Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Photograph of Isaac Walwin Barr of Lowell, Massachusetts, possibly graduation photo from Lowell Textile School


Photograph taken J. Powell of Lowell, Massachusetts, of a young man identified on the reverse as I. Walwin Barr.  

This was likely the graduation photograph of Isaac Walwin Barr, "Charlie", from either Lowell High School or Lowell Textile School, from which he received a degree in Chemistry and Dyeing in 1900.



See other posts that feature Lowell Textile School graduation photographs of Nathaniel Trull Ewer and Bartholomew Moore Parker.

From online research, hopefully correct: [corrections and additions welcome!]

Isaac Walwin Barr was born February 21, 1880 at Lowell, Massachusetts, the son of Isaac and Ann Barr, both immigrants from Ireland - Northern Ireland according to one source.

After graduating from Lowell Textile School, Walwin, as he was known, became a chemist in the dye industry and, according to his 1916 passport application, a cotton manufacturer.

Here's his photograph from the 1916 application.



On 16 June 1909 I. Walwin Barr married Gertrude Gard, "Gertie", daughter of John Taylor Gard and his wife Edna.  The marriage, according to an item in the June 26, issue of Forest and Stream, took place at the bride's parents' home.  I. Walwin Barr was an avid canoeist and member of the American Canoe Association, which published Forest and Stream.

There were at least two children born to the couple, a daughter and a son.  They lived in Westchester County, New York, eventually settling at Yonkers.

I found a snippet of an article in a 1914 Lowell Sun of Lowell, Massachusetts, indicating that I. Walwin Barr had managed to escape Germany via Liege.  Reading the full article would have required a subscription to a genealogy service.

Isaac Walwin Barr had acquired the nickname of Charlie at some point in his life, according to papers from the American Canoe Association [still in existence today] archived at Mystic Seaport Museum.  Charlie was Commodore of the American Canoe Association in 1929 and thereafter Chairman of the Board of Governors.  His papers cover the era from 1900 to 1978, though he himself died in 1969.

If you have corrections to the information above, or additions to it, please leave a comment or contact me directly.  Thanks!


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