Penobscot County ME Archives Biographies.....Barker, David unknown - unknown
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Tina Vickery tsvickery@adelphia.net May 7, 2005, 7:07 pm

Author: Sprague's Journal of Maine History.

DAVID BARKER  of Exeter & Bangor, Maine "THE BURNS OF
MAINE" Vol 3 page 181

David Barker "The Burns of Maine" and the Barker
Family of Exeter and Bangor, Maine

The following sketch of the Barker family of Exeter
and Bangor, Maine, is taken from The Bangor Historical
Magazine,' and was written by its editor, the late
Honorable Joseph W. Porter. Nathaniel Barker was the
son of Daniel Barker, born in Exeter N. H. The family
moved to Limerick, Me., in I776 and from thence to
what is now Exeter, Maine, 18O3-8.  Nathaniel Barker
married Sally, daughter of Joseph Pease,' 1806.  March
18, 1823, Mr. Barker came to Bangor with an ox team
and load of wood and at a point near Currier's tannery
on the Levant road he got caught and fell under the
sled and was instant1y killed. The story of the
struggles of the widow to bring up her family of nine
children has been familiar wherever the Barker family
are known, and their reputation is widespread.  Mrs.
Barker died at the old homestead, January 6, 188o,
aged 91.  Their children were:

i.  NOAH, b. Nov. 14, 18O7; Representative, Senator,
Land Agent, County Commissioner; m. Temperance B.,
daughter of William and Rachel (Knapp) Eddy, of
Eddington, Dec. 29, 1839- She was born Feb. 9, I8I5.
He d. 1888.  Four children.

ii.  MELINDA H., b. July, 18o9; m. Thomas J. Hill of
Exeter; she d. 188-; eight children.

iii..  JULIA B., b. Mar. I2, 18ii; m. Elijah Crane, of
Exeter. He d. 1878; she d. 1882; several children, all
d. without issue.

iv.  SARAH B., b. Sept. 30, 18I2; m. Rev. Eldridge G.
Carpenter about I836.  She died in Newcastle; no
children.  He m. again; d. at Houlton, April  3, 1867,
aged 55. Me., 178-, and from thence to Exeter, Me.,
18o8.

V.  NATHANIEL, b. NOV. 27, 1814, of Exeter; m. Elvira
C. Grinnell of Exeter; six children.

vi.  DAVID, b. Sept. 1816, of Exeter; in. Susan Chase
of Belfast; repre-sentative, 1873; lawyer and poet; d.
1874.  Two children.

vii.  LEWIS, b. Feb. 18, 1818; -, Bangor.

viii.  DANIEL, b. 1820. married Lydia, of Joshua
Chamberlain, of Exeter. Resides in Bangor.  Three
children.

ix.  MARK, b. Sept., 1822; married Julia A. McCobb of
Orrington, she died 1882.  He now resides in Houlton.
Several children all dead.

X.  JOHN,


(i)  The Bangor Historical Magazine, Vol. 6, P. 77.

(2)  Joseph Pease was born in New Market, N. H., moved
to Parsonsfield,

LEWIS BARKER.

Born Feb. 18, 1818.  Educated in 'the schools of
Exeter, and Foxcroft Academy.  School master, studied
law with Albert G. Jewett, and Kent & Cutting.
Admitted to the Bar, 1841, and settled in Stetson.
Removed to Bangor in 187I.  Eventually his firm became
Barker, Vose & Barker.  Hon. T. W. Vose, and his son
Lewis A. Barker comprising the firm.  He was a
Representative, 1864 and 1867.  Speaker, 1867;
Senator, 1865-1866; Executive Councilor, 188o, and for
several years after.  He was a member of the State
Board of Health, and of the commission to enlarge the
State House. He was Past Master of Pacific Lodge of F.
A. M., of Exeter, and a mem-ber of Royal Arch Chapter,
and St. John's Commandery of Knights Tem. plar.  He
married Elizabeth, daughter of Col.  Francis and
Elizabeth (Was, son) Hill of Exeter, Aug. 2, 1846, by
Rev.  Elbridge G. Carpenter.  Mrs. Barker now resides
in Bangor.  Mr. Barker, died Oct. 9, 189o, his death
having been caused by a runaway horse, near his own
house.  Mr. Barker was a character well known in this
State and in many places out of the State.  His fame
as an advocate and a political speaker, reached far
beyond the State where he lived.  Their children were:

i.  EVVIE, b. May ii, 1848. She was a woman of great
natural ability. She was twice married, and died Nov.
3, 1872, leaving a daughter.

ii.  LEWIS AMASA,      b. Aug. I2, 1854. He attended
Union College at Schenectady, NY    and the Albany Law
School. He commenced the practice of  the law with his
father, and later of the firm of Barker, Vose &
Barker. He was a young man of fine abilities and good
legal mind. He was a representative, 1887-89. He was a
lead-ing man in the   order of Knights of Pythias, and
held its highest office in this State.  He d. in
Boston, whither he had gone for medical treatment,
Jan. 16, 1890.  He m. Margaret, daughter of the late
Moses L. Appleton, Oct. 14, 1875.  They had two
children, a son Lewis A., and a daughter.

