Barber was born in
Jamaica, Vermont on July 13, 1857, the son of Emmons Daniel Barber and Lucia A. (Pierce) Barber. He was educated at Bernardston Academy (
Bernardston, Massachusetts), Leland and Gray Academy (
Townshend, Vermont), and Perkins Institute (
Woodstock, Vermont). Barber received a
LL.B. in 1882 from
Albany Law School and entered private practice in
Bennington, Vermont. For many years, Barber's law partner was
Charles Hial Darling. Among the prospective attorneys who studied with Barber and Darling was
Robert E. Healy, later an associate justice of the
Vermont Supreme Court and a member of the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission. A member of the
Republican Party, Barber was state's attorney for
Bennington County, Vermont from 1886 to 1887. He was a member of the
Vermont House of Representatives from 1892 to 1894. He was a member of the
Vermont Senate from 1894 to 1896. He was the
Vermont Auditor of Accounts from 1898 to 1902. He was Chairman of the Vermont Special Tax Commission from 1906 to 1908. In 1909, he was Chairman of the Special Commission to Prepare and Publish the Digest of Reports of the Vermont Supreme Court. ==Federal judicial service==