Seth Barber: The Hero Ashland Forgot – With Dr. Peter Slade

Seth Barber served as Ashland’s school superintendent from 1852-1862 and 1866-1870. A pious man with a great love of learning, he laid the groundwork for public school education in the town at a time when the fight over slavery was ripping apart the country and the community. When Col. James Garfield came to town in 1862 raising a regiment, Barber joined up to lead his “boys” — the young men of Ashland who had been his students– to war. After the war he returned to his position as school superintendent with only one leg – having lost one during the Siege of Vicksburg. Perhaps one of Ashland’s most notable citizens — a civic leader, military hero, and mentor to a generation — the town has no statue, street name, or marker for this remarkable man. 

Barber’s personal papers are part of the archives at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums in Fremont, OH, and offer a fascinating insight into the educational, religious, and political world of Ashland in the 1850s. In this illustrated presentation, Dr. Peter Slade will share his findings and offer suggestions as to why Seth Barber is the hero that Ashland forgot. 

Dr. Peter Slade is a Professor of the History of Christianity and Christian Thought at Ashland University. The author and editor of several books and articles on 20th-century American church history, he has recently become fascinated with the history of Ashland Ohio in the mid-19th century.