Dr. Amos Walker Barber was an American surgeon

Surgeon

In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was the second Governor of Wyoming after that state joined the Union in 1890.

Amos Barber was born in Doylestown

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Doylestown is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 8,380. The borough is the county seat of Bucks County.- History :...

, Bucks County, in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, to Alfred H. Barber and Asenath Walker. He studied literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 and medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

 at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, then worked as a staff physician at the Pennsylvania Hospital after graduating. In 1885, Barber moved to Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 to take up a position as surgeon in charge of the military hospital at Fort Fetterman

Fort Fetterman

Fort Fetterman was a wooden fort constructed in 1867 by the United States Army on the Great Plains frontier in the Dakota Territory approximately 11 miles northwest of present-day Douglas, Wyoming. It was located high on the bluffs on the south side of the North Platte River...

. After resigning from the United States military, Barber began private practice in Cheyenne

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...

.

In 1890, Barber was elected Secretary of State of Wyoming

Secretary of State of Wyoming

The Secretary of State of Wyoming is the state secretary of state of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is a constitutional office, established under the Constitution of Wyoming. The Secretary of State is the keeper of the Great Seal of Wyoming and the state's official record-keeper...

 as a Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

. Just eleven months later, however, Governor Francis E. Warren

Francis E. Warren

Francis Emroy Warren was an American politician of the Republican Party best known for his years in the United States Senate representing Wyoming.-Early life and military service:...

 resigned to take up a United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 seat, and Barber was catapulted to the position of Acting Governor. He served as Governor from November 24, 1890 until John E. Osborne was elected on January 2, 1893. Barber continued on as Secretary of State under Osborne, his term running out in 1895.

Barber rejoined the military in 1898, acting as assistant surgeon for the Spanish American War. He died in Rochester

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in 1915, and was survived by his wife, Amelia Kent, whom he had married in 1892. Barber was buried in Lakeview Cemetery, in Cheyenne.