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William Barry | |
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| 10thUnited States Postmaster General | |
| In office March 9, 1829 – April 10, 1835 | |
| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John McLean |
| Succeeded by | Amos Kendall |
| 16thSecretary of State of Kentucky | |
| In office September 2, 1824 – February 3, 1825 | |
| Governor | Joseph Desha |
| Preceded by | Thomas Bell Monroe |
| Succeeded by | James Pickett |
| 7thLieutenant Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office August 29, 1820 – August 24, 1824 | |
| Governor | John Adair |
| Preceded by | Gabriel Slaughter |
| Succeeded by | Robert B. McAfee |
| United States Senator fromKentucky | |
| In office February 2, 1815 – May 1, 1816 | |
| Preceded by | George Walker |
| Succeeded by | Martin D. Hardin |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's5th district | |
| In office August 8, 1810 – March 3, 1811 | |
| Preceded by | Benjamin Howard |
| Succeeded by | Henry Clay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1784-02-05)February 5, 1784 |
| Died | August 30, 1835(1835-08-30) (aged 51) |
| Resting place | Frankfort Cemetery |
| Party | Democratic-Republican(Before 1825) Democratic(1828–1835) |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Overton Catherine Mason |
| Education | Transylvania University College of William & Mary(BA) |
| Signature | .png) |
William Taylor Barry (February 5, 1784 – August 30, 1835) was an American statesman and jurist.[1] He served asPostmaster General for most of the administration of PresidentAndrew Jackson and was the only Cabinet member not to resign in 1831 as a result of thePetticoat affair.
Born nearLunenburg, Virginia, he moved toFayette County, Kentucky, in 1796 with his parents John Barry, anAmerican Revolutionary War veteran, and Susannah (Dozier) Barry. His grandfather, Alexander Barry was born inRibble Valley,Lancashire,England in 1721 and moved to America in 1744. He attended the common schools,Pisgah Academy andKentucky Academy inWoodford County,Transylvania University atLexington and graduated from theCollege of William & Mary atWilliamsburg, Virginia in 1803, after which studied law and wasadmitted to the bar in 1805. He commenced practice atJessamine County, Kentucky and then at Lexington.
Elected to theKentucky House of Representatives in 1807, Barry became a member of theU.S. House of Representatives from 1810 to 1811, then served in theWar of 1812. From 1815 to 1816, he became aU.S. Senator from Kentucky, then won election to theKentucky Senate and served from 1817 to 1821. During his time in the Kentucky Senate Barry wrote to former PresidentJames Madison seeking support for a plan of subsidizing public education across the state; Madison responded enthusiastically and included in his letter of August 4, 1822 the often-cited observation: "A popular Government, without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both."[2]
Meanwhile, Kentucky suffered from thePanic of 1819 and Barry became a leading figure in the debt relief party, which was successful in the elections between 1820 and 1824, although less successful when creditors challenged the relief laws in the courts. As a lawyer, Barry argued in support of those laws, which the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned in 1823. Barry also became thesixth Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky (1820 to 1824), then served asSecretary of State of Kentucky (1824 to 1825). He resigned that position to become Chief Judge of theKentucky Court of Appeals (the predecessor to theKentucky Supreme Court) for the 1825 term during theOld Court - New Court controversy.[3] Although the Old Court party won the 1826 elections, Barry ran forGovernor of Kentucky in 1828.
Barry becameU.S. Postmaster General inAndrew Jackson's administration, serving from 1829 to 1835. While Postmaster General, he outlawed the mailing ofWilliam Lloyd Garrison's abolitionist newspaper,The Liberator.[4]
He was the only member of Jackson's original Cabinet not to resign as a result of thePetticoat Affair, which involved the social ostracism ofMargaret O'Neill Eaton, the wife of Secretary of WarJohn H. Eaton by a coalition of Cabinet members wives led by Second LadyFloride Calhoun. Barry, like Jackson, had sided with the Eatons.[5]
He was appointedambassador to Spain, but died before he could take office en route to his post, while stopped inLiverpool, England August 30, 1835. He was originally interred and acenotaph still stands at St. James's Cemetery, Liverpool, England; he was reinterred in 1854 atFrankfort Cemetery,Frankfort, Kentucky.
Barry County, Michigan,Barry County, Missouri,[6]Barry, Missouri,Barrytown, New York[7] andBarryville, New York are named in his honor.
During the 1820s, Barry was a member of the prestigious society,Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson andJohn Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical, and other professions.[8]
Barry was an uncle to Kentucky GovernorLuke P. Blackburn.[9]
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{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 5th congressional district 1810–1811 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1815–1816 Served alongside:Jesse Bledsoe,Isham Talbot | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1820–1824 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State of Kentucky 1824–1825 | Succeeded by James Pickett |
| Preceded by | United States Postmaster General 1829–1835 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| New political party | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Kentucky 1828 | Succeeded by |
This article incorporatespublic domain material fromBiographical Directory of the United States Congress.Federal government of the United States.
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