Early American – and Barre Town – Cemetery Commissioner

By Dwight “Harry” Harrington, a more recent Cemetery Commissioner

I enjoy digging around in a pile of historic records to see what went on in the “olden days” and to meet people who are no longer with us. Recently I came across some information about Charles Newell Barber, one of our Maplewood Cemetery residents. The Barber family has the large monument near the top of the hill in Maplewood and shown in the photo above. Additionally, other family members are just across the driveway in another Maplewood lot. Dr. Barber is noted for many things in his life, one accomplishment not publicized is “cemetery commissioner.”

Charles, Senior was born in Barre Town, the son of Cyrus Whitney Barber (1823-1892) and Elvira Willey Barber (ca. 1822 – 1884), they are also in the West Section of Maplewood Cemetery. The Barbers came to Barre from Massachusetts and figured in early town history. Grandfather, also Cyrus, served as a church deacon at the Congregational Church and also served in the War of 1812. He and his wife can be found in Elmwood Cemetery in the city.

In his business life, Charles built the Barber Medicine Company and incorporated it in 1914. He is also associated with the incorporation of the Granite Mutual Insurance Company and he served as its vice president. He sat on the board of directors of the East Montpelier Creamery and as president of the East Barre Water Company. Due to his other talents, Charles became the administrator to many estates and he could be found running auctions. At his farm, Charles used his thoroughbred stock to improve the herds of other farmers.

Somehow, Charles found the time to serve Barre Town as well. He

served as the town’s representative to the state legislature in 1900, as

lister for 20 years, as a justice of the peace for 30 years, and he “held

many other town offices.” None of the general documents reviewed identified

those other offices, but looking in the town reports and in Volume

1 of the Cemetery Deed books, Charles shows up as a cemetery

commissioner. A few other things about Charles, he belonged to the

Grange and to the Knights of Pythias. He died at 62 years after a six

month illness and is buried in the West Section of Maplewood Cemetery.

The public knew Charles as Doctor Barber and he specialized as a veterinary surgeon. While on ancestry.com, a record about Charles came to light. The Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804 – 1929 identified Charles N. Barber of Barre, VT as an “allopath.” Another source, WebMD, defined an Allopathic Doctor as a medical professional who treats conditions, symptoms, or diseases with a range of drugs, surgery, or therapies. Most doctors are defined as such and are typical medical doctors.

Also part of the story, Charles Newell Barber, Jr. His name can be seen in the medicine company’s letterhead below. There are very few exceptions when the name or signature is differentiated by “senior” or “junior” making it a bit more of a challenge to identify which one of the Barbers signed what. Charles 2.0 attended Norwich University and graduated from the engineering program in 1908. He would have been a young commissioner, but as an engineering student, his father did involve him in certain aspects of cemetery operations, more details on his involvement later on in the article. Signatures by “Barber, Sr.” are not apparent in the documents that can be easily found in cemetery records, most are plain “Barber.”

Back to the cemetery commissioner thing. The Town of Barre and the City of Barre became separate entities back in 1895. The town office has some records, but many have been lost to history. Back in 1903, town officials began recording cemetery lot deeds in deed books separate from the land records. The first 99 pages of the cemetery deeds all have the signature of Charles N. Barber with no indication of junior or senior. Further investigation of the deeds shows the first deed, Bond, Calvin T., Lot C-45 in Wilson, is dated May 29, 1903. On page 99, Holden, George W., OY1-290, carries the date June 25, 1914. Page 100 is not signed by Barber and is for Mackie, Robert, OY1-204, and dated Nov 24, 1915. Given Charles passed away on Feb 15, 1915 after a six month illness, it can be assumed he stopped signing deeds and probably stopped doing cemetery work sometime after June of 1914.

Charles E. Perrin can be identified as the other person signing deeds, and he also took care of Wilson Cemetery. There isn’t a lot of information about Mr. Perrin, he was born in Berlin on July 2, 1867 to Catherine and Clark D. Perrin. He married Annie Bliss in 1895 and his occupation in the record given as farmer. Perrin passed away at a young age on April 26, 1921. Early Barre Town Cemetery Commissioner Page 3 of 10 His Barre Daily Times obituary stated he had been clerk of the Barre Town Board of Cemetery Commissioners. They held his funeral at his home on Quarry Street and he now rests in the cemetery he cared for at the family lot in Old Yard 1, Wilson Cemetery.

