In
office
January 3, 1842 – January 5, 1846
January 7, 1850 – January 1, 1852
John Stewart Barry (January 29, 1802– January
14, 1870) was the fourth and eighth Governor of the U.S. state of
Michigan. He was Michigan's only three-term governor in the 19th
century. His main accomplishment was bringing the state out of
bankruptcy after the Panic of 1837.
In 1831, he moved to White Pigeon, Michigan where he became a
merchant and was active in politics. In 1834, Barry moved to
Constantine, Michigan and opened a general store in that village's
first frame-built building. He became Justice of the Peace in 1831
while in White Pigeon and continued until 1835. Barry was a
prominent participant from the 13th district in the 1835 convention
that drafted Michigan's first constitution.
When Michigan became a state of the Union in 1837, Barry was a
State Senator (1836, 1840) and was recognized as a leader of the
state Democratic party. In 1840, Barry became deeply interested in
the cultivation of the sugar beet and visited Europe to obtain
information in reference to its culture.
He was selected by the Democratic Party to run for Governor in
1841. He won that election and was reelected in 1843.
During Barry's first term, the University of Michigan first opened
for students in 1841 in Ann Arbor after moving there from Detroit.
The Michigan Central and Michigan Southern Railroads greatly
expanded. In 1845, at the end of his second term, the population of
the state was more than 300,000.
After a hiatus, the popular Barry was again elected Governor in
1849, serving from 1850 to 1852, becoming the first Michigan
Governor to serve non-consecutive terms. During Barry’s third
term the Normal School (now Eastern Michigan University) was
established in Ypsilanti. A new state constitution was adopted in
1850. He was defeated in 1853 and again ran unsuccessfully in
1859.
He also ran unsuccessfully to be a U.S. Representative from
Michigan’s 2nd congressional district in 1856 against
Republican Henry Waldron.
Throughout his career, he was a supporter of the Wilmot Proviso,
intended to stop the spread of slavery, but he remained a member of
the Democratic
