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George W.
Barlow
In the many years of his active practice at Bethany,
George W. Barlow has distinguished himself for solid ability as a lawyer,
and at the same time has devoted much of his time and energy to the public
welfare. Mr. Barlow began practice in Harrison County in September, 1879, and for
many years has been known as one of the leaders of the local bar, and at
the same time the community has often looked to his interest and support
for many enterprises and movements that would advance the city and
surrounding country. Among Missourian republicans, Mr. Barlow has been a
strong and influential leader and has a large acquaintance with leading
members of the party both in the state and throughout the nation.
George W. Barlow came to
Harrison County in 1869 and to the State of Missouri in 1865, at which time his parents settled
in Chillicothe, Livingston
County. They were
from Jackson,
Ohio, where George 'W. Barlow
was born October 14, 1855. He was well educated in the public schools, but
worked for his higher education, and* after taking the normal course at
the University of Missouri engaged in teaching school for forty months in
Harrison County. It was through his profession as a teacher that he first
impressed himself upon this section, and came to know hundreds of people
young and old. His work as a teacher was done in the country schools, and
from the means acquired through that profession he took up the study of
law. He formed a partnership with Judge George W. Wanamaker in 1882, and
they were long regarded as the leading firm in Harrison County. Their associations continued
until the elevation of Judge Wanamaker to the district bench in 1905.
Since then Mr. Barlow has been in practice with his brother, Gilbert
Barlow, and the firm was Barlow & Barlow from January 1, 1905, to
January 1, 1914, at which time L. R. Kautz was admitted to the firm, which
is now Barlow, Barlow & Kautz.
Mr. Barlow entered
politics as a republican, casting his first presidential ballot for
Rutherford B. Hayes, and for nearly forty years has never missed a
presidential election. He has been in many local conventions, was
assistant sergeant-at-arms of the national convention at St. Louis in
1896, which nominated MeKinley, was a delegate from his congressional
district in 1908 and cast a vote for President Taft, and in 1912 was a
spectator in the national convention at Chicago, and witnessed the
turbulent scenes which marked the walkout of the progressive element of
the party. Mr. Barlow was chairman of the committee on credentials in the
famed Excelsior Springs District Republican Convention of 1912, one of the
first held in the state, and one whose acts were reported as important
political news all over the country, and resulted in severe criticism. Mr.
Barlow wrote a history of that convention from intimate knowledge of its
inside workings, and published the article in the press dispatches just
before the meeting of the republican leaders held in Indianapolis that
year, and his article had an important bearing on the consultations in
that meeting.
As to his own public
service, Mr. Barlow in the fall of 1888 was elected prosecuting attorney
of Harrison
County, and was
reelected in 1890, having succeeded Judge W. H. Skinner in that office.
His administration was one of aggressive and efficient service, during
which time he convicted more men for crimes than had been the record of
any of his predecessors. Mr. Barlow traced up through Pinkerton detectives
one man charged with rape who had crossed the Gulf of Mexico, and after
getting him back to the Missouri courts prosecuted him and sent
him to the penitentiary for ten years. During his term, Mr. Barlow
continued his partnership with Judge Wanamaker, who was his assistant in
the office, and at the close of his second term resumed his large private
practice. For many years Mr. Barlow has been local attorney for the
Burlington Railway, and his firm now handles the litigation for that
company. He was one of the organizers of the Grand River Coal & Coke
Company of Harrison County, the largest corporation in
the county, and is a director and attorney for the company. Mr. Barlow was
also one of the chief stockholders and builders of the Heilbron Sanatorium
at Bethany, and is still chief stockholder
and treasurer of the company. He and his brother built in Bethany the Barlow
Block, the best business building in the county. He is the owner of other
property in the city, and has one of the best residences located in the
midst of spacious grounds on Elm Street, and it is easily one of
the most attractive homes in the county. The residence contains ten rooms,
is modern throughout, and is finished in oak and walnut, with floors of
heavy oak.
Mr. Barlow was married
October 9, 1879, in Bethany to Miss Elizabeth Hockridge,
daughter of Nelson A. and Maretta (Hart) Hockridge. The Hockridge family
formerly lived in the vicinity of Utica, New and Emma, who died as Mrs. F.
H. Nally. Mr. and Mrs. Barlow have a daughter, Mabel, wife of L. R. Kautz,
a young lawyer of Bethany, and they have a son, George
Barlow Kautz. Mr. Barlow also has as a member of his family Maretta
Barlow, the daughter of Mrs. Emma Nally, sister of Mrs. Barlow. She has
been reared in the Barlow home since childhood, and is being educated and
trained as carefully as if she were an own child. Mr. Barlow is a Knight
Templar Mason and also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and some
years ago served as judge advocate of the Missouri Division of the Sons of
the Revolution.
George W. Barlow comes
from an old Virginia family. His grandparents were
George and Sarah (Ubanks) Barlow, both natives of Virginia and born
about 1786 and 1789, respectively. They were married in 1811. George
Barlow enlisted as a private during the War of 1812, but was soon detached
from the field service and sent out as a recruiting officer. He died in
Jackson County, Ohio, in 1854, and his wife passed away in 1866. They were
members of the Baptist Church.
James Barlow, father of
the Bethany lawyer, was born in
Caroline County, Virginia, in 1832, and spent his active
career as a farmer. In 1836 his parents moved to Ohio, and he was married in Jackson County of that state to Miss Lucinda Nally,
daughter of William and Patsy Nally, who were likewise from Virginia. James
Barlow, in 1863, enlisted in Company I of the One Hundred and
Seventy-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, served as sergeant of his company,
and was in several engagements before he was discharged in the fall of
1864. During the Morgan raid through Ohio he was captured, but was soon
released. James Barlow was a republican, and one of the active influential
men of Northwest Missouri after his
removal to this state in 1865. He became a prominent Methodist Church leader in Harrison County, and built there a church
largely by his own funds. His death occurred in April, 1907, and he is
survived by his wife. Their children are: Emma, wife of Frank P. Burris of
Harrison County; William C., assistant cashier of the Bethany Savings
Bank; Henry A., a farmer in Harrison County; Lola, wife of John Ballard,
of Bethany; Howard, of Daviess County, Missouri; Dr. Edward, a prominent
physician at Pattonsburg, Missouri, where he died in 1902; Harvey K., a
Harrison County farmer; and Gilbert, who practices law in partnership with
his brother, George W.
[Source: A History of Northwest Missouri
Volume III; publ. 1915 in III Volumes; Edited by Walter Williams;
Submitted to Genealogy Trails and
transcribed by Andrea Stawski Pack] |
