Page:One of a thousand.djvu/52

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3§ BARKER. BARKER. present clay, required by the progressive ideas of street construction. He was thus instrumental in retaining for the Massa- chusetts quarries an industry that at one time seemed likely to be diverted to other sections and other materials. In 1S34, having taken the contract to cut the eight columns for the Court House located in Court Square. Boston, he may be said to have entered into permanent business at this time. In 1836 he formed a partnership with Abel Wright, to which were afterwards admitted his two brothers, Charles Barker — subsequently in charge of the branch established in Philadelphia — and George Barker, in charge of the branch at Gloucester (Lanesville), under the firm name of Barker, Wright & Co. Upon the withdrawal of Mr. Wright in 1864, the firm name was changed to H. Barker & Brothers. During the period from 1S66 until his decease he was associated with his three sons, under the firm name of Henry Barker iV Sons. This firm was ultimately the successor to all the others with which he was connected, excepting that at Philadel- phia. Mr. Barker was married in Boston, May 4, 1S37, to Elizabeth, daughter of Amos and Lucy (Brigham) Smith. Of this union were three children : Henry F., who died March 2, 1878, in the thirty-ninth year of his age, while serving a term as senator from the 1st Norfolk district; George A., who represented the towns of Quincy and Weymouth in the Legislature of 1883, and William P. Darker, the last two surviving him. After his marriage, he took up his abode in Quincy, where he continued to reside for the remainder of his life. He was often called to serve his fellow- citizens in positions of responsibility and trust, having been elected six years a member of the school committee, five years a member of the board of managers of Adams Academy, a member of the board of trustees of the public library, from its foundation in 187 1 to the date of his decease, and representative in the Legis- lature from the town of Quincy for the years 1865 and 1S69. He was deeply in- terested in the reforms that were agitating the years of his early and middle life, taking advanced ground on the side of the anti-slavery and temperance causes, and the leading lecturers on these reforms often shared the hospitality of his roof. In politics, having cast his first vote for the Whig candidates, of the wisdom of whose protective policy he was fully con- vinced, he afterwards left this party to join in the Free-Soil movement, and was an earnest advocate of its principles. He be- came a Republican on the organization of that party, to which he was always loyal, and upon whose success he firmly believed the welfare of the nation depended. Mr. Barker was held high in the esteem of the citizens of Quincy, respected and beloved by all who knew him, and was a recognized friend of his employees and of the poor and afflicted. He died at Quincy, July 1 1, 1889. BARKER, James Madison, son of John V. and Sarah (Apthorp) Barker, was born in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Octo- ber 23, 1839, where he still resides. He received his early training in the public schools of Pittsfield, including the high school ; attended private school in Pittsfield, Hinsdale Academy, Hinsdale, and Williston Seminary, Easthampton. He entered Williams College in 1856, and was graduated in the class of i860. Choosing the profession of law, he pur- sued his legal studies in the Harvard Law school, 1862 and '63. Admitted to the bar, he became a law partner with Charles N. Emerson, Pittsfield, in 1863. This partnership continued until 1865, when he became associated with Thomas P. Pin- gree, and this relation continued until the appointment of Mr. Barker as associate justice of the superior court of Massachu- setts, which position he still holds. Mr. Barker was married in Bath, Steuben county, N. Y., September 21, 1864, to Helena, daughter of Levi Carter and Pa- melia Nelson (Woods) Whiting. Of this union were seven children : Olive Pame- lia, Sarah Elizabeth, Helen Whiting (de- ceased), Daisy (deceased), Mary Phillips, John, and Alice Whiting Barker. Mis. Barker died April 11, 1889. ]udge Barker is trustee of Williams Col- lege and of Clarke Institution for Deaf Mutes. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1872 and '73. In 1874 and '75 he was commissioner to inquire into the expediency of revising and amend- ing the laws of the State relating to taxa- tion and exemption therefrom. He was commissioner to consolidate the public statutes in 1881 and '82. In 1880 he was a delegate to the national Republican convention at Chicago, Illinois, and there won a reputation for staunch and fearless independence, through his de- termined efforts, with others of the Massa- chusetts delegation, to secure a civil ser- vice plank in the party platform, against