Laird Howard BARBER, Congress, PA (1848-1928)

BARBER, Laird Howard, a Representative from Pennsylvania; born on a farm near Mifflinburg, Union County, Pa., October 25, 1848; prepared for college in the Mifflinburg Academy, and was graduated from Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., in 1871; taught school at Mount Carmel and was principal of the Mauch Chunk Public Schools from 1875 to 1880; studied law; was admitted to the bar in Carbon County June 20, 1881, and commenced practice at Mauch Chunk; elected in 1890 a director of the Mauch Chunk School Board and served as president and treasurer; also served as secretary of the town council; unsuccessful candidate for election in 1896 to the Fifty-fifth Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1899-March 3, 1901); was not a candidate for renomination in 1900 to the Fifth-seventh Congress; resumed the practice of law in Mauch Chunk; elected president judge of the fifty-sixth judicial district of Pennsylvania in 1913; reelected in 1923 and served from January 5, 1914, until his death in Mauch Chunk, Carbon County, Pa., February 16, 1928; interment in Evergreen Cemetery, East Mauch Chunk, Pa.

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