William Barton (c.1816-1887) traded Sheffield tools and cutlery in New York, where by 1842 he had an office in Platt Street.  He was agent for Richard Groves (Sheffield Independent, 29 January 1842).  By 1849, he partnered his brother, Edward (c.1815-1880).   The office was at 231 Glossop Road; William operated in New York from Cliff Street and lived in Brooklyn.  William Barton was so successful that the workers at Groves’ presented him with a silver snuff box (Sheffield Independent, 29 January 1842, 4 February 1843).

In the Census (1851), Edward was a 37-year-old merchant at East View, employing four men.  He was a ‘lodger’ at the home of schoolmistress Sarah Burgin.  Barton Bros’ partnership ended in 1854 (Sheffield Independent, 10 June 1854).  By 1861, Edward had retired with Sarah (now his wife) to Higham in Kent.  He died at Fern Cottage, Gladstone Road, Broadstairs, Kent, on 16 July 1880, aged 65.  He left under £3,000.   Meanwhile, William had made a fortune in America.  In the US Census (1860), he had real estate worth $20,000 and personal assets of $75,000.   By 1880, he had retired to his country estate at Irvington-on-the-Hudson.  He lived in a huge Gothic Revival home named Strawberry Hill Manor.  He died there on 16 September 1887, aged 71.  His widow, Hannah Maria née Newbould (whom he had married in New York in 1849), died on 8 October 1908, aged 83.