Regardless of the signature, the deeds read “in witness whereof, I, Charles N. Barber for the commissioners and agents authorized by a vote of the cemetery commissioners of the Town of Barre, at a meeting legally holden on the 29th day of March, A. D. 1902, have hereunto set their hands and seals this 29th day of February, A. D. 1903. These dates are from Book 1, Page 1, and of course would change with each successive deed.

1. Deed books.

Deeds can provide much useful information on a particular grave lots. There are of course names, dates, locations, and descriptions, but the deeds carry signatures of those involved in the sale, including cemetery commissioners. As the original intent of this document was to determine which Charles Barber, senior or junior, served as a cemetery commissioner, signatures are important.

The answer to the question of which Barber served on the commission appeared in the land records, Book 2, Page 1. The land records showed the inhabitants of Barre Town sold cemetery lots through a cemetery commission. Book 2, Page 1 is the exception and the deed actually listed the names of the cemetery commissioners, among those is C. N. Barber. As Charles Junior’s birth year is 1884 and the deed dated 1896, he would have been about twelve years old, a bit young to be a cemetery commissioner.

The other commissioners listed are William Farwell, Lewis Keith, A. G. Whitcher, and D. A. Camp. While reviewing obituaries for these individuals, their participation in the cemetery commission did not come to light. (Perhaps Charles and I are in a business no one talks about.) Daniel Azro Camp served as the Barre Town’s first town clerk after the split. In the first three land records books, each cemetery lot sale was signed by D. A. Camp, cemetery commissioner. He only missed one, Book 2, page 88, signed by W. S. Huntington, cemetery commissioner.

Dr. Barber also signed cemetery deeds. An overview of the first volume showed he signed the first 99 deeds as an “agent of the Town of Barre.” After he passed away in 1915, the deeds began to carry the signature of C. E. Perrin, his work continues up to page 184. Page 185 had been signed by Perrin’s wife in his stead, and Page 186 by W. F. Shepard, and for the first time a title, “Clerk of the Board of Commissioners.”

2. Burial Permit Records.

Another primary source for information on Dr. Barber and Maplewood Cemetery can be found in the death certificate – burial permit record books. Located in the vault at the Barre Town offices, the permits go back to 1910. The first permit issued for transporting a body to the Maplewood Cemetery is dated January 17, 1910 for Rhoda Lawson. The certification on the back of the permit is signed by C. N. Barber.

While looking through the early permits, it becomes apparent that not many funeral parlors practiced in the area. Many of the permits allowing a body to be moved went to a family member rather than a funeral director. The body would be delivered to the Maplewood Cemetery and a certification as to the disposal of the remains annotated on the back of the permit. C. N. Barber signed them for Maplewood, but at Wilson Cemetery, C.E. Perrin signed. This might suggest during this time period it was a one man, one cemetery rule rather than a cemetery sexton as we have now who oversees all the town owned cemeteries.

Book 1 contains both types of certificates for 1910 and 1911. Death certificates don’t really apply to this study as they are signed by an attending physician. Someone may have died in Barre Town but not necessarily been buried in town just as someone may have passed Early Barre Town Cemetery Commissioner Page 4 of 10 away elsewhere but still buried in one of the town cemeteries. Death certificates often give the final disposition of the body which may indicate a burial and at which cemetery, local or not.

The burial permits are in the same book as death certificates. In the early records, many had been given to an immediate family member. The permit listed the specific cemetery whether in Barre Town, Barre City, Vermont, or whatever state. That pretty much is the extent of the departed’s new address; there are no sections or lots listed on the permit. It didn’t matter who had possession of the permit, the cemetery sexton or caretaker had to certify the fact of the burial and the date it was completed. Burials done at Maplewood during this timeframe are signed, “Charles N. Barber, cemetery commissioner.” Wilson burials have the signature of C. E. Perrin, cemetery commissioner.

Then there is that burial permit that changed things at Maplewood. On page 27 of the 1914 – 1917 record book, A. W. Badger, a funeral parlor, received permit number 785 to bring Charles Newell Barber, who died February 15, 1915, to Maplewood for burial. The certifier for this document is Charles N. Barber, Jr., but he did more at Maplewood than just bury his father.

