Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Barr, Richard J 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 9:51 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

RICHARD J. BARR, city attorney of Joliet, is a member of the law firm of Meers 
& Barr, and is well known in the profession. His personal popularity is 
indicated by his election to the city attorney's office in the spring of 1899, 
when he was the only one elected on the Republican ticket, receiving a 
majority of twenty- four, while some of the Democratic candidates had 
majorities as large as one thousand. He has been a Republican from boyhood to 
the present time, and believes that the principles of this political 
organization are best calculated to secure the progress of free government and 
perpetuate our national institutions on the basis proposed by the founders of 
the Republic. His education was carried on in the high school of Joliet, after 
which he taught school at Manhattan and Wilton Center. He afterwards 
matriculated in the University of Illinois, where he spent four years in the 
classical course of study. Next he went to the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor and there received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1895. His class 
presented to the university a bronze bust of Judge Cooley which cost $600. The 
presentation ceremony was made a memorable event and was appropriately 
celebrated. Dr. James B. Angell represented the university, Governor Rich the 
state, and Judge Hornblower, of New York, the nation. The members of the class 
selected Mr. Barr to represent them, and the presentation speech which he made 
was published afterward in book form. While in the University of Illinois he 
also gave evidence of unusual ability as an orator and debater. He was 
president of the Illinois Oratorical Association, and also president of his 
class. He was elected editor-in-chief of the class annual, the "Illio," which 
was originated by the class and compiled by him. The precedent thus 
established has been maintained by subsequent classes. Upon graduating from 
the university in June, 1895, Mr. Barr came to Joliet, and in August of the 
same year he opened an office in this city. He practiced law alone until April 
1, 1897, when the present firm of Meers & Barr was formed. Fraternally he is a 
member of Mount Joliet Lodge, A. F. & A. M.; Knights of the Globe; Mound City 
Camp, Modern Woodmen of America, and Paul Revere Lodge, Knights of Pythias. 
Should nothing unforeseen prevent a prosperous future in his chosen profession 
may safely be predicted of Mr. Barr. With his enterprise, which enabled him to 
secure a finished education, he has since surmounted obstacles in his path and 
has risen to a position of prominence among the members of his profession.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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