USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 28
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From Mr. Barclay's father's maternal an- cestry came the Scotch blood of the Bruces, Stewarts, and that of the Erskines and Gor- dons. The mother of his first American an- cestor, John Barclay, was Catherine Gordon, daughter of Sir Robert Gordon, a second
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cousin of King James I of England. But Mr. Barclay prided himself most on his Amer- ican ancestors, they having been prominent in civil, religious and military service in the early days of our country's history, especially in colonial times. Many were distinguished as officers, ministers and missionaries, as well as authors.
Mr. Barclay attended private schools in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, until he was four- teen years of age, when, rather than prepare for and accept a collegiate education, he pre- ferred to learn a trade. Selecting that of a printer, and wishing to become a journalist. he went into the office of the "Genius of Liberty," a Democratic newspaper in Union- town, Pennsylvania, where he learned not only the printer's trade, but the principles of the Democratic party so thoroughly that he never forsook them. Here he also acquired his love of reading and his taste for politics and for general historical research.
In 1846 he left home for the first time, and served his last year as a printer and book- keeper in the city of Philadelphia.
Leaving that city in 1847, he became clerk on an Ohio River steamboat, owned by his brother-in-law, Captain Thos. Gregg, remain- ing with him until the latter's death in 1849, after which he entered the steamboat trade on Southern rivers. Through his business and social intercourse with Southern people at that time he acquired a love for them and their institutions, adopted their habits and princi- ples, and ever after espoused their causc.
In March, 1850, he visited his relative, Mr. John S. Watson, of St. Louis, who induced him to forsake river life and become a resi- dent of that city, offering him a position at once as bookkeeper for the firm of Wilgus & Watson (Asa Wilgus and John S. Wat- son). This he accepted and retained until the dissolution of that firm, and continued the same with its successors, John S. Watson & Co., until their interests were sold to Thos. R. Cooper & Co., T. R. Cooper being the practical printer, and D. R. Barclay the busi- ness manager of the new firm. This co- partnership existed but one year, and that enterprise closed permanently in 1853. Mr. Barclay then opened a general collecting agency, at the same time devoting all his spare hours to preparation for a future pro- fessional career, either as a journalist or a lawyer. During all these years he had been a
great reader, especially of the current events of the period, and of American and political history, so that in his later years he was re- garded as an authority on the political and general history of his country. Ile had also been reading and studying law under the direction of his friend, Judge Alexander Hamilton, and in March, 1854, was admitted to the bar of St. Louis. He did not begin the practice of law, however, until January 1, 1855, and then confined himself almost ex- clusively to office work, seldom appearing in the courts as counsel. The result of these years of application afterward appeared.
In 1857 he began his work known as "Bar- clay's Digest of the Decisions of the Supreme Court of Missouri," the first edition of which was published June 1, 1859. A second edi- tion was issued in December, 1868. "Bar- clay's Digest" is still considered a valuable and necessary acquisition to every law library, and bids fair to perpetuate the name of its author.
In 1860 he became more interested in poli- tics, and accepted the nomination of the State Democratic Convention for the office of Rep- resentative from St. Louis, but was defeated, and but for the sake of his party would have rejoiced in his own defeat, for he was not an office-seeker.
When the Civil War began, in 1861, he openly espoused the cause of Southern rights. and fearlessly avowed his Southern sympathies. After the capture of Camp Jack- son, May 10. 1861. by the Federal troops and Home Guards under Generals N. Lyon and Frank P. Blair, and after the subsequent cap- ture of the Federal camp and soldiers under the command of Colonel Mulligan at Lexing- ton, Missouri, by General Sterling Price, of the Southern army, Mr. Barclay, at the solici- tation of many friends in both camps, inter- ested himself in their exchange. General Price had refused to negotiate for an ex- change, declining to recognize the Camp Jackson prisoners as opponents to Federal authority or violators of militia law, many of them having then entered the United States service. But there were many who believed he might be influenced to change his views by a special appcal, and Mr. Barclay and Major Henry W. Williams, being close per- sonal friends of General Price, were solicited to secure an authorized conference with him and make an effort to accomplish the much
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desired exchange. After some delay permis- sion was secured from Colonel Curtis, then in command in St. Louis, for Mr. Barclay and Major Williams to visit General Fremont's camp at Springfield, Missouri, and get his consent to proceed further on this business. This was reluctantly given, and by order of Geo. E. Waring, major commanding Fre- mont's Hussars, these gentlemen were pro- vided with an escort and a pass across the Federal lines to visit the camp of General Price at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, October 31, 1861. After their interview with General Price he consented to an exchange of prison- ers on condition that Mr. Barelay would pledge himself to act on his (General Price's) behalf as commissioner of exchange. This pledge was given and faithfully kept and the exchange effected, but it marked Mr. Barclay still more strongly as a Southern sympa- thizer, and subjected him to many unpleas- ant experiences. Nothing but his peculiar position in other respects, his serious and more imperative obligations, and other cir- cumstances not proper to be here mentioned, prevented him at that time from offering his services and life, if need be, to the cause he loved so well.
