Wharton Barker (May 1, 1846 – April 9, 1921) was an American financier and publicist who held influence in the Republican presidential selection during the 1880s and was a rival

Populist Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develope ...

presidential candidate in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), ...

Life

Wharton Barker was born on May 1, 1846, to Abraham Barker and Sarah Wharton in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1867 he married Margaret Corlies and later had three children with her. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

in 1866, but prior to this time had organized and commanded a company in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. As a member of the banking firm of Barker Bros. & Co., he was appointed in 1878 as special financial agent of the

Russian government The Government of Russia exercises executive power in the Russian Federation. The members of the government are the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers, and the federal ministers. It has its legal basis in the Constitution of the Russ ...

. During the Russo-Turkish War he helped the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

obtain warships and for it was given the Order of Saint Stanislaus. He became an acquaintance of Tsar

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Fin ...

who helped him in the development of mining lands throughout Russian and Europe. He also obtained valuable railroad, telegraph, and telephone concessions that were later withdrawn from China. As early as 1869 he founded the ''Penn Monthly'', a weekly devoted to political, economic, and social questions, which in 1880-1900 was published under the name ''The American''. At the

1880 Republican convention The 1880 Republican National Convention convened from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York as the o ...

he opposed Ulysses S. Grant's attempt to gain a third term and helped Representative James A. Garfield win the Republican nomination. After winning the presidency Garfield offered Barker the position of Secretary of the Interior, but he declined. At the 1888 convention he supported former Senator

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

. During the

1896 presidential election The following elections occurred in 1896: {{TOC right North America Canada * 1896 Canadian federal election * December 1896 Edmonton municipal election * January 1896 Edmonton municipal election * 1896 Manitoba general election United States * ...

he left the Republican Party and joined the Populist Party due to his support of the

free silver movement Free silver was a major economic policy issue in the United States in the late 19th-century. Its advocates were in favor of an expansionary monetary policy featuring the unlimited coinage of silver into money on-demand, as opposed to strict adhe ...

and supported

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the Democratic Party, running three times as the party's nominee for President ...

. During the 1900 presidential election Populists opposed to William Jennings Bryan met in Cincinnati, Ohio to nominate an independent ticket rather than fuse with Bryan and narrowly selected Barker with 370 delegates for him to 336 delegates for

Milford W. Howard Milford Wriarson Howard (December 18, 1862 – December 28, 1937) was a United States Representative from Alabama. Howard was first elected to the House of Representatives as a Populist in 1894, defeating incumbent William H. Denson. He w ...

. During the

1912 presidential election The following elections occurred in the year 1912. Asia * 1912 Chinese National Assembly election (first election for the newly founded National Assembly of the Republic of China) * 1912 Philippine Assembly elections Europe * 1912 German federal ...

the Republican Party was divided over William Taft and Theodore Roosevelt's presidential campaigns, but Barker opposed both of them and supported Senator

Albert B. Cummins Albert Baird Cummins (February 15, 1850July 30, 1926) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the 18th governor of Iowa, elected to three consecutive terms and U.S. senator for Iowa, serving for 18 years. Cummins was a leader of the Progr ...

for the Republican nomination, but after Cummins lost the nomination Barker switched his support to Roosevelt and his Progressive Party. In 1884, he was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society. On April 9, 1921 Barker died at age 74 in Philadelphia after suffering from an illness for one month.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Wharton American bankers Candidates in the 1900 United States presidential election Union Army officers Businesspeople from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania alumni 1846 births 1921 deaths Pennsylvania Populists Pennsylvania Republicans People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War Members of the American Philosophical Society