Biography: Winnebago County, Wisconsin: Frank Junia BARBER ************************************************************************ Submitted by Kathy Grace, December 2007 © All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************************************ Transcribed from Lawson, Publius V. History, Winnebago County, Wisconsin: its cities, towns, resources people. Chicago: C.F. Cooper and Company, 1908. v.2 p.869-871 Frank Junia Barber, of Oshkosh, senior member of the law firm of Barber Brothers, was born in Wardsboro, Vt., December 7, 1850, his parents being Junia D. and Sarah (Smith) Barber. His father, an agriculturist, was born in Wardsboro, Vt., where he lived until 1868. He then moved to Townshend, Vt., residing there until 1882, when his wife, the mother of our subject, died. After her death he made his home with his sons and daughter, passing away at the residence of A.J. Barber, of Oshkosh, on the 22nd day of November, 1895, at the ripe old age of nearly 84 years. Through his grandmother (Rhoda Cushing) Frank J. Barber is descended from Matthew Cushing, of Norfolk, England who, in 1638, became a resident of Hingham, Mass. It is well known to all who have read American history that the Cushings are among the most learned and honored of the families who have acquired national fame. It is said that Harvard College graduated thirty scholars of that name prior to 1835, and we have but to mention Caleb Cushing, of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, and William Cushing, judge of the United States Supreme Court, who indicate but two of Mr. Barber's distinguished ancestors. The subject of this sketch was educated at the public schools of his native town, at Leland and Gray Seminary, Townshend, Vt., and at Green Mountain Perkins Academy, Woodstock, Vt. He taught school for six years, but the career of a pedagogue, honorable though it is, was not suited to his disposition. It was utilized, in fact, as a means toward an end, to master and to practice the profession of the law. As he taught, therefore, he studied, buying the law books required from the proceeds of his salary. During vacation, instead of resting as he might from his labors, he worked upon the farm, endeavoring in every way possible to gather a fund for a regular legal education. Such determination and industry were not unrewarded, for he was enabled in March, 1874, to enter the Albany Law School, with the State law library accessible to students, and in April, 1875, he graduated from that institution with about $100 in his pocket, and what was of more importance, a will and ability to succeed in the inevitable struggle before him. Soon after his graduation he was admitted to practice in the courts of the states of New York and Vermont. In June, 1875, Mr. Barber opened a law office in Hinsdale, N.H., during the same year being admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of that state. He thus continued until October, 1882, the result at that time being that he had secured the largest and most lucrative business enjoyed by any member of his profession in the county. A.J. Barber, his brother, had in the meantime been admitted to the bar and removed to the west, locating at Oshkosh, Wis. The reports sent to Hinsdale were of so encouraging a character that F.J. Barber decided to locate there himself, and form a partnership with his brother. This was accordingly done, the Barber Brothers opening their office on the 1st of January, 1884. F.J. Barber is the senior partner and has never regretted his decision in coming west and locating at Oshkosh. Both members have attended closely to business, have been reasonable in their legal charges and courteous to their patrons, with the result that they now enjoy a very large clientage and lucrative practice. The specialty of the firm in recent years is insurance and probate law, although they still do a general business. They have been counsel in many important suits and have been very successful in their chose profession. Mr. Barber is interest in several financial enterprises which are well- known, throughout the state, such as the German National Bank, of Oshkosh, of which he is a director; the People's Building and Loan Association, the largest institution of the kind in the city, organized in 1891, and of which he has been continually its secretary, and the First National Bank, of Campbellsport, of which he is president. With his brother he is also largely interested in real estate, and recently platted a new addition to the city of Oshkosh known as "Barber's & Forward's Replat." Mr. Barber is consistent Republican, having from the first taken an active part in local and state politics. He has served as chairman of the City and Congressional Republican Committees, and is a firm believer in the financial and protective policy of the party. He has been a Mason for twenty-five years, joining the order in Vermont, where he continued his membership for twenty-three years after coming to Oshkosh. On September 9, 1879, Mr. Barber was married to Ella K. Richmond, at Hinsdale, N.H. He has seven children now living; Nina R., Catherine S., Ella M., Frances E., Elbert E., Thomas F. and Robert D. One son, Richmond J., 14 years of age, a bright and promising boy and a student in the Normal School, accidentally and fatally shot himself in February, 1898. Mrs. Barber died in January, 1902.