W. Horace Barker

Given fierce competition, he announced the following:

   Some time ago the barbers of the city agreed to close their shops at 8 o’clock. Since

opening I have observed that agreement and have often sent customers away when they

came too late. A little further down the street, another shop keeps open until 9 o’clock

and tries to draw upon my trade. If not stopped I shall keep open until that hour.[7]

In 1896, Barker moved his shop to 930 Massachusetts, reducing his hair cutting price to 15¢ ($5.32 today), but changed his mind as follows:

   I have decided to reduce hair cutting to 10 cents [$3.55]. I do not do this for the purpose

of compelling others to go back to their old price, but I do it solely for the purpose of

meeting the [price] cut certain barbers are making. While the price will be reduced, the

workmanship will be first class as usual.[8]

One year later, eleven barbers, including Barker, agreed to cut hair for 25¢ ($9).[9] From then on, he did “splendid business” with “excellent workmen” through February 1899.[10]

            After managing the Leapers, a Black baseball team, Mr. Barker turned to politics beginning in 1894 by representing the Third Ward as an elected member of the somewhat integrated Republican central committee.[11] At a large gathering of Black Republicans, he introduced Samuel H. Johnson, a civil engineer at the city’s water plant, who in turn introduced Hon. Bruce K. Bruce, KU’s first Black graduate in 1887, as the evening speaker.[12] With two white men (Dr. Albert Newman and then Adna G. Clarke), he announced Third Ward caucus meetings for selecting delegates during Republican primaries.[13] Like other Black leaders, such as district court clerk Sherman A. Harvey and Green Keith, the city’s first Black councilman elected in 1885, his political opinions mattered. For instance, when redistricting debates arose over whether to merge the fifth and sixth wards in north Lawrence, he stated, “I am opposed to the change, because I think north Lawrence is too big to be one ward.”[14] In 1896, he served as secretary of the Fred Douglass club with president Doc McWilliams, a long-time civil rights leader. As a result, Barker attended one state league meeting and two county Republican conventions as a delegate to endorse Second District congressional candidates in 1896 and 1898.[15]

Mr. and Mrs. Barker attended many social gatherings, such as wedding anniversaries (1889, 1897), birthday parties (1889), and a festive dance at the GAR hall, sponsored by the Terpsichorean Social League (1890).[16] The couple also furnished music for various receptions, playing guitar and mandolin, and Jennie Barker, an accomplished singer, directed Black youth in concerts at St. Luke AME church.[17] As active members of the Eureka Club, they frequently attended meetings and discussed politics, such as Jennie’s paper on John L. Waller, a controversial politician. She also read her paper on woman suffrage as a member of the Sierra Leone Club for married women.[18] The Eureka Club paid respects to their deceased members, such as civil rights activist Charles H. Langston (1892) and Mrs. Clara (McWilliams) Gray, the latter when Mr. and Mrs. Barker served respectively as club president and secretary (1896).[19] Mr. Barker also assisted the reception committee for the 8th Interstate Literary Society meeting held in Lawrence in 1898.[20]

After a year-long illness enduring heart and stomach trouble, W. Horace Barker, age 43, died of a hemorrhage at his home (1120 Connecticut Street) on December 6, 1899. After his funeral at St. Luke AME Church, he was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery—in lot #? potter’s field—an improbable resting place for such a hard-working barber and prominent politician who had many friends, colleagues, and countless customers. Mrs. Jennie Barker and (unknown) relatives thanked those friends during their bereavement.[21]

In 1901, Lemuel King, a widower and fellow Eureka Club member, married Jennie Barker; yet the following year, she apparently left him and moved to another state. He filed for a divorce in 1904.[22]

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NOTE: Four other Black persons with Barker surnames were also buried in potter’s field but with no death announcements. Della (or Dolly) Barker (1854-1875) (in lot 450) was the young 21-year-old wife of Simon H. Barker, and Ida Barker (1874-1881) (in lot 954) was their daughter. George Barker (1859-1880) (in lot 1205) was Simon’s younger brother.[23] Few, if any, records exist for Phillip Barker (1832-1883) (in lot 1250), making his familial relationships unknown.