Charles, Jr. took over his father’s position as caretaker for Maplewood. Burial permits continued to be signed by C. N. Barber when new residents arrived. As mentioned, with the exception of his father’s burial, none of the signatures carry the junior or senior suffix. As a Norwich University graduate, young Charles made a commitment to the 1st Vermont Regiment of the Vermont National Guard. Called to active duty in 1916 and sent to Texas, another signature began to show up on the Maplewood permits, that of G. J. Barber. George Jackson Barber is a younger brother to Charles, Jr. His brother away, George began signing permits.

3. Town Reports.

So what can be learned from the town reports of that era? In

the report for the period ending February 20, 1897, Charles N.

Barber, Clerk of the Board of Cemetery Commissioners, signed the

cemetery data section of the town report. He continued to sign the

reports through the report ending February 1, 1915. Throughout this

time period, the name Barber appears in the report section dealing

with expenditures.

Charles Barber, assumed Senior, received small amounts for labor in the cemetery, in the early 1900s for serving as a cemetery commissioner, and for breaking a road into the cemetery. As it appears Barber concentrated on the Maplewood Cemetery in other documents, most of the payments made to him concerned things he would have done at Maplewood.

Beginning in 1907, other Barber family members begin to show up in the expenditure column. C. N. Barber continued to receive pay for labor in the cemetery, but C. Newell Barber began to appear in the records for engineering and surveying in both Maplewood and Wilson Cemeteries, and he is responsible for the construction of a fountain in Maplewood, now the location of the flagpole. For the most part, C. Newell identified the son while C. N. continued to represent Dr. Barber. Beginning in the 1914 report, a time in which Dr. Barber’s health probably began to deteriorate, George J. Barber began to work at Maplewood as did Justin Barber, both brothers of C. Newell Barber, Jr. One entry paid C. G. Carr for work, Clarence is the brother-in-law of Dr. Barber, and the husband of Ella Barber, the doctor’s younger sister.

Dr. Barber passed away on February 15, 1915 and the town reports reflected his death beginning in 1916. His son, C. N. Barber, Jr. sold lots, and he and Justin continued to work at Maplewood. Dr. Barber received his final pay with an expenditure to his estate of $6.95 for labor in the cemetery. In the 1917 report, C. N. Barber, Jr. is listed as sexton and he continued to work alongside George and Justin. George took over the cemetery according to the 1918 report, Charles, Jr. had gone with the National Guard full time by then. In the last report reviewed here, for 1919, W. G. Morrison had completely taken over Maplewood Cemetery.

4. Charles Jr. and Wilson Cemetery.

As a cemetery commissioner, Dr. Barber would have been involved in other cemeteries as well and it is not hard to image he had something to do with the 1907 expansion design for Wilson Cemetery. There is a deed in the land records, Book 10, page 78, representing the sale of 1.9 acres to the town located next to Wilson Cemetery. The deed matches the layout plan shown below done in August 1907. The design had been done by C. N. Barber, Jr., then an engineering senior at Norwich University. The deed carries a date of October 18, 1907 and final notarization taking place in December of that year as one seller lived in Michigan and another in Washington State. Except for the lots on the far left side of the plan, most of this design can be found in a slightly modified version with the same numbering system now defined as Lots 157 – 192: Old Yard 5, and Lots 193 – 342: Old Yards 1 and 2 in today’s Wilson Cemetery layout.

The Town Report for the period ending February 10, 1908 showed an expense paid out to C. Newell Barber of $67.50 to pay for surveying, tracing, and prints in Wilson Cemetery. A second expenditure paid him for books and numbering the same, and painting and numbering lot stakes in Wilson Cemetery. Barber received $24.15 for more surveying in Wilson in 1909, and he set iron pins in Wilson in 1910 for another $10.80. The gray corner card laid over the blueprint above has been moved from the original location on the plan to help identify who did the work. Andre Rouleau of Barre Town donated the blueprint in August of 2014.