The following December 12, 1861, Major General Halleck issued General Order No. 24, for the assessment of many prominent citizens of St. Louis, male and female, as Southern sympathizers. Mr. Barclay was one of these, and also one of the twenty-five on that list, who on December 26, 1861, signed a protest to General Halleck against the execution of that unjust order. The order, however, was soon after executed, and Mr. Barclay's law and miscellaneous library and other personal property sold under it at public auction. This loss and his inability to take the iron-clad oath then necessary in order to practice law in Missouri resulted in the abandonment of his profession, and in an entire change of his pursuits.
In 1862, on February 18th, Mr. Barclay was arrested as a Southern sympathizer by or- der of Provost Marshal General Bernard G. Farrar, and confined in the Myrtle Street I'rison, being one of the first civilians placed therein. After two months' imprisonment without trial, no special charges having been made against him, he was released without oath, bond or parole by Assistant Provost Marshal Colonel Thos. C. Fletcher, April,
1862. The following month he went to Un- iontown, Pennsylvania, and remained at his father's until August, when he went to To- ronto, Canada, and remained until April, 1863, the military authorities requiring his absence from the District of Missouri. Resolved then to return home at all hazards, he went to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, to await orders from St. Louis. Here he was arrested by General Burnside's order, April 20, 1863, but released by him after only two days' surveillance. But General Curtis and Provost Marshal Franklin A. Dick demanded terms for his return which he could not possibly accept, and again he went to his father's home in Pennsylvania to await events. Meantime Colonel James O. Broad- head became provost marshal general, and on more reasonable and generous terms author- ized his return. These he accepted, and ar- rived once more in St. Louis July 2, 1863.
Mr. Barclay's first effort to resume active business after the close of the war, in 1865, was the purchase from Thomas Marshall, Esq., of his abstracts, records, maps, etc., com- piled from the records and surveys of St. Louis city and county, and the opening of offices for the "investigation of real estate titles and conveyancing." He soon after em- ployed as an assistant Mr. H. W. Williams, and entered into partnership with him Jan- uary 1, 1868. For four years this business was a great success, when Mr. Barclay sold his interest in it to Mr. Williams and retired from the firm. Some of the most beautiful and perfect abstracts of titles ever filed for record in St. Louis County were from the hands of these experts, Barclay & Williams.
Mr. Barclay still desired to enter the field of journalism, and in April, 1872, the long- sought-for opportunity came, when he pur- chased a one-third interest in the St. Louis "Evening Dispatch," and the following Octo- ber bought the entire interest of Mr. W. H. McHenry, becoming the sole owner, where- upon he organized a stock company and became its president. For a time success seemed certain, but reverses came, and on February 16, 1876, he dissolved all connection with that journal. After this he never entered into any permanent business.
Mr. Barclay was baptized in infancy in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, but never connected himself with it. His preference was for the Episcopal Church, and on April 24, 1873, he and his son, Robert, then a pupil
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at the Epispocal High School of Virginia, were confirmed together by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Johns, in Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, the historie church in which General Washington worshiped. For many years Mr. Barclay was a vestryman in Trinity Par- ish, St. Louis. He was also a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital, and of the "Missouri Insti- tution for the Education of the Blind." All who were connected with him in these insti- tutions will remember his enthusiastic efforts for the erection and support of St. Luke's Hospital, and for the rebuilding of Trinity Church after its destruction by fire, and also for the general welfare of that parish, as well as his never-ceasing interest in the Institution for the Education of the Blind. He was a public-spirited man and always active in all charitable work and philanthropic enterprises.
