William Taylor Barry
| William Taylor Barry | |
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| United States Ambassador to Spain | |
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In office April 10, 1835 |
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| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | Cornelius P. Van Ness |
| Succeeded by | John H. Eaton |
| 7th United States Postmaster General | |
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In office March 9, 1829 – April 10, 1835 |
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| President | Andrew Jackson |
| Preceded by | John McLean |
| Succeeded by | Amos Kendall |
| 16th Secretary of State of Kentucky | |
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In office September 2, 1824 – February 3, 1825 |
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| Governor | Joseph Desha |
| Preceded by | Thomas Bell Monroe |
| Succeeded by | James Chamberlayne Pickett |
| 6th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky | |
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In office August 29, 1820 – August 24, 1824 |
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| Governor | John Adair |
| Preceded by | Gabriel Slaughter |
| Succeeded by | Robert B. McAfee |
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United States Senator from Kentucky |
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In office February 2, 1815 – May 1, 1816 |
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| Preceded by | George Walker |
| Succeeded by | Martin D. Hardin |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 5th district |
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In office August 8, 1810 – March 3, 1811 |
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| Preceded by | Benjamin Howard |
| Succeeded by | Henry Clay |
| Member of the Kentucky Senate | |
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In office 1817–1821 |
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| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
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In office 1807 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 5, 1784 Lunenburg, Virginia |
| Died | August 30, 1835 (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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