John Wesley Barbee Jr. (February 12, 1885 - September 2, 1956) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician. He was a member of the Mississippi Legislature from DeSoto County in the 1910s and 1920s.

John W. Barbee
Member of the Mississippi State Senate
from the 35th district
In office
January 1924 – January 1928
Preceded byB. E. Wilson
In office
January 1916 – January 1918
Succeeded byJoseph N. Brown
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the DeSoto County district
In office
January 1912 – January 1916
Personal details
Born(1885-02-12)February 12, 1885
near Horn Lake, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedSeptember 2, 1956(1956-09-02) (aged 71)
Hernando, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic

Early life

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John Wesley Barbee Jr. was born on February 12, 1885, near Horn Lake, Mississippi.[1] He was the son of John Wesley Barbee Sr., a former Ku Klux Klan member and Sheriff of DeSoto County, and Isabella McKamy (Frazier) Barbee.[1] He was of Irish and Scottish descent.[2] Barbee attended the public schools of DeSoto County before entering Bethel College in 1900.[1] He spent one year (1902) at Mississippi A&M and graduated from Bethel with a B. S. degree in 1905.[1] He then attended Cumberland University and received a L. L. B. degree in 1910.[1]

Professional career

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Barbee started practicing law in May 1911.[1] In November 1911, Barbee was elected to represent DeSoto County in the Mississippi House of Representatives, and he served from 1912 to 1916.[1][2] In November 1915, Barbee was elected to represent the 35th District in the Mississippi State Senate for the 1916-1920 term.[1] During his service, he was the Chairman of the Senate's Military Affairs Committee.[1] In 1916, Barbee was a delegate to the year's Democratic National Convention.[3] In 1917, when he was elected to the office of County Attorney of DeSoto County, Barbee resigned from the Senate and was replaced by Joseph Neal Brown.[1] In 1923, Barbee was re-elected to the Senate for the 1924-1928 term.[3] He was appointed to be a special State Circuit Court judge from September to November, 1926.[3] From 1943 to 1948, he was the sheriff of DeSoto County.[4]

Personal life and death

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Barbee was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and he was also a Freemason and a Knight of Pythias.[3] He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity during college.[3] He married Cora Edna Seitz in 1923.[3] Barbee died after a long illness on September 2, 1956, in Hernando, Mississippi.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rowland, Dunbar (1917). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. p. 799.
  2. ^ a b Rowland, Dunbar (1912). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. p. 417.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Rowland, Dunbar (1924). The Official and Statistical Register of the State of Mississippi. Department of Archives and History. pp. 168–169.
  4. ^ a b "Obituary for John W Barbee (Aged 71)". Sun Herald. 1956-09-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-08-17.