Some of the descendants of Nathaniel Barker were among
the most prominent men of Maine.  Among them his
seventh son, honorable Lewis Barker, mentioned in the
foregoing article, was a lawyer of note and attained
much reputation as an eloquent stump speaker in the
ranks of the Republican party.  Ile possessed a mag-
netic personality and had an original and somewhat
picturesque style of oratory which attracted the
masses. In the early days of that party he was often
called to speak not only in every part of Maine but in
many other states of the Union. Lewis A. Barker, Jr.,
son of Lewis A. Barker, mentioned in the same article,
is also a lawyer who was born in Bangor and is now
residing in Boston, Massachusetts.  He attained a
state wide repu-tation a few years ago when he was
associated as counsel with the late Honorable Josiah
Crosby, in obtaining the pardon of Stain and Cromwell,
who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder
of John Wilson Barron, treasurer of the Dexter Savings
Bank, and who were pardoned by Governor Llewellyn
Powers. His sixth son, David Barker, was born in
Exeter, Maine, Septem-ber 9, 18i6, and died September
14, 1874.  He entered the pro-fession of law and
during nearly all of his professional life practiced
law in a little old fashioned law office at Exeter
Corner, which still exists and a picture of which
accompanies this sketch.  In the days of the old stage
coaches and "tote" teams this village was a stage
center and a trading place of importance.  Samuel
Cony, afterwards Governor of Maine, practiced law
there for some years and David was for a time a
student in his office.



The home of David Balker at Exeter Corner, Maine,
taken in I9I5.

David Barker is, however, best known to the world as a
poet, and for many years while living, enjoyed the
honor of being desig-nated in the press and among the
people of his state both as the "Bard of Exeter" and
"The Burns of Maine." And his poetical fame brought to
him the degree of A. M. from Bowdoin College.

There have been a few of Maine's writers of note who
have beautifully and accurately described the quaint
manners and cus-toms, the language and sayings and the
rugged life of our sturdy ancestors, who were the
pioneers of the Pine Tree State.  Among such were Seba
Smith, who wrote under the nom. de plume of "Major
Jack Downing" and acquired much reputation and popu-
larity in criticizing President Jackson's
administration; Holman Day, Maine's most famous
author; and George Cleveland's recent delightful book
"Maine in Verse and Story" may properly find a place
in this class of Maine literature.  But none have ever
surpassed David Barker in his delineation of the
yankee character as known in Maine's early days.  His
poetry flowed from a heart full of love for all
humanity especially the oppressed in every clime or
condition in life.  Hence in the anti bellum days we
find his voice mingling with the voices of Whittier,
Lowell, Holmes, Longfellow and other American poets of
that day in a protest against American slavery. One of
his earliest poems referred to the celebrated fugitive
slave case in Massachusetts entitled "A Few Words from
Maine to Massa-chusetts about the Burns Case" which
commenced with these stir-ring lines:



"Massachusetts, God forgive her, She's kneeling 'mong
the rest, She that ought to have clung forever In her
grand old eagle-nest."



Is water running in your veins? Have ye no pluck at
all', What, stand and see a gyve put on In sight of
Faneuil Hall.



For many a long and tedious year We've heard your
people tell About a little rise of land, Where Joseph
Warren fell.



Oh, brag no more about that spot, Let every tongue be
still, But scratch the name of BUNKER out, And call it
"Buncombe" Hill.



And then "To John Brown In Prison" the first lines of
which were: Stand firm, John Brown, till your fate is
o'er, For the world, with an anxious eye, Looks on as
it seldom has looked before, While the hour of your
doom draws nigh-Stand firm John Brown, Stand firm!



But his poetical career really begun when about the
year 1854 he sent to the New York Evening Post the
following stanzas which were published.



MY CHILD'S ORIGIN.

One night, as old Saint Peter slept, He left the door
of Heaven ajar, When through, a little angel crept,
And came down with a falling star.



One summer, as the blessed beams Of morn approached,
my blushing bride Awakened from some pleasing dreams,
And found that angel by her side.



God grant but this-I ask no more-That when he leaves
this world of sin, He'll wing his way for that blest
shore, And find the door of Heaven again.



The lines immediately attracted attention and were
copied exten-sively into the newspaper press
throughout the country.  Governor Andrew of
Massachusetts, was so impressed by them that he
carried them with him, affirming that they were "the
sweetest lines he ever read."

