My Genealogy Hound

WALTER S. BARKER, superintendent of the Homer and Cortland Gas Light Co., was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., January 1, 1842. He is a son of Joseph Barker, a direct descendant of old Captain Barker. Joseph Barker was a native of the State of Massachusetts. After leaving the state of his birth, he settled in Onondaga County, N. Y., where he was engaged in farming the rest of his life. He became a prosperous and distinguished citizen of that district. He was a large land owner. His vote was cast with the Democratic party; many minor offices were held by him, and he was honored with the highest position in the gift of his fellow-citizens of the county, being sent to the State Legislature for two terms.

Walter S. Barker, the subject of this sketch, has two brothers and one sister living, — Luther of Otisco, N. Y.; Anna of Cortland; and Stephen D. of Fond du Lac, Wis. He received his education in the district schools, and followed farming until the war broke out. He then enlisted in his country’s service in Co. E, 12th Reg. N. Y. Vol. Inf., which was formed at Syracuse: after serving a term of two years, he re-enlisted in the 3d N. Y. Light Artillery, with which he remained until the close of the war. In the latter organization he entered as a private, and before he was discharged he had received the commission of a sergeant. After he returned from the war he served an apprenticeship as a machinist, and worked in a machine shop for sixteen years. He then accepted a position in the United States Pension Office at Syracuse in 1885; two years later he was transferred to the Pension Office at Buffalo, and remained there three years. On June 1, 1891, he accepted his present position. Mr. Barker is a firm believer in the aims and principles of the Democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic Order, belonging to Syracuse Lodge, No. 501, located at Syracuse. He was married in 1867 to Ann Eliza Beach, daughter of Lorenzo Beach of Otisco, N. Y. They have reared three children, namely: Mary Belle, wife of Charles C. Truesdell, a resident of Syracuse, N. Y.; Charles W., who is in the employ of the Homer & Cortland Gas Light Co.; and Robert G., who is with Truesdell & Co., brokers of Syracuse, N. Y.