| Samuel June Barrows | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 10th district |
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| In office March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899 |
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| Preceded by | Harrison H. Atwood |
| Succeeded by | Henry F. Naphen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 26, 1845 New York, New York |
| Died | New York, New York April 21, 1909 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Isabel Hayes Chapin |
| Children | Mabel Hay Barrows, (m. Henry Raymond Mussey). |
| Alma mater | Harvard Divinity School, B.D. 1874 |
| Religion | Baptist, Unitarian |
Samuel June Barrows (May 26, 1845 – April 21, 1909) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts.
He was born in New York City. After his father died at a young age, he was relied upon to support his family by working for a printing press. Due to illness, he was rejected by the United States Navy and didn't serve in the American Civil War.[1] He worked as secretary to William H. Seward, and was married to Isabel Barrows, who filled in for him as a stenographer in 1868 while he was ill, becoming the first woman employed by the State Department. He graduated from the Harvard Divinity School in the fall of 1871. While at Harvard, he was the Boston correspondent of the New York Tribune.
He went with the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, under the command of General Stanley, and with the Black Hills Expedition in 1874, commanded by General Custer. In 1873 he took part in the Battle of the Tongue River.
He was pastor of the first parish, Dorchester (Boston), Massachusetts, from 1876-1881, when he resigned to become editor of the Christian Register, with Isabel as the associate editor, positions they held for 16 years.[2] During his time at the Christian Register, Barrows was a ceaseless advocate for women's suffrage, temperance, and Native American education.
He was the American representative to the International Prison Congress of 1895, 1900, and 1905, at which he was elected to serve as president of the 1910 congress.
Barrows was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-fifth Congress (March 4, 1897-March 3, 1899). During his term in Congress, he promoted legislation that would remove Native Americans from reservations, believing that cultural assimilation would lead to equality. Also a pacifist, Barrows bitterly opposed the Spanish-American War.[3] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1898 to the Fifty-sixth Congress. After which he was Secretary of the New York Prison Association from 1899 to 1909.
He died on April 21, 1909, of pneumonia in New York City’s Presbyterian Hospital. His remains were cremated and the ashes placed in a private burying ground near Georgeville, Quebec, Canada.