Bio of BARBER, William H. (b.1855), 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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WILLIAM H. BARBER - Vol III, pg 160-164
William H. Barber, known throughout industrial circles of the United States and
Canada as a pioneer in the oil business, was born in Cuyahoga county, near
Cleveland, Ohio, on the 17th of April, 1855. His parents were Solomon and
Harriett (Wright) Barber, both natives of the Buckeye state. Solomon Barber was
engaged in agricultural pursuits until a few years before his death in 1900. His
widow, who has now passed her eighty-eighth birthday, makes her home with a
daughter in Akron, Ohio. William H. Barber was the eldest of the nine children,
five sons and four daughters, born to Solomon and Harriett Barber. Until he was
eleven years of age he attended regularly the country school near his home.
Though the amount of actual knowledge he acquired was necessarily small, the boy
attained the chief end of an education; he learned to reason and to apply
general principles to the solution of the ordinary problems of life.
The first few years after leaving school young William Barber worked on a farm,
earning his living in this fashion until he was eighteen years old. The tilling
of the soil, however, was not the vocation for which he was best fitted, so it
was not with regret that he entered the business world as a clerk in a hardware
store in Peninsula, Ohio, later becoming a salesman. At the end of two years he
went to Cleveland, where he established a connection with the oil business, in
which he was destined to make his mark as an organizer and a leader in the
industry. His first position was that of salesman for the Brooks Oil Company,
remaining with them until a new firm, known as the Globe Oil Company, was
formed. He was one of the partners in this new concern, as director and sales
manager, a very responsible position for a young man of twenty-four. But Mr.
Barber proved himself equal to his opportunities. A naturally rugged
constitution, fortified by years of outdoor life during the period of his
physical development, made him a dynamo of energy. He applied his keen mental
powers to the extension of the new firm's business with tireless vigor possible
only to one blessed with an abundance of good health, to the great profit of his
company and himself. A few years later, in 1882, Mr. Barber made a journey of
investigation to Minneapolis and the northwest region it serves, with a view to
establishing a branch in this city if the conditions warranted such a step.
After carefully looking the ground over and seeing a potential market for the
firm's products he recommended the opening of the Minneapolis branch of the
Globe Oil Company, which was shortly established under his management. He
remained in charge of this northwest branch until the company was absorbed by
the Standard Oil Company.
According to the terms of the bill of sale transferring the business of the
Globe Oil Company to the Standard Oil Company, Mr. Barber was not to engage in
the oil business for a period of three years. Accordingly, he looked about for
some other field of endeavor and decided to engage in the real estate business
during the interval. At the close of the prohibited period he returned to the
oil industry as manager for the Climax Refining Company, having charge of its
business in the Northwest territory for ten years. In 1903 he established his
own business, known as the W. H. Barber Agency, with an invested capital of ten
thousand dollars. Beginning in a modest manner with the assistance of one man
and a stenographer, Mr. Barber has developed his business into the largest
corpora­tion of its kind in the United States, employing over two hundred
people, on an average. The main office of the present company is located in
Minneapolis, at No. 1501 Franklin avenue, Southeast, with the following officers
in control: W. H. Barber, president and chief executive; N. C. Beim, vice
president; A. J. Hedlund, secretary; Theodore Snattinger, treasurer; and J. S.
Thompson, assistant treasurer. After seven years of successful growth the
business was incorporated as the W. H. Barber Agency Company, Mr. Barber holding
the office of president. Incorporated at fifty thousand dollars, five times the
capital of the original company, the concern later increased the amount of its
capital stock to one hundred thousand dollars, in order to carry on its rapidly
expanding business. When the corporation was reincorporated in 1919, as the W.
H. Barber Company, its capital was fixed at one and a quarter million. In
addition to the home plant large establishments are maintained at Chicago,
Illinois, and Montreal, Canada, as well as eighteen distributing stations in the
United States. The W. H. Barber Company handles the Barco brand of petroleum
products and is the largest distributor of turpentine direct to the jobbers from
the plant producers, in the country. In every department of this large
enterprise is seen the guiding hand of its founder and president, to whom the
chief credit for its outstanding success is due. Not only does Mr. Barber know
thoroughly all the varying phases of the oil business and possess marked
administra­tive ability, but he is conversant with the human side of industry as
well. A con­siderate employer who takes a kindly interest in the well-being of
those who work under his direction, he so wins the confidence and affection of
his employes that they invariably prefer staying in his organization to seeking
advancement elsewhere. Some of his staff have been with him since he started in
business twenty years ago. Mr. Barber has also become interested in other firms
in the same field of activity and was at one time vice president of the Denver
Producing & Refining Company of Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Barber has contributed substantially to the development of his industry as a
whole, as well as furthered the prosperity of his own private concern. He was
one of the organizers and for two years was president of the Independent Oil
Men's Association and one of its directors as long as the association was in
existence. In connection with the industry he also maintains memberships in the
Tulsa Petroleum Club and the American Petroleum Institute of New York. As the
result of his forty-three years of activity in oil circles, during which he has
been prominently identified with the organization work of the independent
operators, Mr. Barber has attracted to himself a host of friends in industry who
admire him for his achieve­ments as a business man and honor him as a friend. At
large gatherings of oil men, often of state and national scope, Mr. Barber is
frequently introduced as the "grand old man" of the oil industry, or as its
"best beloved" leader.
In Minneapolis, in 1886, occurred the marriage of Mr. Barber and Miss Alberta
Munger, daughter of A. S. Munger, who will be remembered by the older generation
of citizens. Mrs. Munger is still living, at the venerable age of eighty-three
years. Two of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Barber are living: Marty,
now Mrs. J. S. Thompson of this city, a graduate of the University of Minnesota
and a prom­inent member of the Alpha Pi sorority; and Miss Jessica, a student at
Ogontz, Phila­delphia. The Barbers have resided at No. 3624 Third avenue South,
for thirty years.
Mr. Barber gives his political allegiance to the republican party, although he
has never sought nor desired elective office. He is an Episcopalian in religious
faith and a Mason of high rank, holding degrees in both the York and Scottish
rites and being a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He is also affiliated with the
Benevolent Pro­tective Order of Elks and has been an active worker in the Royal
Arcanum for thirty-one years, having held the office of grand regent for two
years, a post on the supreme council and the position of supreme trustee. Mr.
Barber belongs to the Minneapolis Civic and Commercial Club, the Lafayette Club
and the Hamilton Club of Chicago. The wide scope of his interests leaves him
little time to indulge in sports and other forms of recreation, but he succeeds
in making a happy com­bination of business and pleasure in his extensive trips
about the country looking after his industrial affairs, taking enjoyable side
excursions when he is near places of scenic or historic interest.