John Strode Barbour Jr. (December 29, 1820May 14, 1892) was a slave owner,

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

and a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

from

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

, and fought against the United States in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighti ...

. He took power in Virginia from the short-lived

Readjuster Party The Readjuster Party was a bi-racial state-level political party formed in Virginia across party lines in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the Reconstruction era that sought to reduce outstanding debt owed by the state. Read ...

in the late 1880s, forming the first

political machine In the politics of representative democracies, a political machine is a party organization that recruits its members by the use of tangible incentives (such as money or political jobs) and that is characterized by a high degree of leadership co ...

of "Conservative Democrats", whose power was to last 80 years until the demise of the

Byrd Organization The Byrd machine, or Byrd organization, was a political machine of the Democratic Party led by former Governor and U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966) that dominated Virginia politics for much of the 20th century. From the 1890s until the ...

in the late 1960s.

Early life

Barbour was born on December 29, 1820, at

Catalpa ''Catalpa'', commonly called catalpa or catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Description Most ''Catalpa'' are deci ...

, near Culpeper, Virginia, the son of Virginia delegate and future U.S. Representative

John S. Barbour John Strode Barbour Sr. (August 8, 1790 – January 12, 1855) was a nineteenth-century slave owner, politician and lawyer from Virginia. He was the father of John Strode Barbour Jr. and the first cousin of James Barbour and Philip P. Barb ...

. He had two sisters and a younger brother. Barbour attended the common schools and graduated from the law department of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen ...

. He married Susan Dangerfield, daughter of a prominent family in

Prince George's County, Maryland ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrooks ( ...

. His wife died in 1886.

Career

Following his father's career path, Barbour was admitted to the Virginia

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

in 1841 and began his legal practice in Culpeper. Five years later he ran for and won election as a member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

, serving (part-time, along with his private legal practice) from 1847 to 1851. Barbour became president of the

Orange and Alexandria Railroad The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in Virginia, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial rol ...

Co., serving from 1852 to 1881. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, Barbour was a Confederate officer, as was his younger brother

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. The family's Fleetwood Hill hosted General

J.E.B. Stuart James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a United States Army officer from Virginia who became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of ...

after the Confederate victory at the

Battle of Chancellorsville The Battle of Chancellorsville, April 30 – May 6, 1863, was a major battle of the American Civil War (1861–1865), and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville campaign. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's "perfect battle" because h ...

, but the June 1863 engagement with Union forces, the

Battle of Brandy Station The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863, aroun ...

(perhaps the largest cavalry battle of the war) was considered a draw. After the war, both John and James resumed their legal careers, but while John concentrated in railroad matters, James bought the

Richmond Enquirer The ''Richmond Examiner'', a newspaper which was published before and during the American Civil War under the masthead of ''Daily Richmond Examiner'', was one of the newspapers published in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Its editors viewe ...

and became its editor. After the restoration of civil rights to Confederate officers, John Barbour was elected as a Democrat to the 47th and two succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1881 - March 3, 1887). He succeeded

Eppa Hunton II Eppa Hunton II (September 24, 1822October 11, 1908) was a Virginia lawyer and soldier who rose to become a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a Democrat in both the United States ...

, a fellow

Shenandoah valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Rid ...

lawyer who declined to seek renomination. Barbour served as chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (48th and 49th Congresses). He declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1886, months after the death of his wife (and the year after his brother James was elected to Virginia's House of Delegates). In the late 1880s, Barbour joined with other Conservative Democrats and opposed the

, a coalition of blacks and Republicans led by Harrison H. Riddleberger and

William Mahone William Mahone (December 1, 1826October 8, 1895) was an American civil engineer, railroad executive, Confederate States Army general, and Virginia politician. As a young man, Mahone was prominent in the building of Virginia's roads and railroa ...

. He helped form the first

of "Conservative Democrats", whose power lasted 80 years until the demise of the

in the late 1960s. In 1888, Barbour ran to succeed Senator Riddleberger when he declined to seek re-election (and died the following year). Elected as a Democrat to 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 ...

Barbour served from March 4, 1889, until his death. Hunton was appointed to serve until the election for the remainder of the term, which he won but declined to seek a full term.

Death and legacy

Barbour died 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, ...

on May 14, 1892. He was interred in the burial ground at "Poplar Hill",

beside his wife Susan. His brother James' son,

, briefly became a newspaper editor, and later lawyer and mayor of Culpeper, although he moved to Fairfax County, Virginia.

Sources

* * Memorial Services for John S. Barbour Jr. 52nd Cong., 2nd sess., 1892–1893. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1893 * Quinn, James Thomas. "Senator John S. Barbour, Jr. and the Restoration of Virginia Democracy, 1883-1892." Master's thesis, University of Virginia, 1966.

External links

*
John S. Barbour Jr.
at

Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Humanities (VH), formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is a humanities council whose stated mission is to develop the civic, cultural, and intellectual life of the Commonwealth of Virginia by creating learning opportunities f ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbour, John S. Jr. 1820 births 1892 deaths People from Culpeper County, Virginia Barbour family American Presbyterians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia Democratic Party United States senators from Virginia Democratic Party members of the Virginia House of Delegates 19th-century American politicians Virginia lawyers University of Virginia School of Law alumni American slave owners United States senators who owned slaves

Early life

Career

Death and legacy

See also

Sources

External links