John B. Barker

BarkerThe “Barker” window was presented by John Burton Barker (1850 – 1927), a trustee of the church, and his family, consisting of his wife Harriet E. (“Ella”) Walls (1863 – 1948) and their three children, one of whom was Lizzie Barker, a member of the Sunday school class. John Barker married Harriet Eleanor Walls on January 19, 1882 when she was 18 years old and he was 32. John and Harriet Barker officially became members of the Milton M. P. Church in 1887. In his obituary in the July 29, 1927 edition of the Milford Chronicle, it was stated that he was originally from Harbeson, came to work in the Milton shipyards as a young man, then got into the plumbing and tinsmith business and opened his own store.

It would John’s son Charles S. Barker (1898 – 1962), Lizzie’s younger brother, who would be remembered for his extensive involvement in Milton’s civic affairs, serving as President of the Volunteer Fire Department for twenty-five years starting in 1928, Mayor of Milton for 4 one-year terms, President of the Milton Chamber of Commerce, and a member of multiple other civic and church associations.