| J. Allen Barber | |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| Term Start: | March 4, 1871 |
| Term End: | March 3, 1875 |
| Predecessor: | Amasa Cobb |
| Successor: | Henry S. Magoon |
| Order1: | 15th |
| Title1: | Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly |
| Term Start1: | January 14, 1863 |
| Term End1: | January 13, 1864 |
| Predecessor1: | Joseph W. Beardsley |
| Successor1: | William W. Field |
| State Senate2: | Wisconsin |
| District2: | 16th |
| Term Start2: | January 1, 1856 |
| Term End2: | January 1, 1858 |
| Predecessor2: | Nelson Dewey |
| Successor2: | Noah H. Virgin |
| Office3: | Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly |
| Constituency3: | Grant 3rd district |
| Term Start3: | January 1, 1863 |
| Term End3: | January 1, 1865 |
| Predecessor3: | Joseph Trotter Mills |
| Successor3: | Henry Utt |
| Constituency4: | Grant 5th district |
| Term Start4: | January 1, 1853 |
| Term End4: | January 1, 1854 |
| Predecessor4: | Position Established |
| Successor4: | Milas K. Young |
| Constituency5: | Grant 4th district |
| Term Start5: | January 1, 1852 |
| Term End5: | January 1, 1853 |
| Predecessor5: | Robert M. Briggs |
| Successor5: | Jeremiah E. Dodge |
| Office6: | District Attorney of Grant County |
| Term Start6: | January 1, 1853 |
| Term End6: | January 1, 1855 |
| Predecessor6: | William Hull |
| Successor6: | James M. Goodhue |
| Term Start7: | January 1, 1846 |
| Term End7: | January 1, 1849 |
| Predecessor7: | James M. Goodhue |
| Successor7: | William Biddlecome |
| Term Start8: | January 1, 1840 |
| Term End8: | January 1, 1844 |
| Predecessor8: | F. J. Munger |
| Successor8: | Willis H. Chapman |
| Office9: | President of the Lancaster Village Board |
| Term Start9: | April 1875 |
| Term End9: | May 1878 |
| Predecessor9: | Addison Burr |
| Successor9: | Position abolished |
| Term Start10: | April 1860 |
| Term End10: | April 1863 |
| Predecessor10: | John Chandler Holloway |
| Term Start11: | April 1856 |
| Term End11: | April 1857 |
| Predecessor11: | Position established |
| Successor11: | J. H. Hyde |
| Birth Date: | 17 January 1809 |
| Birth Place: | Georgia, Vermont |
| Death Place: | Lancaster, Wisconsin |
| Restingplace: | Hillside Cemetery Lancaster, Wisconsin |
| Children: | 2 sons, 2 daughters |
| Father: | Joel Barber |
| Mother: | Aseneth Melvin Barber |
Joel Allen Barber (January 17, 1809 - June 28, 1881) was an American lawyer and politician. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, he was the 15th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and he served one term in the Wisconsin State Senate.[1] [2] [3]
Barber was born in the town of Georgia, in Franklin County, Vermont, to Joel and Aseneth Melvin Barber.[4] He worked on a farm until age 18, then entered the Georgia Academy. After graduating from the academy, he attended the University of Vermont in Burlington, where he studied law. He left the university after two and a half years and read law with George P. Marsh. He was admitted to the bar in 1833[4] in Prince George's County, Maryland, where he was teaching school, and commenced practice in Fairfield, Vermont.
Barber moved to the Wisconsin Territory in 1837, settling in Lancaster, in Grant County, where he continued to practice law.[4] He served as county clerk for Grant County, for four years and as district attorney for three terms. He served as member of the first constitutional convention of Wisconsin in 1846.[4]
Barber was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1852, 1853, as a Whig, in 1863 as a Republican, and, 1864, on the National Union ticket. He was elected speaker for the 1863 session.[4] He also served one two-year term as Grant County's representative in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1856 and 1857.[4]
After establishing a law partnership with George Clementson in 1869, Barber was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican, serving in the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses from March 4, 1871, to March 3, 1875.[4] He served as the representative of Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district. While Barber was serving in Congress, George Clementson conducted the legal work of their firm. Barber was not a candidate for renomination in 1874, and was succeeded by Henry S. Magoon.[5] Upon leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law with Clementson.
Barber died in Lancaster, Wisconsin, June 28, 1881,[4] following an attack of peritonitis[5] and was interred in Hillside Cemetery.