Representative Samuel Stebbins Barney

Samuel Stebbins Barney (January 31, 1846 – December 31, 1919) was a United States Representative from Wisconsin and later a judge of the United States Court of Claims. A member of the Republican Party, he served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1895 to 1903, representing Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district, and subsequently held federal judicial office in Washington, D.C.

Barney was born on January 31, 1846, in Hartford, then part of the Wisconsin Territory. He was educated in the local public schools and pursued further studies at Lombard College in Galesburg, Illinois. Returning to Wisconsin, he became a high school teacher in Hartford, a position he held from 1869 to 1872. During this period he developed an interest in public affairs and education that would shape his later career in both local administration and national politics.

In 1872, Barney moved into journalism and political advocacy as editor of the Washington County Republican, a newspaper published in West Bend, Wisconsin, serving in that role from 1872 to 1873. At the same time, he prepared for a legal career, reading law in West Bend under the guidance of attorney Leander F. Frisby in 1873. He was admitted to the bar that year and entered private practice in West Bend, where he practiced law continuously from 1873 to 1906. Complementing his legal work, he remained active in local public service, serving as Superintendent of Schools for Washington County from 1876 to 1880, thereby combining his early experience in education with administrative responsibilities over the county’s school system.

Barney’s involvement in Republican Party politics grew steadily in the 1880s. He ran for Village President of West Bend in 1883, standing as a Republican candidate against John Shelley; he was narrowly defeated in that local election by a vote of 94 to 84. In 1884 he served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, participating in the party’s national deliberations. That same year he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the 49th United States Congress, an early attempt to enter national office that nonetheless enhanced his political profile within Wisconsin Republican circles.

Barney was elected to Congress as a Republican from Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district to the 54th United States Congress and was reelected to the three succeeding Congresses, serving from March 4, 1895, to March 3, 1903. His eight years in the House of Representatives coincided with a significant period in American history marked by industrial expansion, the Spanish–American War, and growing debates over economic and regulatory policy. During his four terms in office, he contributed to the legislative process, participated in the democratic governance of the nation, and represented the interests of his Wisconsin constituents in the federal legislature. He chose not to be a candidate for renomination in 1902, thereby concluding his congressional career at the end of the 57th Congress.

After leaving Congress, Barney continued his legal career and soon moved into the federal judiciary. On December 19, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated him to a seat on the Court of Claims (later known as the United States Court of Claims), filling the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Stanton J. Peelle. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination on December 20, 1905, and he received his commission the same day. As a judge of the Court of Claims, Barney served from December 20, 1905, until his retirement on April 15, 1919, adjudicating claims brought against the United States and contributing to the development of federal claims jurisprudence during the early twentieth century.

Barney’s service on the Court of Claims ended with his retirement in 1919, closing a public career that had spanned education, local administration, partisan politics, legislative service, and federal judicial office. He died on December 31, 1919, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Samuel Stebbins Barney was interred in Union Cemetery in West Bend, Wisconsin, returning in death to the community where he had long practiced law and begun his public life.