Representative Richard Walker Barton

Richard Walker Barton (July 3, 1799 – January 15, 1860) was a nineteenth-century politician, lawyer, and planter from Virginia. He was born near Winchester in Frederick County, Virginia, into a prominent Shenandoah Valley family with deep regional roots. His family connections extended into later generations of Virginia public life: his nephew Robert Thomas Barton (1842–1917), who unlike three of his brothers survived fighting in the Confederate States Army, also became a distinguished lawyer in the Winchester area, as well as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and an author. A more distant relative, Seth Maxwell Barton of Fredericksburg, served as a U.S. Army officer before becoming a controversial Confederate engineer during the Civil War.

Barton received his early education in the local schools of Frederick County and pursued classical studies typical of the Virginia gentry of his era. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Winchester, Virginia. In addition to his legal work, he engaged in agricultural pursuits as a planter, reflecting the dual professional and agrarian character common among Virginia lawyers and politicians of his generation. His legal practice and landholding interests helped establish him as a figure of local influence in the northern Shenandoah Valley.

Barton’s public career began in state politics. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, representing Frederick County, and served in that body in 1823 and 1824. In the House of Delegates he participated in the legislative affairs of a state still dominated by the planter class and engaged with issues of internal improvements, legal reform, and representation that preoccupied Virginia in the early nineteenth century. His service in Richmond helped build his reputation as a capable lawyer-legislator and prepared him for national office.

As a member of the Whig Party representing Virginia, Barton contributed to the legislative process during one term in the United States Congress. He was elected as a Whig to the Twenty-second Congress and served as a Representative from March 4, 1831, to March 3, 1833. His congressional service occurred during a significant period in American history marked by the presidency of Andrew Jackson, intense debates over federal power, the Bank of the United States, and tariff policy. In this context, Barton participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents from the Winchester and Frederick County region, aligning with Whig principles that emphasized legislative authority, economic development, and cautious expansion of executive power.

After the conclusion of his term in Congress, Barton did not seek or did not secure immediate reelection and returned to Virginia. He resumed the practice of law in Winchester and continued his activities as a planter. Remaining a respected figure in his community, he lived through the mounting sectional tensions of the 1840s and 1850s that would soon engulf Virginia and the nation, tensions that would directly affect members of his extended family in the Civil War era.

Richard Walker Barton died near Winchester, Virginia, on January 15, 1860. He was interred in the family burying ground on his estate in Frederick County. His life and career linked the political world of the early republic and Jacksonian era with the generation that would confront secession and civil war, and his family’s subsequent prominence in law, politics, and military service reflected the enduring public role of the Barton lineage in Virginia history.