The Barber clan had resided in Barre, Vermont since 1810. Cyrus Barber, born in 1784, moved from Warwick, Massachusetts in 1810 and established a family farm in Barre. Two years later he was off to New York to fight in the War of 1812. On his return, he married his wife Caroline, and proceeded to have 8 children. He lived a long and productive life, dying in 1867 at the age of 83.
Cyrus' third child, Cyrus Whitney Barber was born on the family homestead in 1823. He was a dairy farmer and spent his entire life in Barre. On February 26, 1846 he married Elvira Willey, then 24 years old. This union produced three children, Charles Newell, Edwin C., and a daughter Ella. Cyrus W. Barber died on January 27th, 1892 in the same house in which he had been born 69 years before.
Our interest lies with Charles Newell or C. N. Barber as he was known. C. N. was born on the same family farm on April 13, 1852. He had his early education in the Barre, Vermont public schools and worked on the family dairy farm. Like most veterinarians to be, this formative time established a desire to further his education in the animal sciences. The 1892 "Vermont Historical Gazetteer" states that when Charles "came of age", he traveled to Manchester, New Hampshire. Here he held a preceptorship under Dr. Alexander, a noted Veterinary Surgeon of the area. At some point he returned to Barre and established his own veterinary practice.
On February 27, 1881 C. N. married Ella Granger. They would have three children before her untimely death in 1894. Charles remarried in 1897 to Bessie May Morrill and had three more children with her. The last child being born in 1903 when C. N. was 51, and his wife 28.
C. N. led an active life within the Barre, Vermont township. The 1894 "Historical Souvenir of Barre" lists him as a dairy farmer, auctioneer, and practicing Veterinary Surgeon. The 1903 "Genealogical and Family History of Vermont" states that as a result of his training under Dr. Alexander and his fine library on veterinary science, he had a large practice in both Vermont and New Hampshire. This same book also tells us that he was a Justice of the Peace, town auditor, grand juror, and finally, elected to the state legislature in 1900.
The 1903 listing does not make mention of the Dr. Barber Medicine Company, but we must be assured that he established the company soon after the turn of the century. Dr. Barber's own published advertising booklet, "Counsel Book for Horsemen and Stockmen" stated that "After over thirty years of painstaking study and practice, marked with singular success, Dr. Barber presents his remedies to the public". Factoring in his 1852 birth, this leaves a window of 1900-1905. No doubt he was selling veterinary remedies to his clients and neighbors long before he started the company.
Like most early veterinary patent medicine companies, Dr. Barber's medicines were originally listed as "Cures". This would seem to predate the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. One company booklet I have seen is dated 1911 and the product names have been changed to "Remedies".
I was unable to discover the date of Dr. Barber's death or of the demise of his Veterinary Medicine Company. The scarcity of Dr. Barber remedies to today's Spotlight-continued collectors, however, makes two points seem clear. Production of Barber remedies was limited and short lived and the company never expanded very far out of the Vermont/New Hampshire area.
Dr. Barber did produce a surprising number of medicines for a small company. Nineteen remedies for horses and six for cows were manufactured. Along with the standard Spavin, Colic, and Heave Cures, he produced such unusual remedies as Lymphangitis Cure, Ophthalmia Remedy, and an Appetizing Tonic. He offered several medicines for cows which, to my knowledge, are rare if not unique to the field of veterinary patent medicines. His cow remedies included: Cure for Barrenness, Remedy to Remove Placenta, and Remedy to Relieve Stoppage and Bloat in Cows. Certainly some interesting cures, which I am sure, can be traced back to Dr. Barber's lifelong work with dairy cows.
From the collector point of view, these medicines are considered very uncommon. In over 15 years of collecting and visiting many outstanding collections, I have seen only a handful of Dr. Barber products.