In the City Cemetery Interment Book, Mary E. Barner was buried in the Currin Vault on December 2, 1862. She was twenty years old and died of Typhoid Fever. Her residence was listed as Smithland, Kentucky. At a later date, her remains were removed and reburied in the Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky.

A Death Notice in the Nashville Daily Union, December 2, 1862, reported that Mary was the daughter of the late Capt. S.M. Barner of Smithland, Kentucky. The newspaper also noted that Mary was a graduate of the Nashville Female Academy.

Information received from Brenda Joyce Jerome, in 2010, revealed considerable history about this family.
“… Sterling M. Barner married Sarah Jane West in Nashville in the late 1830’s. They were the parents of Mary. The Barners did live in Nashville before moving to Smithland, Kentucky. Mary’s father, Sterling Mays Barner, was a very well-known steamboat captain on the Cumberland River and was also a friend of Andrew Jackson. Mary’s younger sister, Miss Pattie, also died in Nashville. There are accounts of her body being brought to Smithland by steamboat for burial. It seems reasonable to assume that Mary’s body was interred in the Currin Vault because it was war time and perhaps because she died of typhoid. At some point, it was deemed ‘safe’ to remove her body for burial in Smithland…”

Davidson County, TN. Marriage Records show that the Marriage License was issued on August 8, 1838, and the Marriage was solemnized by J. T. Edgar on August 8, 1838, for Sterling M. Barner and Sarah Jane West.

U.S. Census 1850. Livingston County, Smithland, Ky.
            Sterling M. Barner 55 M Com. Merchant Born Ky.
            Sarah J. Barner 51(?) F Born Tenn.
            Joseph 10 M Born Tenn.
            Mary 8 F Born Tenn.
            Martha 2 Born Tenn.