ailroader Earl Barnett was born in Youngstown, Ohio in 1890 and spent his youth there. His family moved to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he and his father both worked in engine service for the Erie Railroad. When work became slow and temporary, the family moved to Jerome, Arizona, where they found work in the copper mines. Earl later moved to Ely, Nevada, where he operated an overhead crane in a mine smelter.

Hetty Classen was born in Essen, Germany in 1887 and immigrated to the United States in 1892 with her parents and three sisters. They proceeded to Corning, Ohio and lived on a farm with Hetty’s grandparents while her father worked in the coal mines. The family then moved to West Virginia, where her father again found work in the coal mines. A strike in the mines occurred, so the family moved to O’Fallon, Illinois and settled on a farm. Hetty grew up there and worked as a housekeeper and cook.

Hetty started doing some traveling and in Ely, Nevada found employment in the diet section of a hospital, where she later worked as a nurse. She met Earl Barnett in Ely, and they were married in 1915. The smelter shut down, and Earl was out of work, so they moved to Oregon, where Earl’s uncle was logging. Their first son, Robert, was born there in 1915. They next moved to Miami, Arizona, where their second son, Glen, was born in 1916. The mine in Miami shut down so the family moved back to Meadville, Pennsylvania. There, son Donald was born in 1918 and daughter Virginia was born in 1920. Earl, constantly looking for permanent work, then left for Tampico, Mexico to work in the oil fields.

After a year in Mexico, Earl decided to go to north, as there was an opportunity to work for the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage. He landed in Anchorage in 1921 and went to work for the railroad’s engine service. In 1922, he brought the family to Alaska, and they settled permanently in Anchorage. Earl worked for the railroad until his retirement in 1952, when he was road foreman of engines.

Earl died in 1964 and Hetty passed away in 1981 at the Anchorage Pioneers’ Home. Son Robert had three children, David Earl, Allen S., and Sally Barnett Slusser. Son C. Glen had one son, Gary. Glen died in 1998 and Gary is also deceased. Son Donald had two children, Thomas and Elizabeth. Daughter Virginia Barnett died in 1944 and is buried in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Earl Barnett, his wife Hetty and their son Glen and grandson Gary are all buried in Angelus Memorial Park in Anchorage.