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William Taylor Barry

William Taylor Barry
WBarry.jpg
United States Ambassador to Spain
In office
April 10, 1835
President Andrew Jackson
Preceded by Cornelius P. Van Ness
Succeeded by John H. Eaton
7th United States Postmaster General
In office
March 9, 1829 – April 10, 1835
President Andrew Jackson
Preceded by John McLean
Succeeded by Amos Kendall
16th Secretary of State of Kentucky
In office
September 2, 1824 – February 3, 1825
Governor Joseph Desha
Preceded by Thomas Bell Monroe
Succeeded by James Chamberlayne Pickett
6th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
In office
August 29, 1820 – August 24, 1824
Governor John Adair
Preceded by Gabriel Slaughter
Succeeded by Robert B. McAfee
United States Senator
from Kentucky
In office
February 2, 1815 – May 1, 1816
Preceded by George Walker
Succeeded by Martin D. Hardin
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 5th district
In office
August 8, 1810 – March 3, 1811
Preceded by Benjamin Howard
Succeeded by Henry Clay
Member of the Kentucky Senate
In office
1817–1821
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
1807
Personal details
Born (1784-02-05)February 5, 1784
Lunenburg, Virginia
Died August 30, 1835(1835-08-30) (aged 51)
Liverpool, England
Political party Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s) Lucy Overton
Catherine Mason
Alma mater Transylvania University
William & Mary College
Profession Politician, Lawyer

William Taylor Barry (February 5, 1784 – August 30, 1835) was an American statesman and jurist. He served as Postmaster General for most of the administration of President Andrew Jackson, and was the only Cabinet member to not resign in 1831 as a result of the Petticoat Affair.

Born near Lunenburg, Virginia, he moved to Fayette County, Kentucky, in 1796 with his parents John Barry, an American Revolutionary War veteran, and Susannah (Dozier) Barry. He attended the common schools, Pisgah Academy and Kentucky Academy in Woodford County, Transylvania University at Lexington and graduated from the College of William & Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia in 1803, after which studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1805. He commenced practice at Jessamine County, Kentucky and then at Lexington.

He was a member of Kentucky House of Representatives in 1807, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1810 to 1811, served in the War of 1812, was a U.S. Senator from Kentucky, 1815 to 1816; then a member of the Kentucky Senate, 1817 to 1821, and the sixth Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, 1820 to 1824, then Secretary of State of Kentucky, 1824 to 1825, and a candidate for Governor of Kentucky in 1828. During his time in the Kentucky Senate he wrote to former President James Madison seeking support for a plan of subsidizing public education across the state; Madison responded enthusiastically, including in his letter of August 4, 1822, the often cited observation that "A popular Government, without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both."


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