Among others of Barker's productions which attracted a
wide circle of admirers were "The Old Ship of State;"
"The Under Dog in the Fight;" "The Covered Bridge;"
The Empty Sleeve;" etc. His longest poem was "My First
Courtship" and his biographer expresses the belief
that this "will be the most enduring." This is
undoubtedly true for in it appears some of his most
charming descriptions of the folk lore of olden times
in Maine, and all through it a droll humor happily
mingles with pathos.

"Old Willey," one of his patriotic and most virile
songs was the story of a common laborer at Exeter
Corner who worked at odd jobs to earn a living for his
little family.

He laid the wall, and he sawed the wood For me and
others in the neighborhood.

One day to my village two men rode down-Yes, they came
over from Stetson town.

One was named Hill (3) and the other Plaisted.(4) They
were enlisting officers and had come there to procure
volunteers for the Union army.  When they rode into
town

This Willey and I were standing o'er (He sawing wood)
near my office door. The flag of the Union was waving
to the breeze and a crowd were listening to the
eloquence of the enlisting officers when



A neighbor of mine was standing nigh,-With his traitor
lips to the startled air He hissed the flag that was
floating there.



"This Willey and I were standing o'er (He sawing wood)
near my office door"



The old Barker office at Exeter Corner, Maine, as it
appears today.



This enraged old Willey and aroused the fire of
patriotism burn-ing in his heart, and he swore then
and there with a fearful oath



(3) General John A. Hill who first enlisted as Captain
of Company K, 11th Maine Regiment at a public meeting
in Stetson, Maine. (4) General Harris M. Plaisted who
first enlisted as Lieutenant Colonel of the 11th Maine
Regiment.  He was Attorney General of Maine, 873-5;
Congressman I875; Governor I881-2.     He was the
father of Honorable Frederick W. Plaisted who was also
Governor of Maine, 1911-12. that he would enlist in
the army and go down to the Southland and fight the
traitors. And he did enlist, for the brave old soul,
With his name on the gallant Plaisted's roll, For the
cast of a die, for a loss or gain, With the gory,
famed old 11th of Maine.



Old Willey was a brave soldier in many battles and
survived to return home maimed and feeble.



With his folded arms he lies so still In a cold, sound
sleep on the "Crowell Hill". I wish I knew if he felt
the least As he felt when our Father's flag was
hissed; For he slumbers there 'neath a beetling crag
By the side of the one who hissed the flag.



A sound, and well defined philosophy of life runs
through his verse, for instance, in "A Solace for Dark
Hours:"



Fear not the man of wealth and birth, Securely resting
in his seat, But sooner him, who, crushed to earth, Is
rising to his feet.



That he believed fully in an overruling Providence and
a life beyond death is evidenced in his every line,
but his religion was for all humanity as is especially
made evident in "The Covered Bridge" and other poems.



But we all pass over on equal terms, For the Universal
toll, Is the outer garb, which the band of God Has
flung around the soul. Though the eye is dim, and the
bridge is dark, And the river it spans is wide, Yet
faith points through to a shining mount, That looms on
the other side.



That his views of a life beyond were such as would
today class him with those known as "Spiritual lists,"
may be     adduced from his writings and especially
from a letter written to his brother Lewis, July 7,
1874, from which the following is taken:

I shall do my best to live here below a while longer,
but the chances look doubtful.  Should we not meet
again, do what you think best with the songs I have
sung here, and I promise you one from beyond at the
earliest possible hour, and from a 'harp attuned by
your angel daughter Evvie, if I can find her upon the
same plane upon which I am permitted to enter, with
the lingering earth stains which may be found upon me.

One of the most charming features of the first edition
of Barker's Poems is a letter in rhyme in the Scotch
dialect, written and sent to him some years before his
death, by Edward Wiggin, Jr., of Fort Fairfield,
Maine, entitled "Epistle to Davie." Although when
written it was only intended for the perusal of the
author of "My Child's Origin," yet it is of itself a
sweet song and very properly inserted in that little
volume.

Mr. Wiggin in his lifetime was a well known character
in our State and for many years closely identified
with the political, business and educational interest
of the State of Maine.  He acquired quite a reputation
as a platform lecturer; the best known and most popu-
lar of his productions was probably his lecture
entitled "Mince Pie As My Mother Made It."

And now we close this rambling sketch about a great
Maine poet with verses from his "Influence and
Retribution," which all writers of high or low degree
should remember and emulate:



Ye cannot send the simplest line Abroad from off your
pen, But ye must meet, in future hour, That very line
again.

The slightest word ye cannot speak Within a mortal
ear, But that the echo of such word Ye must forever
hear.

We acknowledge thanks to Mr. Frank C. Merritt of
Washington, D. C., for the report to the Government of
the late Samuel L. Board-man on "The Climate, Soil,
Resources, and Agricultural Capabilities of the State
of Maine." It was printed at the Government printing
office in Washington in 1884.  Like all of Mr.
Boardman's literary work it is carefully pre-pared and
he treats the subject exhaustively.

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