Josiah Barber (1771 – 10 Dec 1842) was the first mayor of

Ohio City, Ohio Ohio City is a village in Liberty Township, Van Wert County, Ohio, United States. The population was 705 at the 2010 census. It is included within the Van Wert, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Ohio City is located at (40.770878, ...

."Josiah Barber"
''Encyclopedia of Cleveland History''. Retrieved on 2009-10-24. He was elected in 1836.

Early years

Barber was the son of Captain Stephen and Alice (Cass) Barber.

Development in Ohio

In 1809, Barber received a portion of the last division of

Western Reserve The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...

lands along with his father-in-law Samuel Lord and his brother-in-law Richard Lord. They received land along the western border of the

Cuyahoga River The Cuyahoga River ( , or ) is a river located in Northeast Ohio that bisects the City of Cleveland and feeds into Lake Erie. As Cleveland emerged as a major manufacturing center, the river became heavily affected by industrial pollution, so mu ...

to the lake. They sold the land with Lord & Barber Realty Co. He constructed the first brick house in Cleveland at Pearl (W. 25th) and Franklin. In 1840, he and his partners set aside a portion of land for an open-air market that became the

West Side Market The West Side Market is the oldest operating indoor/outdoor market space in Cleveland, Ohio. It is located at the corner of West 25th Street and Lorain Avenue in the Ohio City neighborhood. On December 18, 1973, it was added to the National Regi ...

. Then, in 1834 he was among the people who incorporated the Cuyahoga Steam Furnace Company.

Politics

Barber was appointed as a circuit judge in 1834 and then became the first elected mayor of Ohio City. He was the vice-president of the Cuyahoga County Colonization Society and he favored gradual abolition of slavery and colonization of blacks to either Africa or South America.

Personal life

Barber married two times. First, he married Abigail Gilbert and they had a daughter, Abigail G. Later, he married Sophia Lord and they had four children: Epiphras, Harriet, Sophia L., and Jerusha. Barber died in Cleveland. Barber was initially interred at the Monroe Street Cemetery. He was disinterred in 1882 by his son, Josiah Barber Jr., and moved to Riverside Cemetery in Cleveland. The younger Barber had co-founded Riverside.

References

1771 births 1842 deaths Mayors of places in Ohio 19th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Ohio People from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Burials at Monroe Street Cemetery {{Ohio-mayor-stub