Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Barrett, Hardware Company 
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Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

The Barrett Hardware Company from small beginning has developed into one of 
the most prominent commercial enterprises of Joliet. The business was 
established by W. F. Barrett, who in 1851 opened a hardware store. In 1872 he 
was joined by his son, John O. Barrett, in a partnership under the firm style 
of W. F. Barrett & Son, which relation was continued until the seniors death 
in 1879. In the meantime a disastrous fire had occurred, in which the store 
was burned out. Immediately on the erection of the Akin block the business was 
installed therein and both father and son bent every energy toward the 
development of the business, but at the death of the senior partner there were 
left many debts which the young man discharged. When this was done little 
remained. The necessities of the business proved a stimulus for even greater 
effort than he had previously put forth and he closely studied every means for 
the development of the business and the promotion of its growth along 
substantial lines. That his policy and systematic methods were effective is 
shown by the fact that at the end of the first year the profits were four 
thousand dollars. The trade continued to grow as the result of the honorable 
methods of the firm and the reasonable prices which were offered the public. 
On the 11th of March, 1883, the store was removed to its present commodious 
quarters and the firm of Barrett & Sons was organized December 19, 1891. The 
personnel of the firm at the present time stands: John O. Barrett, president; 
Edwin M. Moore, vice president; and Edward C. Barrett, secretary and 
treasurer. In addition to the extensive salesrooms, there are commodious 
offices for the proprietors, managers, stenographers and bookkeepers, and a 
department for the plumbers and gas fitters and builders hardware sample room. 
Another room contains the contractors' and garden tools and gas stoves, while 
the entire basement of the Munroe block, together with nearly all of the 
second floor and the entire third story are occupied for storage or shops. The 
men who are the head of this institution have wrought along modern business 
lines, keeping in advance of the trade sufficiently to make the object of 
patronage a desirable one to the public, and today theirs is the foremost 
house of this character in Joliet. Employment is furnished to seventy-two 
people and the weekly pay roll is over ten hundred dollars. The Barrett store 
would do credit to a city of much greater size than Joliet, and the Barrett 
Hardware Company wherever known is honored for its unassailable business 
methods and straightforward dealing. John O. Barrett, the president of the 
company, whose intense and well directed activity has resulted in the 
upbuilding of one of the largest commercial enterprises of the city, has made 
a record such as any man might be proud to possess. It excites the admiration 
of his fellow townsmen and the respect of those who have in any way been 
connected with him in business transactions. Never incurring obligations that 
he has not met nor making engagements that he has not filled, he has won the 
unqualified trust of the business public and his name has become a synonym for 
commercial integrity and enterprise. John O. Barrett was born in this city, 
March 16, 1851, and is a son of W. F. and Clamana Barrett, the former a native 
of Lenox, Massachusetts and the latter of Holley, New York. Removing to the 
middle west, the father was for many years connected with the business life of 
Joliet as a hardware merchant. His son, John O. Barrett, acquired his 
education in the public schools and at the age of sixteen years entered his 
father's store, in which he received thorough training in business methods, 
particularly those bearing upon the hardware trade. He closely applied himself 
to the mastery of the business in both principle and detail, and in 1872 was 
admitted to a partnership under the firm style of W. F. Barrett & Son. From 
the beginning of his connection with the house he worked earnestly and 
persistently, formed his plans readily and was determined in their execution. 
As stated, when he took charge of the business after his father's death, 
serious commercial and financial conditions confronted him, but with renewed 
purpose and energy he took up the task of building up the business and won 
large profits the first year. Any merchant recognizes the fact that this must 
have demanded close and unremitting attention to the business in every detail, 
but the result justified the effort that was put forth. Mr. Barrett has long 
been classed as one of the most prominent and representative business men of 
the city and is now a member of the board of directors of the Merchants' 
Association of Joliet. In 1891 he assisted in the organization of the Joliet 
National Bank, of which he has since continuously been a director. He is a man 
of keen discernment, who readily solves intricate business problems and 
recognizes and utilizes opportunities. In 1872 occurred the marriage of John 
O. Barrett and Mary C. Warren, who died December 19, 1904. On the 7th of July, 
1906, he wedded Mrs. Cora Clarke. His social relations are with the Union Club 
and the Commercial Club. Endowed by nature with sound judgment and an 
accurate, discriminating mind, he has feared not that laborious attention to 
the details of business so necessary to achieve success, and this essential 
quality has ever been guided by a sense of moral right which tolerates the 
employment only of those means that will bear the most rigid examination by a 
fairness of intention that neither seeks nor requires disguise. It is just and 
merited praise to say that as a business man he ranks with the ablest, as a 
citizen he is honorable, prompt and true to every engagement, and as a man he 
holds the esteem of all classes of people. Edwin M. Moore, vice president of 
the company, was born in Chillicothe, Ohio, February 16, 1862, and is a son of 
the Rev. E. G. and Sarah A. Moore. He entered the services of W. F. Barrett & 
Son in August, 1879, at the age of seventeen years, with a salary of three 
dollars per week. He started in with such duties as filling nail bins, taking 
care of the lamps, which were then used to light the store, driving their one-
horse delivery wagon, and continued with the house as clerk in various 
positions such as shipping clerk, bookkeeper, etc., until January, 1886, when 
he accepted a position as head clerk with the firm of Holmes & Cady. In June, 
1890, he returned to the employ of the Barrett Hardware Company as salesman. 
John O. Barrett was at that time greatly overworked and found that Mr. Moore 
was capable of doing considerable work that he had been compelled to do. In 
recognition of this Mr. Moore has been gradually promoted as buyer and store 
manager, and in January, 1901, he was honored by election to the office of 
vice president of the company. His long experience in the establishment well 
qualified him for the duties which devolve upon him in this official 
connection. He is thoroughly conversant with the trade and, moreover, 
possesses considerable executive force and discernment. On the 26th of 
October, 1887, he married Miss Harriet H. Hinman, who died February 14, 1906, 
leaving four children. Edward C. Barrett, secretary and treasurer of the 
company, and a brother of John O. Barrett, was born in Joliet, February 16, 
1864. He entered the store in 1885 and his connection therewith has been 
continuous to the present time. He was specially trained in the shop work, 
having served as an apprentice, and he now has supervision of the shops. This 
department of the business has been constantly increased in its scope. Edward 
C. Barrett was married in January, 1895, to Miss Antoinette Hobbs. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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