Barber, William Harrison, 1843-ca.1883

Papers, 1861 December 10-1883 May 27
34 items

Barber, William Harrison, 1843-ca.1883
Rank:	Pvt.
Regiment:	47th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. Co. K (1861-1865)
Service:	1862 July 26-1865 June 1

Biographical information:

b. July 29, 1843, Whitehall [Pa.?]. Son of Thomas Barber (d. 1879) and wife.

Siblings: Joseph; Matilda, unmarried; Hannah, wife of Joseph H. Smith
Married, wife's name unknown. children:

Thomas W. Barber m. Mary R. Gibson and died young. She m. 2d William R. Stackhouse, who d. after 1929. Her son by Barber, Howard G., was adopted by Stackhouse and raised under that name.
George Barber
Robert Barber
Ann Barber d. probably 1883, Allentown, Pa.

Scope and Contents:

The William H. Barber Papers consists of items salvaged from the scrapbook of Barber's grandson, Howard G. Stackhouse. Few in number, and even fewer with Civil War content, they are of value only in a hit-and-miss sense. While the war-date letters are too few to provide any sense of continuity or thematic train, some individual letters stand on their own merit. Joseph Barber's sketch of Fort Ethan Allen, D.C., (21:30) is one of the finest plans in the Schoff Collection; the letter with a drop of blood on it (21:32) has its ghoulish attraction; and William Barber's fifteen-page description of a railroad trip from Allentown, Pa., to Baltimore (21:33) is a gold mine of information on travel and the reception by common citizens.

The post-war papers have been saved because they document William Barber's pitifully short life. In them are recorded contemporary reflections on Victorian values, particularly in the world of big business and in the realm of fatherhood. Barber's speech to his employees as depression settled over the country (21:39) is an insight into late nineteenth century labor-management tension; his farewell letter to his young sons, written on his deathbed (21:38) is a fine apologia of Victorian manhood.

M-1898
Recat. 5/96 rsc

Link to subject index to the William H. Barber Papers

Alphabetic index to the Schoff Civil War Collections

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