He was not fond of secret societies, but at the solicitation of his second wife, who was the daughter of a Mason and an Odd Fellow, he, soon after their marriage in 1854, joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and regularly attended Wildey Lodge No. 2 for one year only, but retained his membership in the order for ten years.
Mr. Barclay was twice married. His first wife was Miss Sallie Virginia Watson, of Van Buren, Arkansas, to whom he was united De- cember 24, 1851. She died in St. Louis, December 14. 1852. Ilis second wife, to whom he was married June 26. 1854, in St. Louis, was Mary Melinda ITill, a widow (with one son, Shepard). the only daughter of Elihu H. Shepard and Mary Thomas Shepard. By this marriage he became the father of four children - one son and three daughters ; Mary Esther Barclay, Robert Barclay (now a practicing physician in St. Louis); Lucy Eleanor, wife of Edmond L. MeClelland, Esq., of Washington, D. C., and Annie, wife of Julius Howard Pratt, Ph. D., of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, all of whom and their mother sur- vive him.
Mr. Barclay was a man of generous im- pulses and unlimited hospitality. At the close of the Civil War, in 1865, many young Southerners came to St. Louis to seek their fortunes, and not a few of these remember with grateful pleasure his personal kindness and the genial welcome and generous hospi- tality which always awaited them and their friends at the Barclay homestead.
He was a faithful friend, a bitter foe, a
"royal host" and a zealous partisan, fearless in the defense of his friends and his principles. He was handsome, of fine form and presence, courteous and dignified in manner, and of cultivated and refined tastes, gentle in nature, truthful in spirit, and in every sense of the word a gentleman.
He died after only a few days' illness at the residence of his son, Dr. Robert Barclay, in St. Louis, September 11, 1886.
"After life's fitful fever he sleeps well "
Barclay, Shepard, lawyer and judge, was born November 3, 1847, in St. Louis. Captain Elihu H. Shepard, his grandfather. was a pioneer American settler, who came to that city in 1823 from New York State.
Judge Barclay's education began in the public schools of St. Louis. From the High School he went to the St. Louis University, and was graduated there in the classical course in 1867. He then commenced the study of law at the University of Virginia under the tutelage of Professor John B. Minor, the noted author of the "Institutes," and in 1869 he attained his degree of law there, and was also graduated in the School of Medical Juris- prudence. Judge Barclay, during his univer- sity career, was elected final president of the Jefferson Society by a unanimous vote. In 1860 he started to Europe, where he re- mained until 1872, attending two terms in the University of Berlin, in the study of the civil law. under the guidance of Drs. Gneist and Bruns. He spent also a considerable time in Paris in 1870, and saw the close of the empire of the third Napoleon. During his stay abroad he witnessed some of the great events of the last Franco-Prussian War, and wrote accounts of them, which appeared in one of the St. Louis journals. On returning home in 1872 he commenced the practice of law, and during the early days of his law practice wrote for the press in St. Louis as editorial contributor. In 1873 he was married to Miss Anderson, daughter of Honorable Charles R. Anderson, a well known citizen of St. Louis. In the same year Honorable Wm. C. Marshall and he formed a law partnership, which con- tinmed until 1882, when Judge Barclay was elected circuit judge in St. Louis by a major- ity of 5,040. His associates on the circuit bench at that time were Judges Amos M. Thayer, Elmer B. Adams, George W. Lubke and William H. Horner.
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From 1877 until after his election to the judiciary he participated in organizing the local military force in St. Louis, which became the Third Regiment of the National Guard of Missouri. It was at the time regarded as a very efficient body of citizen soldiery. The regiment was commanded by Colonel James G. Butler, and one of the best companies therein was the Lafayette Guard, of which the subject of this sketch was for many years captain.
In 1888, near the close of his term of service on the circuit bench, he was elected judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri. His first opinion as supreme judge is reported in the 97th Missouri Reports, page 26, and his opin- ions appear thereafter in more than forty-five volumes of the official decisions. In 1897 Judge Barclay was chosen chief justice of the court by his associates on the bench, and in June of that year the University of Mis- souri at Columbia conferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor of laws.
