-married to Mrs. Bess (Litchfield) Atkison, also a recent widower at the time, on 4 Aug 1952 in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

Point Pleasant Register
Point Pleasant, WV
16 Jun 1955
pg. 1

Herschel Barnett
Dies Wednesday

Herschel A. Barnett, 61, a well-known Mason County farmer died Wednesday at Holzer Hospital where he had been a patient for the past three weeks. He had been in failing health for a year. Born February 9, 1894 at Southside, he was the son of the late John Robert Barnett and Rachel Barnett. He had been a lifelong resident of Mason County. The deceased was a member of the Vaught Memorial Church in Henderson and was active in church work until his illness. He had carried the mail on the Henderson Route for several years before his death. Survivors include the wife, Mrs. Bessie Barnett of Henderson; six daughters, Mrs. Marie Thornton, Leon Rt. 1, Mrs. Beulah Lewis, Southside, Mrs. [omitted-living], Henderson, Mrs. [omitted-living], Pt. Pleasant, and Mrs. Inez Belcher, Toledo, O.; four sons, Robert of Vancouver, Wash., Chester, Malta, O., Carl (Bud), Pt. Pleasant, and Roland, Marmet; one brother, Carl Barnett of Winfield, and twenty-nine grandchildren. Funeral services will be conducted from Beech Hill Methodist Church Saturday at 2 p.m. Rev. Harold LaParl will officiate, and burial will be in Suncrest Cemetery by Stevens Funeral Home. Friends will be received at the residence in Henderson after 4 p.m. today.