Throughout its history, the Minneapolis Police Department has valued its many excellent civilian employees for their contributions to the smooth operations of the Department. One such esteemed employee was W.G. Barber.
W.G. Barber was born in Somerset, New Jersey on January 16, 1846. He enlisted in the 38th New Jersey regiment commanded by Col. William J. Sewall (who was afterwords for several terms United States Senator from New Jersey). Mr Barber served in the Army of the James and was stationed in front of Richmond until the close of the Civil War. He was mustered out of the service on July 15, 1865. Soon afterwards, he moved west and settled in Illinois, living first at Fairview and later at Peoria.
Mr. Barber came to Minneapolis in 1879, entering the employment of the Washburn-Crosby Milling Company, where he remained for eight years. He was a conductor on the Minneapolis streetcar line for several months, and then became the Health Inspector for the Fifth Ward for two years.
In 1891 Mr. Barber was appointed as a Telephone Operator at the Minneapolis Police Headquarters by Mayor Winston. We have no records of Mr. Barber after 1900, but we know that in 1899 he was still serving as a Telephone Operator at the salary of $900 per year.
Mr. Barber was married on October 29, 1872, to Miss Alice Stoddard, of Illinois, and was living with his wife and their two children at 3104 Stevens Avenue in 1899.
He was a member of the Morgan Post of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R) which was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the Civil War.
Engraving of W.G. Barber taken from History of the Fire and Police Departments of the Twin Cities published by American Land & Title Register Association, 1899.