Hiram Barber (January 25, 1800 – October 23, 1888) was an American pioneer, politician, and businessman in

Dodge County, Wisconsin Dodge County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 89,396. Its county seat is Juneau, Wisconsin, Juneau. The county was created from the ...

Biography

Born in Hebron, New York, Barber taught school and was a merchant. He studied law and was admitted to the New York bar. In 1829, Barber was appointed county judge for

Warren County, New York Warren County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,737. The county seat is Queensbury. The county was established in 1813 and is named in honor of General Joseph Warren, an American Revolu ...

, by Governor

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

. He remained in this office until his resignation in 1844. In 1844, Barber moved to the

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

and settled in Horicon, where he had agriculture, manufacture, and railroad business interests. Barber served in the first Wisconsin Constitutional Convention of 1846. In the run-up to the first Wisconsin gubernatorial election, Barber became a candidate for

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

, but at the 1848 Wisconsin Democratic Party Convention he lost the nomination to

Nelson Dewey Nelson Webster Dewey (December 19, 1813July 21, 1889) was an American lawyer, land speculator, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the first governor of Wisconsin, and also served in the Wisconsin Senate and served several years in the Wis ...

. After becoming Governor, Dewey would appoint Barber to the Board of Regents tasked with organizing the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Later that year, Barber ran for and was elected to represent Dodge County's 2nd district in the 1849 session of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

. In 1876, Barber ran for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

as a Republican in the

5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

, but was defeated by Samuel D. Burchard. His son was Hiram Barber, Jr., who served in the United States House of Representatives from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Barber died in Horicon, Wisconsin, in 1888.'History of Dodge County, Wisconsin,' Western Historical Company: Chicago, Illinois, 1880, Biographical Sketch of Hiram Barber, pg. 655-656

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Hiram 1800 births 1888 deaths People from Hebron, New York People from Horicon, Wisconsin New York (state) lawyers Wisconsin lawyers Businesspeople from New York (state) Businesspeople from Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Warren County, New York 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century New York state court judges 19th-century American lawyers People from Dodge County, Wisconsin 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature