George P. Barker

George Payson Barker (born October 25, 1807 in Rindge , Cheshire County , New Hampshire , † January 27, 1848 in Buffalo , New York ) was an American lawyer and politician . He was Attorney General of New York from 1842 to 1845 .

Private life

George Payson Barker's childhood was overshadowed by the British-American War . From 1823 to 1826, he attended Amherst College in Amherst ( Massachusetts ). He then went to Union College in Schenectady (New York), where he graduated in 1827. During this time he studied law with Alonzo C. Paige in Schenectady and after graduating with Stephen G. Austin in Buffalo. He was admitted to the bar in 1830. He then practiced until 1832 as a partner of Stephen G. Austin and from 1832 to 1836 as a partner of John T. Hudson. During this time he married Abby Coit in 1834. From 1837 to 1839 he practiced together with Seth E. Sill and Seth C. Hawley, then from 1839 to July 1847 only with Sill and finally with George Coit junior. The economic crisis of 1837 and the Mexican-American War overshadowed these years.

Political career

In 1828 he joined the Jacksonians and later became a Democrat . He was named clerk in the Village of Buffalo in June 1829. In 1831 he ran for a seat in the New York State Assembly but was defeated by a candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party . He was then appointed first attorney for the City of Buffalo in 1832 and later a district attorney in Erie County - a post he held until his resignation in December 1836. In 1834 he ran for a seat in Congress , but suffered a defeat to Thomas C. Love of the Anti-Masonic Party.

He was a member of the New York State Assembly for Erie County in 1836. On January 31, 1838, he entered the New York militia with the rank of captain . On February 12, 1838 he was major , on August 14, 1838 Lieutenant Colonel and in June 1839 Brigadier General of the 8th  Brigade . He resigned from the militia in 1842 to take up his post as Attorney General of New York. In 1840 he ran for mayor of Buffalo, but was defeated in a close race to Sheldon Thompson of the Whig Party . In the election there were 1,135 votes for Thompson and 1,125 votes for Barker. From 1846 to 1847 he was again District Attorney in Erie County.

literature

• Bryan, George J .: Life of George P. Barker, with sketches of some of his celebrated speeches , OG Steele, 1849

Web links

• George P. Barker at The Political Graveyard