The Haw Creek Ranch cattle trailer, from the Tucker family archives

Our family

Meet the Bartons

Jill and Jeremy Barton started Barton Beef in 2015. Jeremy's family has raised cattle in Florida for four generations, going all the way back to the 1800s.

Jeremy Barton in his cowboy hat on the ranch — Jeremy Barton
Owner and operator
Jeremy is President of the Flagler County Cattlemen's Association and a retired firefighter and paramedic for the City of Palm Coast. When he isn't working cattle, he's hunting, watching basketball and football, or out on a road trip.

Jill Barton in a pasture — Jill Barton
Owner and operator
Jill runs communications and finances, so she's the one who answers your email and confirms your order. She loves hot yoga, the lake and the beach, sports, and a good book.

Jill and Jeremy Barton at sunset by the water on the ranch

Jill and Jeremy today

A family ranch, still hands-on

Jeremy works the cattle. Jill runs the orders, the money and the email, so the person who confirms your order is the same person who raised your beef.

Every cow is born and raised right here in Bunnell, on grass, with hay they bale themselves.

Andrew 'Drew' Tucker and Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Simmons Tucker — Andrew "Drew" Tucker and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Simmons Tucker.

1800sFort Christmas

Drew and Lizzie Tucker

Jeremy's great-grandparents, Andrew "Drew" and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Tucker, lived in Fort Christmas, Florida. Drew ran about 1,800 head of cattle, sold hides, and farmed citrus and potatoes. Lizzie ran a general store and raised nine sons.

A Tucker family portrait from the early 1900s — From the Tucker family archive.

1900sThe tick years

Dipping every 14 days

To wipe out cattle fever ticks, the government required ranchers to "dip" their cattle every 14 days, pushing them through a vat of insecticide. For a herd of 1,800, that was hard on the cattle and expensive for the ranch.

1931The drive north

Two brothers, 100 miles

Drew moved the family and the whole herd just north of the quarantine line, near today's State Road 40, into Flagler County. His son Raymon, 17, and Raymon's brother Gilbert, 14, took a year off school to make two cattle drives from Fort Christmas to Haw Creek near Cody's Corner. Each drive covered about 100 miles over three weeks, including a crossing of the St. Johns River.

There were no fences, so the boys lived in a tent in the woods for seven months to keep the cattle from heading back south. They trapped raccoons, sold the skins and the meat, and used the money to buy a herd of their own.

A Tucker family cattleman on horseback — Working cattle, from the family archive.

193940,000 acres

Drew's last years

By then Drew owned and leased about 40,000 acres in Flagler and Volusia Counties. He died in 1939 in an accident while working cattle.

Haw Creek Ranch barn painted Registered Brahman Cattle, Santa Gertrudis, Quarter Horses — The Haw Creek barn: registered Brahman cattle, Santa Gertrudis and quarter horses.

Haw CreekRaymon Tucker

Raymon builds the ranch

Raymon kept going and built Haw Creek Ranch, putting together several thousand acres in southwest Flagler County. He raised purebred beef cattle, some of the fastest quarter horses in the country, and six daughters. One of them is Denise Tucker Barton, Jeremy's mother. Raymon died in 1998.