John Barker (Philadelphia)
{{Infobox Officeholder
|name = John Barker
|image = 150px
|office1 = 53rd and 56th
Mayor of Philadelphia
|term_start1 = October 18, 1808
|term_end1 = October 16, 1810
|predecessor1 = Robert Wharton
|successor1 = Robert Wharton
|term_start2 = October 20, 1812
|term_end2 = October 19, 1813
|predecessor2 = Michael Keppele
|successor2 = John Geyer
|death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
|party = Democratic-Republican
|allegiance = {{flag|United States|name=United States of America|1777}}
|rank = Major General
|battles = American Revolutionary War
|serviceyears = 1777-1808
}}
Major General John Barker ({{circa}}1746{{mdash}}April 3, 1818) was twice mayor of Philadelphia. He was also a tailor.
Barker served in the Revolutionary War and remained active in the military through 1808, when he retired as Major General of the First Brigade, First Division.
He served twice as sheriff of Philadelphia, from 1794 to 1797 and 1803 to 1807. He was appointed an alderman of the city of Philadelphia by Governor Thomas McKean on October 22, 1800. He was elected mayor by the Select and Common Councils on October 20, 1808, and was re-elected in 1809 and again, after an interval of two years, in 1812.The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians, Now Deceased: Collected from Original and Authentic Sources, by Henry Simpson, published by W. Brotherhead, 1859.
During the War of 1812, he served on the city's Committee of Defense.
He died in Philadelphia at age 72.{{cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6508/REVOL.HTM |title=OBITUARIES OF PENNSYLVANIA REVOLUTIONARY VETERANS, From Newspaper Files 1790 to 1855, PENNSYLVANIA ARCHIVES – SERIES 2 |access-date=2009-03-27 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026161857/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/6508/REVOL.HTM |archive-date=October 26, 2009 }} His original interment is unknown but his remains were reinterred to Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.{{cite web |last1=Kestenbaum |first1=Lawrence |title=Baribeau to Barker |url=https://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/barie-barker.html |website=politicalgraveyard.com |publisher=The Political Graveyard |access-date=1 January 2025}}
Family
He was the only son of James Barker. He was the father of playwright James Nelson Barker, who served in the army during the War of 1812, rising to the rank of major, and who was also later mayor of Philadelphia.
References
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{{Succession box| before=Robert Wharton (Philadelphia) | title=Mayor of Philadelphia | years=1808–1810 | after=Michael Keppele}}
{{Succession box| before=Robert Wharton (Philadelphia) | title=Mayor of Philadelphia | years=1812–1813 | after=John Geyer}}
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Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Category:Continental Army officers from Pennsylvania
Category:Mayors of Philadelphia
Category:People from colonial Pennsylvania