Isaac D. Barnard

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Isaac D. Barnard
Isaac Barnard.jpg
United States Senator
from Pennsylvania
In office
March 4, 1827 – December 6, 1831
Serving with William Marks and William Wilkins
Preceded by William Findlay
Succeeded by George M. Dallas
Personal details
Born Isaac Dutton Barnard
(1791-07-18)July 18, 1791
Aston Township, Pennsylvania
Died February 28, 1834(1834-02-28) (aged 42)
West Chester, Pennsylvania
Resting place Oakland's Cemetery near West Chester
Nationality American
Profession Lawyer
Committees Committee on Militia
Military service
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Rank Major-General
Unit Fourteenth Regiment, United States Infantry
Battles/wars War of 1812

Isaac Dutton Barnard (July 18, 1791 – February 28, 1834) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania. He also served as a Pennsylvania State Senator from 1820 until 1826.[1]


He moved to a farm near Chester with his parents, and was a scholar at several public schools.[1] He later resided in Philadelphia until 1811, when he moved back to Chester.[1] While he was studying law, Barnard became a member of the Fourteenth Regiment, United States Infantry, and served in the War of 1812.[1] He fought at the Battle of Plattsburgh, and the Battle of Lyon Creek, and promoted from captain to major for meritorious service.[2] After the war ended he resumed his legal studies,[1] and was admitted to the bar on May 1, 1816.[2] He began practicing law in West Chester.[1] Barnard was the deputy attorney general for Chester County from 1817 to 1821,[1] and an Assistant Burgess in the government of the borough of West Chester in 1821, 1824, and 1825.[3] Barnard was also a major-general of militia, and declined the judgeship of Chester County.[2]

Beginning in 1820, and ending in 1826, he was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, and the year he left the State Senate, he was the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.[1] He was elected to the United States Senate as a Jacksonian, and began his first term on March 4, 1827.[1] During the 21st and 22nd United States Congresses, he was the chairman of the Committee on Militia.[1] In 1829, Barnard was closely defeated in his attempt to gain the nomination for Governor of Pennsylvania.[2] He undertook part of a second Senate term, but resigned from the Senate on December 6, 1831,[1] due to ill health.[2] He was replaced by a future Vice President of the United States, George M. Dallas.[4] Just before he resigned, the New York papers were reportedly demanding that Barnard be given a place in the United States Cabinet.[2] Barnard died on February 28, 1834, in West Chester, and was interred in Oakland's Cemetery nearby.[1] William Everhart, a wealthy merchant, named a street after Barnard, with whom he was a friend, which had been created after Everhart divided up a farm into lots sometime after the summer of 1830.[5]


  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Barnard, Isaac Dutton, (1791 - 1834)". 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania, comprising a historical sketch of the county. p. 204. 
  3. ^ "West Chester Borough Officials: 1799-present". 
  4. ^ "George Mifflin Dallas, 11th Vice President (1845-1849)". 
  5. ^ "West Chester". 


External links[edit]

United States Senate
Preceded by
William Findlay
U.S. Senator (Class 1) from Pennsylvania
Served alongside: William Marks, William Wilkins
Succeeded by
George M. Dallas