Amzi D. Barber and Nancy I. Bailey Barber Family Papers

Amzi. D. Barber (1810-1901)

Amzi Doolittle Barber was born to Calvin (1785-1829) and Polly Brooks Hall Barber (1788-1852) in Townshend, Vermont, on November 15, 1810. He was one of seven children: Sally Moriah (1806-1851), Luther Hall (1808-1865), Calvin Lysander (1813-1880), Hannah Elizabeth (1815-1857), Desdemona Sophia (1819-1901), and Horace Kimball (1829-1904). Amzi enrolled in the Oneida Institute in the early 1830s and is listed in its 1834 catalog of students. He traveled to Cincinnati in about 1835 and chose not to enroll in the Lane Theological Seminary. Despite this, he knew and corresponded with several other former Oneida Institute students who did attend Lane Seminary, including several of the “Lane Rebels.” In Cincinnati, Amzi supervised a school for Black students, working with Augustus Wattles. He also served as an agent for the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society. In 1840, he delivered a report related to his work between 1835 and 1837, “Report on the Condition of the Colored People of Ohio,” to the Ohio Anti-Slavery Society.

Amzi D. Barber enrolled as a member of the senior class in Oberlin’s Collegiate Department for the 1837-1838 school year. Prior to enrolling, he asked the advice of several peers, including Hiram Foote. He graduated from the College’s theological seminary in 1841 and was ordained as a Congregational minister in September of that year.

After a lengthy period of written correspondence, Amzi married Nancy Irene Bailey on November 23, 1841. They had three children: Amzi Lorenzo (1843-1909), Irene Joanna (1844-1927), and Emma Elizabeth (1847-1932).

Amzi served as a minister in various locations throughout his long career, including Paterson, New Jersey (1841-42); Birmingham (1842-43); Saxtons River, Vermont (1843-1852); Bellevue, Ohio (1852-58); East Cleveland (1858-60); Austinburg (1860-64); Amherst (1872-74); Chagrin Falls (1874-76); Claridon (1876-79); Saybrook (1879-84); Lorain (1884-85); and shorter stints in Cleveland, Lucas, and Washington, Ohio. His final years as a preacher were spent at congregations in Castalia and Madison, Ohio, from which he resigned in 1897.

After retiring, Amzi lived in Oberlin with his daughter, Irene Barber Dick, until his death in 1901.

Nancy Irene Bailey Barber (1813-1887)

Nancy Irene Bailey Barber, primarily known to her friends and relatives by her middle name, Irene, was the daughter of Eliphalet (1768-1841) and Nancy I. Bradish Bailey (1785-1832). Irene was born on May 27, 1813, in Westmoreland, New York. She was the fourth of her parents’ nine children: Alonzo (1807-1870), Lorenzo (1809-1886), Clark B. (1811-1844), James Fordyce (1815-1888), John Bradish (1817-1894), Joanna Bailey (1820-1902), Charles Eliphalet (1822-1894), and Horace Clark (1828-1858).

In July of 1826, Irene united with the Congregational Church, later recalling that she was the first of her family members to do so. Her mother, Nancy, died of consumption in 1832. Irene, the oldest daughter, ran the household for the next six years. In an autobiographical sketch, Irene recalled that because she cared for their younger siblings, her sister was able to attend school without interruption.

Irene attended H.H. Kellogg’s Young Ladies Domestic Seminary in Clinton, New York, periodically beginning in the fall of 1839. Irene lived on campus but was able to walk to her family’s home for occasional visits. According to her correspondence, she also briefly attended the Auburn Theological Seminary in the late 1830s or early 1840s.

She was an advocate for the antislavery movement throughout her twenties, attending conventions and sometimes writing letters on stationery with the “Am I Not A Man and A Brother” medallion.

After a lengthy period of correspondence, Irene married Amzi D. Barber in November of 1841. They relocated to Paterson, New Jersey, and Irene expressed sadness at leaving her thirteen-year-old brother, for whom she had cared for nearly a decade.

Irene and Amzi had three children. The Barber family moved frequently, as Amzi’s profession as a minister took him to many different churches between 1841 and his retirement in 1897. They spent long periods of time in Saxtons River, Vermont, and Bellevue, Ohio.

Irene died in 1887 after a lengthy illness.

Amzi L. Barber (1843-1909)

Amzi Lorenzo Barber was born in Saxtons River, Vermont, on June 22, 1843. He was the eldest child of Amzi D. and Nancy Irene Bailey Barber. During Amzi’s childhood, the Barber family moved frequently due to his father’s career as a minister.

Amzi attended Oberlin College, from which he received his bachelor’s degree in 1867. After only a few months as a student at Oberlin’s theological seminary, Amzi moved to Washington, D.C., to work at Howard University at the request of General O. Howard. There, he served as a director and professor in the normal department.

He married Celia M. Bradley in 1868. After Celia’s 1870 death, Amzi married Julia Louisa Langdon (1843-1912). Four of Julia and Amzi’s children lived to adulthood: LeDroit (1873-1905), Lorena (1877-1948), Bertha (1877-1948), and Roland (1888-1977). Irene Julia (1871-1871) died in infancy.

In 1872, Amzi Lorenzo formed a real estate development company with his brother-in-law, Andrew Langdon (1835-1919). From 1873 through 1877, he planned and developed LeDroit Park, a Washington, D.C., subdivision. The neighborhood was developed on land purchased from Howard University. Barber partnered with Senator John Sherman (1823-1900) for some of his real estate projects.

Amzi L. Barber formed what would be known as the Barber Asphalt Company in the early 1880s, having become interested in asphalt in the late 1870s. In 1883, Amzi incorporated the Barber Asphalt Paving Company (previously known as A.L. Barber and Co.). In another business venture, he formed the Locomobile Company of America with his son-in-law, Samuel Todd Davis, Jr. (1873-1915), in 1898.

In his spare time, Amzi was an avid yachtsman, cultivating a specific interest in turbine yachts. He died following a brief illness in April of 1909.