5. Maplewood lots.

Most of the Barber clan can be found in the Maplewood Cemetery they cared for back in the olden days. There are a few Barber deeds in the books, but not all deed references for the town cemeteries are available. There are no immediate deed references for the main family lot in the West Section. Charles, Sr. did specify in his will dated 20 Sep 1914 that “the town clerk receive $100 the use of which shall at 4% interest be expended on my burial lot in Maplewood Cemetery.” Ida Stickney Barber, wife of Charles, Jr., bought the lot across the driveway from Charles, Sr., her deed recorded in Book 2, page 78, shown as a 10x10 lot, and the deed is dated 23 April 1958. George Barber bought the lot for his wife Josie Perrin in November of 1917. His deed is in Book 1, page 142, showing a 10x10 lot and half of lot 26, with a deed date of 5 November 1918. George died in September 1946 and is buried in Rochester, NH. Charles, Sr.’s father, Cyrus W. Barber, is also in the West Section with wife Elvira Willey and daughter Emily Elvira, but no deed reference could be found for their lot information, either.

6. Whatever happened to ...?

And now, another episode of “What Ever Happened To ...”

-- Charles Newell Barber, Jr.

(28 Sep 1884 – 22 Apr 1958)

Charles N. Barber, Jr., the son of Charles, Sr. and Ella Bancroft Barber, graduated from Spaulding High School in Barre and went on to attend Norwich University. The 1908 grad with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering also played football as the team’s captain. As noted in the text, Charles, Jr. assisted his father in some of the Maplewood activities.

Called to active duty during the Mexican Border crisis of 1916, Barber went down to Eagle Pass, Texas with the 1st Vermont Regiment. He came home but also began his long term relationship with the Vermont National Guard. During the Great War, he served with the 57th Pioneer Regiment and traveled to France aboard the ill-fated “Leviathan;” during the voyage, many soldiers died as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic. He continued to serve and at one time commanded Company F of the Vermont National Guard in Northfield and served as the US Property and Disbursing Officer, a post he held for 17 years. During World War 2, he became the director of the Vermont Selective Service which earned him a certificate of merit from President Truman. He also had command of the Vermont State Guard during the war. Barber had a career as a professor and administrator at Norwich University, and in 1952, the university bestowed an honorary degree of doctor of science on him. Barber also had a political career as a democrat running for lieutenant governor in 1926 and 1932. He served in the House of Representatives and ran for a seat in the Vermont senate. In his 1952 campaign for the House, Barber earned the nomination from the Democrats and the Republicans. Col. Barber married the former Ida Stickney and the couple had two daughters. He belonged to the Masons, the American Legion, and served as president of the board of trustees at the Vermont Soldiers Home in Bennington. The included photo is from the 1908 “War Whoop” yearbook of Norwich University. Charles would have appeared this young but in civilian clothes had you encountered him in at Maplewood when he worked there. (multiple sources from ancestry.com and newspapers.com)

-- George Jackson Barber

(19 Jan 1892 – 21 Sep 1946)

As noted in the text, George J. Barber took over some of the work at Maplewood Cemetery from his older brother Charles who had been working the cemetery since before the death of their father. The son of Charles, Sr. and Ella Bancroft Barber, George attended chiropractic school in Davenport, Iowa and studied there at the time of the death of his first wife, Josie, buried at Maplewood. After graduation, George set up his practice in New Hampshire. He married a second time to Margaret Durwaid and the couple had three children. George became active in the Masons and the Shrine. According to the death certificate, he died in Rochester, NH where he had lived for 27 years, and is buried in the cemetery there. (Barre Daily Times obituary 9/23/46)

To add yet another layer of confusion, while looking in the newspaper for George Barber, advertisements for “George P. Barber, Undertaker” popped up. He maintained his office at 12 East State Street in Montpelier and also advertised his ambulance service. (Telephone: 718.)

-- Josie Perrin Barber

(16 Jan 1888 – 28 Sep 1918)

Josie can be found in the birth records of Gloucester, Massachusetts, born January 16, 1888 to John E. Lavin and Sarah McClellan. She married George J. Barber on September 11, 1912 in Barre. George attended chiropractic school in Iowa and Josie went along with him.

Taken seriously ill, Mrs. Bessie Barber traveled to Iowa and brought Josie back to Vermont and the Barre City Hospital near the end of July, 1918. Josie never recovered from her illness and passed away from pulmonary tuberculosis on September 28, 1918. She left behind her husband George, two children, and a sister. Here foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Perrin, are also mentioned in her Barre Daily Times obituary.

