John S. Barry
| John S. Barry | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 4th Governor of Michigan | |
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In office January 3, 1842 – January 5, 1846 |
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| Lieutenant | Origen D. Richardson |
| Preceded by | J. Wright Gordon |
| Succeeded by | Alpheus Felch |
| 8th Governor of Michigan | |
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In office January 7, 1850 – January 1, 1852 |
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| Lieutenant | William M. Fenton |
| Preceded by | Epaphroditus Ransom |
| Succeeded by | Robert McClelland |
| Member of the Michigan Senate | |
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In office 1836 1840 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
January 29, 1802 Amherst, New Hampshire |
| Died | January 14, 1870 (aged 67) Constantine, Michigan |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Kidder |
John Stewart Barry (January 29, 1802– January 14, 1870) was the fourth and eighth Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan. He was Michigan's only three-term governor in the 19th century. His main accomplishment was to rationalize state finances after the state's internal improvements fiasco.
Barry was born in Amherst, New Hampshire to John and Ellen (Steward) Barry. While he was young, the family moved to Rockingham, Vermont where he worked on his father's farm and received an education in the local schools. He married Mary Kidder, of Grafton, Vermont, and in 1824 went to Georgia, Vermont, where he taught school while studying law. He began to practice law, and while in Georgia he was also a member of the Governor’s staff.
In 1831, he moved to White Pigeon, Michigan where he became a merchant and was active in politics. In 1834, Barry moved to Constantine, Michigan and opened a general store in that village's first frame-built building. He became Justice of the Peace in 1831 while in White Pigeon and continued until 1835. Barry was a prominent participant from the 13th district in the 1835 convention that drafted Michigan's first constitution.
When Michigan became a state of the Union in 1837, Barry was a State Senator (1836, 1840) and was recognized as a leader of the state Democratic party. In 1840, Barry became deeply interested in the cultivation of the sugar beet and visited Europe to obtain information in reference to its culture.
He was selected by the Democratic Party to run for Governor in 1841. He won that election and was reelected in 1843.
During Barry's first term, the University of Michigan first opened for students in 1841 in Ann Arbor after moving there from Detroit. The Michigan Central and Michigan Southern Railroads greatly expanded. In 1845, at the end of his second term, the population of the state was more than 300,000.
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