Joel Allen BARBER, Congress, WI (1809-1881)

BARBER, Joel Allen, a Representative from Wisconsin; born in Georgia (near St. Albans), Franklin County, Vt., January 17, 1809; attended the common schools, Georgia Academy, and the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt.; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1834 in Prince Georges County, Md., where he was teaching school, and commenced practice in Fairfield, Vt.; moved to Wisconsin in 1837 and settled in Lancaster, Grant County, and continued the practice of his profession; county clerk for four years and district attorney three terms; member of the first constitutional convention of Wisconsin in 1846; elected to the State assembly in 1852, 1853, 1863, and 1864, serving as speaker in 1864; member of the State senate in 1856 and 1857; founded Lancaster Academy; elected as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses (March 4, 1871-March 3, 1875); was not a candidate for renomination in 1874; resumed the practice of law; died in Lancaster, Wis., June 17, 1881; interment in Hillside Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present