Captain Samuel E. Barrett

Samuel E. Barrett of Chicago was a 1st Lt. of the Battery in May of 1861.  He was promoted to Captain in October 1861, commanding the battery after Ezra Taylor had been promoted to Major of the entire regiment.  Captain Barrett was in command of the battery at Shiloh in April of 1862.  In February 1863 Barrett was promoted again to Major of the 1st Regiment of Artillery.  He retained that rank until he resigned in February of 1864.

     In the great manufacturing interests of a country undoubtedly rest the stable foundations upon which commercial prosperity is built, and the successful development of enterprises In the manufacturing field determines a country's importance both at home and abroad. Opportunities may lie on every hand and the time may seem ripe for the launching of concerns in many directions but without men of power, foresight and business acumen to take advantage of con­ditions, no progress is made, no results are ob­tained. On the other hand, through the efforts of men who seem naturally qualified for leader­ship, possessing with other necessary qualities, the courage which leads them to undertake and the patience which enables them to foster and nourish, enterprises are developed from small beginnings into vast aggregations of capital and efficiency. Such a man was the late Samuel Eddy Barrett, who for many years stood at the head of the Barrett Manufacturing Company, and also of the American Coal Products Company, both important factors In the great manufacturing world.

    Samuel Eddy Barrett was born at Boston, Mass., May 16, 1834.  His parents were Samuel and Ann Juliet (Eddy) Barrett. His maternal grandfather was Judge Nathaniel Eddy, a native of Plymouth , Mass., a noted jurist in his day and a contemporary and personal friend of Daniel Webster.  Often sharing judiciary honors with that great statesman and in a way enjoying equal forensic renown. The great-great­grandfather of Mrs. Barrett was born in England and was a member of the ship's company that reached the shores of Massachusetts next after the Mayflower. On the land he secured at that early day, stands the town of Eddyville , named in his honor, and many of the stately old mansions here still belong to his direct descendants. On the paternal side, Samuel Eddy Barrett came from an old and sturdy family and his father was not unknown in the world of letters, for many years having been connected with the public schools of Boston and being also a literary critic in that city of Intellectual progress. His death occurred at Middleton, Cape Cod , Mass.  

    Samuel Eddy Barrett received his educational training in the public schools of Boston, after which he gained some insight into business in a mercantile house in his native city during his first year out of school. He was ambitious and the opportunities of the great West, to which some friends had already gone; attracted him, so that about the age of twenty-one years he joined them at Milwaukee, Wis., from that city coming to Chicago, which continued to be his field of business activity from that time until his final retirement from active commercial life. It was in 1857 that Mr. Barrett came the head of the manufacturing firm of Barrett, Powell & Arnold, manufacturers of roofing material, with which concern he remained connected for over forty years. In 1859, he reorganized the business and at that time the firm style became the S. E. Barrett :Manufacturing Company, which was succeeded in 1896 by the Barrett Manufacturing Company, of which be continued the head and front until his retirement in December, 1903. 

    At the outbreak of the Civil war, Mr. Barrett found himself, as did other young business men, in a dilemma. Through care and industry his business prospects had grown promising but the firm needed his discretion and business sense to guide its further progress, while, on the other hand, he was so loyal and patriotic that a call for volunteers seemed to him so urgent a demand of duty that he dared not ignore it. As may be inferred, it was a submission to high principle that made him put aside for a time his hope of business progress and enter the army as a private volunteer soldier in Company B, First Regiment Illinois Volunteer Artillery. During his term of enlistment, be participated in many of the greatest battles of the war, including Shiloh, Russell House, Fort Donelson, Corinth, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg   and others And through gallant conduct, won promotion. Through the recommendation of General Sherman, be was commissioned major of his regiment in 1863.

   Upon his return to Chicago, in 1864, he again assumed charge of the business, finding that his absence of three years had brought about a deplorable state of affairs, but his energy and native business capacity soon again brought improvement and subsequent remarkable development. Mr. Barrett had what is known as the business "sense," that combina­tion of qualities which is found in all men who, through their own efforts and individuality, win in any field of commercial endeavor. He largely confined his efforts to the Barrett Manufacturing Company's concerns, but, when, in February, 1903, the American Coal Products Company was organized, consented to become the head of the executive board of this corporation, of which he was a large stockholder.

  On May 20, 1868, Mr. Barrett was united in marriage with Miss Alice D. Brush, of Cleveland, Ohio , a daughter of Col. Albert Isaac and Delia (Phillips) Brush, the latter a native of Phillipsburg, Conn. and the former of Long Island. In his earlier years, Colonel Brush  was a manufacturer of woolen goods. Early in the thirties he invested in land in what was once known as the Western Reserve and engaged in agricultural pursuits. The fine old family mansion still stands and is a valued possession of the family. Six children were born to the Barretts, namely: Robert; Adela; Juliet, who is Mrs. George Rublee; John Wisner, who is deceased; Alice, who is Mrs. J. Arnold Scudder; and Winnifred, who is Mrs. Francis Taylor. 

   The entire family is well known in the social life of Chicago .  Although more interested in business than politics, Mr. Barrett had settled convictions of public policy and gave his support to the Republican party, at all times declining political recognition as justified by his prominence in business life. He enjoyed his connection with the patriotic order of the Loyal Legion. In his religious views, he was a Presbyterian and through the medium of his church connection, his charities were many but given without ostentation.