A. Constantine Barry
4th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin
In office
June 26, 1855 – January 4, 1858
Appointed byWilliam A. Barstow
Preceded byHiram A. Wright
Succeeded byLyman Draper
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the Kenosha district
In office
January 4, 1864 – January 2, 1865
Preceded byBenjamin T. Hatch
Succeeded byZalmon G. Simmons
Personal details
Born(1815-07-15)July 15, 1815
Walton, New York, U.S.
DiedMarch 5, 1888(1888-03-05) (aged 72)
Lodi, Wisconsin, U.S.
Resting placeMount Pleasant Cemetery, Lodi, Wisconsin
Political party
Spouses
  • Adelia Robinson
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1836; died 1877)​
  • Helen Peterson
Children
  • with Adelia Robinson
  • Malon P. Barry
  • (b. 1836; died 1911)
  • Melville A. Barry
  • (b. 1840; died 1925)
  • Isabella B. (Warner)
  • (b. 1850; died 1930)
  • with Helen Peterson
  • Jennie A. Barry
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Volunteers
Union Army
Years of service1861–1862
1864–1865
RankChaplain
Unit
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Alfred Constantine Barry (July 15, 1815 – March 5, 1888) was an American educator, politician, and Universalist minister. He was Wisconsin's 4th Superintendent of Public Instruction and served one term in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Kenosha County. During the American Civil War he served as a Union Army chaplain and recruiter.

Biography

A. Constantine Barry was born at Walton, New York, and moved with his parents to Victor, New York, when he was a child. He was raised there and educated by private tutors.[1] He was ordained a Universalist minister in 1836 and pastored for ten years at various locations around New York before bringing his ministry to Racine, Wisconsin Territory, in 1846.[2] In Racine, he started a temperance magazine, the Old Oaken Bucket, and became involved in local education matters, serving as the first supervisor of the public schools in Racine from 1849 through 1853.[1]

In June 1855, he was appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin by Governor William A. Barstow, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hiram A. Wright. Later that year, he went on to win a full term as Superintendent in the Fall general election. He did not run for re-election in 1857. He was an advocate of the educational theories of Horace Mann, and supported the creation of district normal schools and teacher's institutes, and the consolidation of school districts.[1]

He was a member of the Democratic Party and was a guest at the inauguration of James Buchanan in 1857. During his visit to Washington, D.C., he was one of several dozen guests stricken by the "National Hotel disease"—which some suspected was an attempted poisoning—and suffered from after-effects of the disease for the rest of his life.[2]

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he volunteered for service in the Union Army and was enrolled as chaplain of the 4th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, serving one year in that role.[3] On his return to Wisconsin, he served on the local recuiting board.[2]

In the 1863 general election, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Kenosha County in the 17th Wisconsin Legislature. In April 1864, after the end of the legislative session, he returned to active duty as chaplain for the 19th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment,[4] and served ten months with that regiment before receiving an appointment from President Abraham Lincoln to serve as chaplain of the United States Hospitals.[2]

He mustered out of federal service in August 1865.[2] After the war, Barry and his family resided at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, for four years, then moved to Elkhorn, Wisconsin, where he established a church. He finally moved to Lodi, Wisconsin, in 1878, where he resided for the rest of his life.

He died at his home in Lodi on March 5, 1888.[5][6]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Superintendent (1855)

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Election, 1855[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 6, 1855
Democratic A. Constantine Barry 38,389 52.63% -4.64%
Republican John G. McMynn 34,550 47.37%
Plurality 3,839 5.26% -9.27%
Total votes 72,939 100.0% +35.16%
Democratic hold

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Barry, Alfred Constantine 1815 - 1888". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Butterfield, Consul Willshire (1880). The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company. p. 989. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  3. ↑ "Fourth Regiment Cavalry". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 1. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 157. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  4. ↑ "Nineteenth Regiment Infantry". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861–1865. Vol. 2. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. p. 112. Retrieved December 23, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Dr. A. C. Barry". Chicago Tribune. March 27, 1888. p. 6. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ 'Badgers Saints and Sinners,' Fred L. Holmes, E. M. Hale and Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin: 1939, pg. 209-211
  7. ↑ "The Official Canvass". The Independent. December 20, 1855. p. 2. Retrieved December 23, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
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