William Warren Barbour (July 31, 1888November 22, 1943) was an American Republican Party politician who represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

from 1931 to 1937 and again from 1938 until his death in office in 1943. He was also a business leader and amateur heavyweight boxing champion in both the United States (1910) and Canada (1911).

Family background and early life

William Warren Barbour, the third of four brothers, was born in 1888 to Colonel William Barbour and his wife, Julia Adelaide Sprague, in Monmouth Beach,

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...

. His eldest brother,

Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour (August 19, 1884 – January 8, 1946) was an American herpetologist. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) founded in 1859 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard University in Cambridge, ...

, a general naturalist and

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

, served as director of the

Museum of Comparative Zoology A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

at Harvard. His father, Colonel William Barbour, was founder and president of the Linen Thread Company, Inc., a thread manufacturing enterprise having much business on both sides of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. William Warren Barbour attended the public schools, but ultimately graduated from the

Browning School The Browning School is an independent school for boys in New York City. It was founded in 1888 by John A. Browning. It offers instruction in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. The school is a member of the New York Interschool consortium. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1906. He also entered

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

but left after one semester to join The Linen Thread Company, of which his father was president. William Warren Barbour became president of the company in 1917 when his father, "The Colonel", died. As a teenager, Barbour suffered from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, which he overcame by intensive exercise and participation in sports. These athletic pursuits included boxing, which eventually led to his becoming amateur heavyweight

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

champion of the United States in 1910, when he defeated Joseph Burke, and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1911. Around this time, both

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and "Gentleman Jim" Corbett wanted him to take up the mantle of "the great white hope" and fight Jack Johnson, the reigning professional heavyweight champion. While the idea apparently appealed to Barbour and his father, his mother was adamantly opposed and firmly quashed the plan. While Barbour never continued with a professional boxing career, he did serve as timekeeper for the

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...

–

Jess Willard Jess Myron Willard (December 29, 1881 – December 15, 1968) was an American world heavyweight boxing champion billed as the Pottawatomie Giant who knocked out Jack Johnson in April 1915 for the heavyweight title. Willard was known for size rat ...

fight in 1919. Militarily, he served as a member of the New York National Guard for ten years, being stationed on the Mexican border in 1916, and attaining the rank of captain. In 1921, he married Elysabeth Cochran Carrere, a union which gave rise to three children and ten grandchildren. Soon after his marriage, Barbour entered the political arena, serving as a member of the

Rumson Rumson is a borough in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough’s population was 7,343, reflecting a 3.1% increase from the 7,122 enumera ...

Borough Council in 1922 and as mayor of Rumson from 1923–1928.

Political career and opposition to the Holocaust

By 1930, Barbour and his family took their house in Locust Point, Monmouth County, N.J., as their official residence, while also maintaining a home in

. Barbour continued his work in various industrial enterprises, primarily including the family thread manufacturing business, of which he was president. On December 1, 1931, New Jersey Governor

Morgan F. Larson Morgan Foster Larson (June 15, 1882March 21, 1961) was an American Republican politician who served as the 40th governor of New Jersey. Early life Morgan Foster Larson was born on June 15, 1882 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey to Peter and Regina (K ...

appointed Barbour, a Republican, to the

to fill the vacancy created by the death of Dwight W. Morrow. The appointment was confirmed the following year when he was narrowly elected to the U.S. Senate on November 8, 1932, with 49% of the vote, in a year when more than half of the Republican incumbents running for the Senate were defeated when Franklin Roosevelt and the Democratic Party won in a landslide. He served in the Senate until January 3, 1937. After completing Morrow's unfinished term, Barbour was unsuccessful in his 1936 reelection bid. For the next two years, he resumed his former pursuits, including service as a member of the New Jersey unemployment compensation commission in 1937. Barbour regained his Senate seat on November 8, 1938, when he was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of

A. Harry Moore Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...

. Popularly elected to the office in 1940 after completing Moore's term, he served as U.S. Senator from New Jersey until his death in 1943. The plight of victims of

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

stirred Barbour deeply. In April 1943, along with many other Congressmen and Senators, Barbour may have attended a performance of ''We Will Never Die'', a pageant written by Ben Hecht and produced by the Bergson Group to commemorate two million European Jews who had already been murdered. In the fall of 1943, he was one of a small group of senators and congressmen who, together with the vice president, met with 400

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s who marched with the Bergson Group in Washington in 1943, shortly before

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day' ...

, the Jewish Day of Atonement. It was hoped their march would encourage the United States government to take a formal stand against the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

. While President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

did not meet with the rabbis, Senator Barbour, along with a handful of Congressional colleagues, met them on the steps of the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...

and expressed his commitment to their cause.Davis S. Wyman Institute On October 14, 1943, barely a week after meeting with the rabbis, and despite strong public and political opinion against allowing further

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

to the United States, Barbour introduced a bill that would have permitted as many as 100,000 victims of the Holocaust "who are now being persecuted either because of racial or religious belief" to come to America and to remain in the United States as visitors for the duration of the war.New York Times (NYT); Davis S. Wyman Institute This would have been a significant change from the existing policy limiting immigration to only 2% of the number of their countrymen who had been in the United States as of the 1890 Census.Davis S. Wyman Institute Barbour's death just a few weeks later in November 1943, prevented him from working toward passage of the bill. His support of the rabbis, however, and his subsequent actions in the Senate did much to increase political and public awareness of and compassion for the victims of the Nazi genocide.

Death and burial

Senator Barbour died of a cerebral hemorrhage on November 22, 1943 at age 55 at his home in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He is buried with his parents and a brother, Robert Barbour, at

Cedar Lawn Cemetery Cedar Lawn Cemetery is a rural cemetery in Paterson, New Jersey, and is also considered one of the finest Victorian cemeteries in the USA. Cedar Lawn Cemetery officially opened in September 1867, and recorded its first burial on September 27, 186 ...

in Paterson, New Jersey. Divorced at the time of his death from Elysabeth Cochran ( Carrere) Barbour (who married, in 1947, Sir William Lawrie Welsh), he was survived by three children and, subsequently, ten grandchildren.

Notes

References

* Barbour, Thomas (brother of William Warren Barbour). ''Naturalist at Large''. Little, Brown and Company; Boston, 1943. * Barbour, Thomas (nephew of William Warren Barbour). ''Our Families (Volumes 1 & 2)''. Self-printed. 1983 *
Davis S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

"A Thanksgiving Day when Jews Mourned."
copyright 2005. accessed 7 September 2006.
New York Times (NYT)
October 15, 1943; p. 21
"Moves for Admission of 100,000 Refugees - Barbour Offers Resolution for Entry of Racial Victims"
accessed December 12, 2006 (There may be a charge for this article if accessed online.)
Time, Inc.

copyright 2006. accessed 7 September 2006.

External links