Before going on the bench Judge Barclay served for several years as secretary of the Missouri Historical Society. In 1882 he was elected secretary of the Conference of Judges of Missouri, an association formed by mem- bers of the judiciary of the State for the pur- pose of considering and reporting to the Legis- lature upon omissions, uncertainties and in- congruities in the statute law-a duty imposed on the judges by Section 3272 of the Revised Statutes. Hle filled that office for more than fifteen years, and until his resignation as judge. He also filled for a long period the office of vice president of the American Bar Association, an important national organiza- tion of members of the bar from all parts of the United States.
In 1808 he resigned his office as chief jus- tice of Missouri to practice law in St. Louis, in conjunction with Messrs. J. E. MeKeighan and M. F. Watts. Since the termination of that association in 1901 he continues in prac- tice on his own account, and maintains the high place in his profession which his record on the bench established.
In deference to the wishes of the subject of this sketch we have given merely the un- varnished facts of his career to the present time, and have not essayed any eulogy of his public services, or of his personal qualities ; but we may be pardoned the remark that the record he has already made is probably in
itself sufficient evidence of his ability as a lawyer and judge, as well as of the regard in which he is held by his fellow-citizens of St. Louis, and of Missouri.
Baring .- An incorporated village in Knox County, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, six and a half miles north- east of Edina, the county seat. It has a good public school, two churches, a bank, a news- paper, the "Herald," two hotels and about twenty other business places. Population, 1899 (estimated), 400.
Barlow, Stephen Douglas, distin- guished as railway official and public man, was born in Middlebury, Vermont, February 4. 1816, and died in St. Louis August 8, 1895. His father was Jonathan K. Barlow, mem- ber of a New England family, which has had numerous eminent representatives. His mother was Miss Honor Douglas before her marriage, and was an aunt of the late dis- tinguished Illinois Senator and statesman. Stephen A. Douglas. Reared mainly in New York State, Stephen D. Barlow obtained his early education in the common schools of Genesee County, and completed his educa- tion at the Wesleyan Seminary, near Roches- ter, New York. He read law in the office of a prominent attorney of Batavia, New York, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. The same year he came to St. Louis, arriving on November 12th. Shortly afterward he was appointed assistant to General John Ruland, clerk of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. and in 1842, after the creation of the Court of Common Pleas. he was made chief deputy to James W. Walsh, clerk of that court. Two years later the county court appointed him county clerk and recorder of deeds to fill out the unexpired term of a deceased official. In 1847 he was elected to this office by the peo- ple, and in 1848 entered upon a six years' term, which expired in 1854. While serving the people with conspicuous ability as a county official, he had also been active in pro- moting railway and other enterprises of im- portance to the city, and when, in 1853. the St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Com- pany was permanently organized, he was made its secretary and treasurer. Upon the expiration of his term as clerk and recorder he turned his entire attention to railroad af- fairs, and by successive re-elections continued
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in the position of secretary and treasurer of the railroad company until 1859, when he be- came president. For seven years thereafter he remained at the head of this corporation, and was known as one of the ablest of the old-time Western railway managers. In 1868 the Iron Mountain Railroad and its franchises were sold to satisfy a claim which the State of Missouri held against it for aid rendered to the enterprise. A reorganization of the company followed this sale, and for a few years thereafter Mr. Barlow was not officially identified with the corporation. In 1873, however, he resumed connection with it as assistant to Honorable Thomas Allen, presi- dent. Later he became local treasurer of the company. and after the purchase of the road by Jay Gould in 1878, which resulted in its consolidation with the Missouri Pacific sys- tem, he was retained as secretary of the Iron Mountain branch and commissioner of lands in Missouri. Both these offices he continued to hold until the day of his death. During his long and active connection with the rail- way interests of Missouri he was much in the public eye, and in that sense was a public man for more than forty years. As a city and county official he also rendered many years of faithful and efficient service to the people, and the force and influence of his constructive genius was felt in almost every department of the city government. As early as 1857 he served as a member of the Board of Public Schools, and was several times re-elected to that body. As its president particularly he contributed greatly to the upbuilding of the splendid public school system of St. Louis. During the years 1865-6, while a member of the Missouri Legislature, he obtained a char- ter for the Public School Library Association, which founded the present public library, and was its first president. In 1866 he was ap- pointed a member of the board of managers of the State Asylum for the Insane, at Fulton, Missouri. In 1867-8 he served as a member of the Board of Water Commissioners of St. Louis, and in 1869 was elected city comp- troller, serving until 1871. While acting in that capacity he formulated the "Cole-Barlow charter," which was enacted by the Legis- lature. After the adoption of the existing "scheme and charter" he was elected a mem- ber of the first city council provided for therein, and served until 1879, being chairman of the committees on ways and means, and
railroads. Ile was originally a Whig in his political affiliations, but early joined the "Free Soil" movement, being one of the small num- ber of Missourians who took a bold stand against the extension of slavery. He natur- ally became a supporter of the Republican party, and was a steadfast but conservative member of it to the end of his life. From 1842 until his death he was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church of St. Louis, and during the later years of his life was senior warden of its vestry. September 12, 1839, lie married Miss Lucy A. Dickson, of Perry, New York. His widow and four children are the surviving members of his family. These children are Stephen D. Barlow, Margaret D. Turner, wife of Charles H. Turner, president of the St. Louis & Suburban Railway Com- pany ; Agnes Houser, wife of D. M. Houser. president of the Globe Printing Company and publisher of the St. Louis "Globe-Democrat" ; and Andrew D. Barlow, present United States consul general in Mexico.
