Page:Sketches of representative women of New England.djvu/520

Rh served in the Revolutionary War and in tlie War of 1812. After the close of the Revolu- tion he settled in Beeknian, N.Y. He was a member of the New York Assembly. He died November 19, 1819, and was buried on his own estate in Beekman. His Revolutionary record, as given in the Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army, is, in l)rief, as follows: —

"Barker, Samuel Augustus S., (Ct.) Adju- tant of Douglass' 6th Connecticut State Regi- ment '2l)th June to— Dec, 1776 ; 1st Lieut, antl Adjt. of 6th Ct., 26th Dec, 1776; Capt., 10th of May, 1780: transferred to 4th Ct., 1st of Jan., 1781; Brigade Major in 1781; transferred to 2dCt. 1st Jan., 1782: resigned April 13th, 1782." Perhajxs a further record of the activities in which General Barker participated may not be uninteresting: —

Served in the battle of Long Island, August 27, 1776. Took part in the following retreat to New York and in the hurried retreat from that city, Septeml)er 15, upon the enemy's attack. Was at the battle of White Plains, October 28. In the summer of 1777 was in camp at Peeks- kill, and was frequently detached our-expe- dition or outpost duty. Served in August — October on Hudson in Parsons's brigade under Putnam. AVintered 1777-78 at West Point, assisting in the construction of fortifications. In the summer of 1778 encamped with the main army under Wa.shington at White Plains. Wintered 1778-79 at Redding. In the opera- tions of 1779 served with Connecticut division on east side of Hudson in Heath's wing. Its light company under Captain Champion de- tached to Meigs's light regiment, and engaged at storming of Stony Point, July 15, 1779. Win- tered 1779-80 at Morristown Heights, N.J., and in movements of 1780 served with division on both sides of the Hudson. On discovery of Arnold's treason, Meigs's regiment was or- dered with the troojjs to repair forthwith to West Point in anticii)ation of ailvance of enemy. Wintered 1780-81 at camp "Connecticut Village," near the Robinson House, opposite West Point, and then consolidated for forma- tion of 1781-83. Mrs. Curry's mother has in her possession a wooden trencher made by General Barker while a prisoner, during the War of 1812, on a British war-ship in New York Harbor. Mrs. Curry was graduated at Cook's Collegi- ate Institute, Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in 1873. Before she was sixteen years old, she attracted unusual attention in the work done at the closing exercises of Gary Institute. Friends at that time predicted a successful future in public work.

Soon after graduating she was tendered a position as teacher of elocution in the Mil- waukee Female College. At the end of one year she was offered the position for ten years, with an annual increase in salary; but the desire to study was stronger than financial inducements, and in 1875 Miss Baright came to Boston.

Professor Lewis B. Monroe, Dean of the Boston University School of Oratory, recognized her powers, and under his influence she continued her studies. In 1877 she was graduated from the School of Oratory with the highest class honors, and appointed by the faculty to represent the class of 1877 at the first Boston University commencement, held in Tremont Temple. Her theme on this occasion was "Elocution as a Fine Art," in which she matle an appeal, not for one art, but for Art. Miss Baright's enthusiasm on this occasion was contagious, and an audience of three thousand responded to her ideals with a fervor almost unheard of at a college commencement.

Thus Miss Baright became associated with the beginnings of the progressive movement in the arts of the spoken word, which has culminated in the School of Expression, Boston, of which S. S. Curry, Ph.D., is president. At the opening exercises of the School of Oratory in the fall of 1877 Miss Baright, then a teacher in the school, gave a reading of Mrs. Browning's " Rhyme of the Duche.'^s May." The lyric possibilities of the ])oem were combined with the most discriminating impersonation, and all the subtler variety of treatment brought into unity about the slender thread of a story. Professor Monroe called her aside after this reading and .said, " I do not wish to lo.se you as a teacher, but it is only right for you to know that your power point's