Bio of BARBER, Edwin Roswell, Sr. (b.1852 d.1920), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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EDWIN ROSWELL BARBER, SR. - Vol III, pg 357-358
Edwin Roswell Barber, whose demise occurred on the 29th of December, 1920, was
for more than six decades a resident of Minneapolis. Few, indeed, are the
citizens here whose connection with the Northwest has covered so extended a
period, or who could relate with greater accuracy the story of the city's early
upbuilding and development. Becoming as it did the center of the grain trade in
America, Mr. Barber was through many years closely associated with this field of
activity, his labors being a large con­tributing force to the growth of milling
interests here. He was watchful, too, of the opportunities to advance the moral
progress of the community and cooperated in many plans which led to the
advancement and maintenance of high civic and moral standards.
Edwin Roswell Barber came to the upper Mississippi valley from New England, his
birth having occurred in Benson, Rutland county, Vermont, November 22, 1852, his
parents being Daniel R. and Ellen L. Barber. His father was a merchant in
Vermont, carrying on business there until 1855, when he visited the west and was
so impressed with the power of the falls of St. Anthony and the possibilities
for business development in connection therewith, that he decided to locate in
Minneapolis. The following year, therefore, he returned to this city with his
family and for a brief period was engaged in merchandising on Hennepin and
Washington avenues. From the beginning of his residence he also was connected
with real estate operations and he purchased the Cataract Flouring Mills, which
he conducted until his death in 1886.
Edwin R. Barber spent his boyhood days at the family home on Second avenue and
Fourth street and witnessed the development of the city from a small village
con­taining a few hundred people to a metropolis of over three hundred and fifty
thousand. He could remember shooting partridges where the West Hotel now stands
and his memory compassed that period when the present site of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad depot was an impassable bog. He was indebted to
the public schools for the early educational advantages which he enjoyed and
later he attended the University of Minnesota but did not graduate. At different
periods he studied in a business college and also received private instruction
in modern languages. The talk of grain trade circles was familiar to him from
his youth, owing to his father's connection with the milling business, and he
obtained his first practical experience along that line in the office of
Gardner, Pillsbury & Crocker, in what is now Mill D, operated by the
Washburn-Crosby Company. He was afterward in the office of Gardner & Barber in
the Cataract Mills, which he entered in 1871, and throughout the remainder of
his life he figured in connection with the marvelous development of the flour
manufactur­ing interests of this city. At all times he kept pace with the growth
of the trade and the improvements in methods, and the name of Edwin R. Barber
was long a familiar and an honored one in milling circles.
On the 1st of October, 1873, about six weeks before attaining his majority, Mr.
Barber was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Sidle, a daughter of Henry G. Sidle
of the First National Bank. They became the parents of four children: Henry
Sidle, born in 1877; Nellie L., who was born in 1882 and died December 28, 1888;
Katharine Sidle, born in 1890; and Edwin Roswell, born in 1892. Mr. Barber and
his family were members of the Westminster Presbyterian church. In politics he
was always a repub­lican where matters of national principle were involved but
at local elections cast an independent ballot. His interest in community welfare
was long manifest in many tangible ways. He was a generous contributor to the
purchase of the site for the old" Chamber of Commerce, also the purchase of the
post office site, was actively interested in the Minneapolis Industrial
Exposition and in the erection of the Young Men's Christian Association
building. In connection with D. H. Dorman he was influential in inducing the
Hennepin county delegation to the state legislature to join the Ramsey county
delegation in building the Lake Street bridge, buying the interest on the bonds
in advance for three years. Mr. Barber belonged to the Minneapolis, the
Minikahda, the Lafayette, the Minnetonka and the Automobile clubs, with which he
was identified practically since their organization. He was ever appreciative of
the social amenities of life and an unfeigned cordiality made him popular with
his fellowmen. At the same time he placed full valuation upon life's
responsibilities and duties and made his course serve the general interests of
society and promote the upbuilding of thet city with which he was so long
closely and honorably associated.