Barnard .- A village in Nodaway County, twelve miles south of Maryville, on the Mary- ville branch of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad. It contains the Barnard State Bank, capital and surplus $20,- 400; deposits, $49.000 ; a large gristmill, run by water power ; twelve business houses ; Pres- byterian, Methodist Episcopal South, Chris- tian, and Methodist Episcopal Churches, and lodges of various fraternal orders. The town stands in the rich valley of the One Hundred and Two River, one of the most productive districts in the county and does a large busi- ness in shipping grain. It was named in honor of J. E. Barnard, superintendent of the Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs, Railroad. Population, 1899 (estimated), 400. The "Bul- letin" supplies the local news to readers.
Barnes, Baron S., who was for many years conspicuous in St. Louis as a member of that body of traders known as the Chamber of Commerce, was born September 21, 1844, in the city of Utica, New York, son of Amos and Julia (Bush) Barnes. He was educated in the schools of Utica and trained to commer- cial pursuits. Coming West in his young manhood, he became a resident of St. Louis in 1876, and at once became actively interested in the grain trade in that city. Admitted to membership in the Chamber of Commerce, he
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embarked in business as a grain broker, and for more than twenty years was continuously engaged in that branch of trade. In his oper- ations as a member of the Chamber of Com- merce, he evinced rare judgment and evidenced that keen sagacity which results from a careful study of markets and trade conditions, a broad survey of the sources of supply and accurate estimates of the demand for the cereal products of our country. While he was a fearless operator in the sense of backing his judgment by his investments, he was, at the same time, careful in reaching conclusions, and as a result of this conservatism and his long experience, he was seldom found on the wrong side of the market. Successful in the accumulation of a fortune and known among his associates and acquaintances as a business man of high char- acter and superior capacity, he was recognized also as a gentleman of cultured tastes, a lover of good literature and of the best things in art. His home on the heights west of St. Louis, on what is known as the Bonhomme Road, is one of the most beautiful of St. Louis residences, and evidences the artistic tastes of its late owner in its furnishings and embellishments. Upright in business, sincere in his friendships, hospitable in his entertainments, and genial in his intercourse with his fellow men, he was esteemed alike in business and social circles, a popular and useful citizen. He served in the Union Army in the Civil War as a member of the One Hundred and Fifth Illinois Regi- ment of Volunteer Infantry, and as a soldier discharged faithfully every duty and performed every obligation resting upon him. In poli- tics, he was a Republican, and he was identi- fied with fraternal organizations as a member of the Masonic order of the Knight Templar degree. lle was married at Oskaloosa. Iowa, June 4, 1800, to Miss Eva Salisbury, and three children were born to them. The children are Edith Margaret, Baron Anderson and Annis Louise Barnes. Mr. Barnes died June 16, 1899, and the esteem in which he was held by the Merchants' Exchange, of which he had so long been a member, was evidenced by a series of resolutions adopted by that body, which gave expression to the following sentence: "Ilis death removes from the ranks of business men of St. Louis one who will long be remembered for his high qualities of mind and heart. A courteous, generous gentleman, upright and honorable in all his dealings with his fellow men, and ever ready to respond to any worthy
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