Her sister, Mary Jane Lavin, 1885 – 1971, married Charles George Perrin and the couple lived in Plainfield, Vermont. For an unrecovered reason, Josie moved in with Charles’s parents Fred E. Perrin and Nellie M. (Corliss) Perrin. They became Josie’s foster parents, hence the name Perrin on her death certificate rather than her birth parents name, Lavin.

-- Charles Emery Perrin

(2 Jul 1867 – 26 Apr 1921)

Charles Emery Perrin (2 Jul 1867 – 26 Apr 1921) For a bit more confusion, add in Charles George Perrin, husband of Mary Lavin Perrin, sister of Josie Perrin Barber. He is not the same person as Charles Emery Perrin, the caretaker of Wilson Cemetery. Charles Emery, born on July 2, 1867 in Berlin, is the son of Clark and Catherine Perrin.

He married Annie Bliss in Barre on March 12, 1895. Charles passed away on April 26, 1921 of cancer; in the vernacular of the time, tuberculosis of the bowels. He and his wife had a farm on Quarry Street and his Barre Daily Times obituary mentioned his position of Clerk of the Board of Cemetery Commissioners in Barre Town, and went on to describe him as highly respected, kind and thoughtful of others, and ambitious beyond his own strength. No documents reviewed mention any children. Charles and Annie are in Wilson Cemetery.

-- William George Morrison

(25 Oct 1875 – 11 Jul 1927)

Born in Waterford to George and Catherine Morrison, William married Florence Mae Harvey on June 20, 1911 in St. Johnsbury. On his portion of the marriage record, his occupation is listed as “sealer of scales.” Apparently, a sealer would affix his name and number to a set of scales after final inspection and would become responsible for that set of scales.

William worked for E. & T. Fairbanks and Company in St. Johnsbury as the second foreman in the hay scale room. In July of 1912, he received an electric shock and had to work elsewhere. On September 12, 1918, William registered for the draft and gave his occupation as farmer working for T. T. Martin and his address as RFD#2 in Barre. He passed away in Barre and is in Maplewood Cemetery.

-- Daniel Azro Camp

(11 May 1835 – 21 Oct 1903)

His obituary billed him as one of “the best known citizens of the town of Barre.” He passed away on October 12, 1903 at 8 p.m. at home after a short illness. His overall health had been deteriorating and his death attributed to a complication of disease. Camp was born in Orange in 1835, the son of George Camp of Orange. His early schooling took place there and he later graduated from the Barre Academy and from the Newbury Seminary. At the age of 22, the voters of Orange elected him as their town clerk, a job he held for four years before moving to Barre. town clerk, a job he held for four years before moving to Barre. Daniel married Helen M. Gray and they bought the old Ira Day farm at South Barre in 1867, a place he lived for the remainder of his life.

The farm had 300 acres and his son had a large milk route in the area. After the separation of Barre Town and Barre City, Camp became the town clerk of the newly organized town of Barre. He had the confidence of all his business associates. He left a widow and one son. [From the Barre Daily Times, 22 Oct 1903.]

In what we would find as an unusual article in the present day, the Daily Journal of Montpelier reported on 23 Nov 1903 that the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company had paid Mrs. D. A. Camp of South Barre the sum of $2,500 on a policy held by her late husband.

7. Some sources

-- Northfield News, Northfield, VT, 16 Feb 1915, page 1, obituary

-- St. Albans Daily Messenger, St. Albans, VT, 16 Feb 1915, page 2, obituary

-- Ancestry.com, Vermont US Wills and Probate Records, Charles N. Barber will, downloaded 3/28/24

-- Ancestry.com, various vital records for Charles N. Barber and other family members

Letterhead taken from the will of Charles N. Barber as found on the ancestry website

-- Newspapers.com, various articles and obituaries for individuals discussed in the text.

-- Find-a-Grave website, gravesites for Charles N. Barber and other family members

-- Dr. Michael Smith’s Veterinary Collectibles Roundtable, “Dr. C. N. Barber Veterinary Remedies,”

Bottles and Extras, Summer of 2003, page 26, the photo of Dr. C. N. Barber.

-- Deed, burial, and other records, Barre Town, VT.

-- Town of Barre Annual Reports, Vermont Historical Society Library, Barre, VT.

-- Family Search.org, for a land record review of Volumes 1 – 3 of the Barre Town records