Henry W. Barry | |
|---|---|
 Congressman Henry W. Barry | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi's3rd district | |
| In office April 8, 1870 – March 4, 1875 | |
| Preceded by | William Barksdale |
| Succeeded by | Hernando Money |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 1840 (1840-04) |
| Died | June 7, 1875(1875-06-07) (aged 35) Washington, D.C., US |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Kate Thyson Barry |
| Profession | Soldier, lawyer, politician |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1866 |
| Rank | BrevetBrigadier General Colonel |
| Unit | 10th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry |
| Commands | 8th U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery |
| Battles/wars | American Civil War |
Henry W. Barry (April 1840 – June 7, 1875) was a Union army officer during theAmerican Civil War, reaching the rank ofBrevetBrigadier General. He commanded a regiment ofUnited States Colored Troops. After the war, he became an attorney and politician.
Born in New York, Barry moved to Kentucky as a young man to teach school. He enlisted there in theUnion Army during the war, being commissioned as an officer. In 1862 Barry recruited African Americans to Kentucky's militia. After the United States Colored Troops were established in 1863, Barry served as an officer of an African-American unit stationed in Kentucky and Texas.
After the war Barry earned a law degree in Washington, D.C. He moved toColumbus, Mississippi, where he set up a practice and became involved in politics. He served as a delegate to the 1867 state constitutional convention, and was elected to theMississippi State Senate in 1868. In 1870 he was elected asU.S. Representative fromMississippi's 3rd congressional district, serving until 1875. He died shortly after, at age 35.
Born inSchoharie County, New York in 1840, Henry Barry was a largely self-educated man. At the age of eighteen, he moved toKentucky, where he taught at Locust Grove Academy near Louisville. When theCivil War started, Barry enlisted in theUnion Army as a private. He was commissioned as First Lieutenant of Company H in the10th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry on November 21, 1861.
He served about a year, resigning on November 17, 1862, to assist in the recruitment of colored troops in Kentucky.[1] He was commissionedColonel of the1st Regiment Kentucky Heavy Artillery, African Descent on April 28, 1864, when it was organized atPaducah.[1] The regiment was renamed as8th United States Colored Heavy Artillery around that time, as theUnited States Colored Troops had been established. Stationed to defend Kentucky, Barry and his men took part in the skirmishes of Haddix's Ferry and Smithland.[1]
Barry was promoted toBrevet Brigadier General in the wave of mass actions of March 13, 1865 in the closing days of the war. In April 1865 the regiment was transferred to Texas for occupational duty. There the regiment was mustered out in February 1866, and Barry followed on May 11.[1]
After the war Barry moved toWashington, D.C. to study law, graduating from the law department of Columbian College (nowGeorge Washington University) in 1867. Admitted to the bar the same year, he moved to Mississippi, where he set up a practice inColumbus. There Barry entered politics, serving as delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1867 and being elected as aRepublican Party member of theMississippi State Senate in 1868.
After Mississippi was readmitted to the Union in 1870, Barry was elected asRepublican representative ofMississippi's 3rd congressional district, succeeding Confederate GeneralWilliam Barksdale. He was elected for the Forty-first, Forty-second, and Forty-third Congresses, serving from April 8, 1870, to March 4, 1875.[2] During that period, he was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses).
In 1874 Barry nominatedHenry E. Baker to theUnited States Naval Academy; he was the nation's third African-American naval cadet.[3] After most blacks weredisenfranchised across the South due to states' imposing barriers to voter registration, no African Americans received appointments to the Naval Academy for more than six decades.
Barry died at the age of 35 inWashington, D.C. shortly after his term ended. He was interred inOak Hill Cemetery on June 7, 1875.[4] He was survived by his wife Kate (Thyson) Barry (1850-1907) and their son Frank Thyson "Francis" Barry (1874-1889).
Media related toHenry W. Barry at Wikimedia Commons| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromMississippi's 3rd congressional district April 8, 1870 – March 4, 1875 | Succeeded by |
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