BARRETT, Franklin “Frank” – (1941-2013) inherited the house on the northwest corner of Fourth Street and Milford Road in Frenchtown from his grandfather Chester Niece. In his youth, Barrett was a VISTA volunteer in West Virginia and a social worker. He looked like James Dean, according to neighbor Barbara Davis (McGavock).
But as he approached middle age, he was unemployed 364 days a year. He delivered phone books on the 365th day, making him the ultimate seasonal worker, and a personal hero to me. When Delaware Valley News office manager Bev Krechel asked him why he delivered phone books, he said, “Well, I inherited enough from my grandfather to live on, but the phone-book money is for the luxuries.”
For the 20 years straddling the 20th and 21st centuries, he had a hand-painted sign beside Milford Road that originally had said: “Walnut Tree for Sale.” But early on, “tree” had been crossed out, and the word “stump” inserted. Barrett also advertised his white-painted Greek Revival rose arbor with a similar sign for decades, but to no avail.
When Barrett died, Minette Reading bought the house and her father, Dorsey, restored it, demolishing the decaying rose arbor in the process. The fate of that well-advertised stump is unknown, and not worth finding out.
Barrett allegedly left an estate worth $2 million, which was divided among 19 beneficiaries.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"