Isaac Dutton Barnard (July 18, 1791February 28, 1834) was an American militia leader, lawyer, and politician who served as a

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1827 to 1831. He served as a Major in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 and as a

Pennsylvania State Senator The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in ...

for the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama ...

from 1820 until 1826.

Early life and education

Barnard was born is

Aston Township, Pennsylvania Aston Township is a Township (Pennsylvania), township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 16,791 at the 2020 census. History Aston was first settled in 1682 as a municipality and wa ...

to James and Susanna Dutton Barnard. The family name is derived from Roche-Bernard in Normandy, France where the family originated. Barnard's great-grandfather, Richard emigrated to

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

prior to 1686. Barnard worked as a scholar at several public schools. He lived in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

until 1811 and then moved to

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

Military career

At age 20, Barnard received a commission as Captain of the Fourteenth Regiment, United States Infantry. He opened a recruitment station in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He fought in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and saw action at

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, Sackett's Creek, the Canadien Frontier, Fort George, La Cole's Mill, the

battle of Crysler's Farm The Battle of Crysler's Farm, also known as the Battle of Crysler's Field, was fought on 11 November 1813, during the War of 1812, in the British province of Upper Canada. A British and Upper Canadian force defeated a much larger American invas ...

, the

Battle of Plattsburgh The Battle of Plattsburgh, also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain, ended the final British invasion of the northern states of the United States during the War of 1812. Two British forces, an army under Lieutenant General Sir George Prévos ...

and Lyon's Creek. At Fort George, he was promoted from

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the same unit for meritorious service. He served as a Major General of the Pennsylvania State Militia.

Political career

After the war ended he resumed his legal studies, and was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

on May 1, 1816. He began practicing law in West Chester. Barnard was the deputy attorney general for

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States ** Chester County Council, boy scout council in Pennsylvania. * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire ...

from 1817 to 1821, and an Assistant Burgess in the government of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of West Chester in 1821, 1824, and 1825. Barnard was also a major-general of

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

, and declined the judgeship of Chester County. Barnard served as a member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, stagger ...

for the

from 1821 to 1826. He was instrumental in securing funds for a memorial to the

Battle of Paoli The Battle of Paoli, also known as the Battle of Paoli Tavern or the Paoli Massacre, was a battle in the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 20, 1777, in the area surrounding present-day Malvern, Pennsylva ...

. The year he left the State Senate, he was the

Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (or "Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state") administers the Pennsylvania Department of State of the U.S. state (officially, "Commonwealth (U.S. state), commonwealth") of ...

. He was

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to the

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as a Jacksonian, and began his first term on March 4, 1827. During the 21st and

22nd United States Congress The 22nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1831 ...

es, he was the chairman of the Committee on Militia. In

1829 Events January–March * January 19 – August Klingemann's adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's '' Faust'' premieres in Braunschweig. * February 27 – Battle of Tarqui: Troops of Gran Colombia and Peru battle to a draw. * Marc ...

, Barnard was closely defeated in his attempt to gain the nomination for

Governor of Pennsylvania The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was the 15th president of the United States, serving from 1857 to 1861. He also served as the United States Secretary of State, secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and represented Pennsylvan ...

, at the time a U.S. Representative, described Barnard in a letter as "''a high minded honest man''" who will never "''become the tool of any man''". He undertook part of a second Senate term, but resigned from the Senate on December 6, 1831, due to ill health. He was replaced by a future

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, George M. Dallas. Just before he resigned, the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

papers were reportedly demanding that Barnard be given a place in the

United States Cabinet The Cabinet of the United States is the principal official advisory body to the president of the United States. The Cabinet generally meets with the president in Cabinet Room (White House), a room adjacent to the Oval Office in the West Wing of ...

Personal life

In 1820, Barnard married Harriet Darlington, the daughter of

Isaac Darlington Isaac Darlington (December 13, 1781 – April 27, 1839) was an American politician and judge from Pennsylvania. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chester County from 18 ...

. She died during childbirth in 1823 and he never remarried.

Legacy

Barnard died on February 28, 1834, in West Chester. He was originally interred at the Friends Burying Ground on North High Street but after twenty years he was re-interred in Oaklands Cemetery. William Everhart, a wealthy

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

and friend of Barnard's, named a street in West Chester after Barnard sometime after the summer of 1830. In 1854, a monument in Oaklands Cemetery was erected in his memory. File:Isaac Dutton Barnard grave in Oaklands Cemetery, West Chester, Pennsylvania.jpg, Front of the Isaac D. Barnard Memorial File:Isaac D. Barnard Memorial.jpg, Right side of the Isaac D. Barnard Memorial File:Back of Isaac D. Barnard Memorial in Oaklands Cemetery.jpg, Back of the Isaac D. Barnard Memorial File:Left side of Isaac D. Barnard Memorial.jpg, Left side of the Isaac D. Barnard Memorial

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Account of Barnard's work regarding a monument to the Battle of Paoli
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnard, Isaac 1791 births 1834 deaths Politicians from Delaware County, Pennsylvania Democratic-Republican Party United States senators from Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Democratic-Republicans Pennsylvania Jacksonians Secretaries of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania state senators Pennsylvania lawyers 19th-century American lawyers United States Army officers People from Pennsylvania in the War of 1812 Burials at Oaklands Cemetery 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly 19th-century United States senators