David Barrett, 69, Civil War historian

Thousands of metro Atlanta schoolchildren knew him as “the soldier man.”

David Barrett of Tucker was a walking Civil War history lesson when he spoke in elementary and middle school classrooms, or when he taught at the Gwinnett History Museum’s Civil War Camp.

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BITA HONARVAR / bhonarvar@ajc.com

Bedridden with polio as a child, David Barrett listened to his grandmother’s stories about her father, a Confederate soldier.

“He was interested in teaching them about the common life of the soldier,” said his wife, Brenda Barrett of Tucker. “He portrayed both sides. Lots of times he would do a Confederate soldier, then switch right over and do federal.”

Mr. Barrett became interested in Civil War history when he was bedridden with polio as a child, said his wife.

To keep him quiet and to take his mind off his illness, his grandmother would tell him stories about her father, who had fought on the Confederate side in the war, Mrs. Barrett said.

“He loved the history of it, and he had a photographic memory,” she said. In recent months, her husband had been reading “Southern History of the War,” a dense, highly detailed and footnoted book of about 1,400 pages.

Mr. Barrett, 69, died Friday of complications from a stroke at Emory University Hospital. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Monday at Lawrenceville Road United Methodist Church, preceded by a Masonic ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the church. A.S. Turner & Sons of Decatur is in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Barrett worked as a journeyman plumber until retiring in 2001. He was a 49-year member of Plumbers and Pipe-fitters Local 72 and a longtime member of the Clarkston Masonic Lodge 492.

Starting in 1984, he participated in many Civil War re-enactments as a member of the Georgia Division Civil War Re-enactors Association.

His wife often joined him in his pursuits.

“Up until a year ago, neither one of us ever stayed in a motel. We always slept in a tent,” Mrs. Barrett said. “I would find original recipes and cook over an open fire. I made biscuits over the fire. They weren’t healthy biscuits. They had lard and buttermilk.”

Mr. Barrett put on his reproduction uniforms for appearances at many schools around the metro area. He treasured the thank-you cards and letters he received from children, such as a big package of cards he received from Buford Academy in Buford, Mrs. Barrett said.

In addition to his wife, survivors are a son, James Barrett of Covington; daughter Laura Drake of Snellville; brother Charles Barrett of Lavonia; sister Mary Bentley of McIntyre; and four grandchildren.