Side A: Generations of the Barker family lived in the house that stood at 89 Wood Street from 1875 to 1973. George W. Barker (1836-1913) was born enslaved in Virginia, emancipated age 13, and settled in Mansfield by 1870. He worked as a well-known chef in downtown hotels. In December 1873, Barker married Dayton-native Harriet J. Hurley (1840-1925). The next April, he purchased a corner plot in Snyder’s Subdivision for $450. Completed by 1875, his original brick house sheltered Barker, his wife, and his mother-in-law, Eliza Hurley (1815-1885). The Barker’s children — Sumner (1875-1890) and Sarah Daisy (1877-1973) — were born there. The Barker family were one of Mansfield’s historic Black families and members of the First Congregational Church. Their house once included a decorative wooden porch, numerous outbuildings, and served as an important community gathering place.
Side B: “Daisy” Barker graduated from Mansfield High School (1896) and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (1900). She taught music in Kentucky’s Eckstein Norton Institute, a school dedicated to educating African Americans, and served as the institute’s music director (c.1903-1905). She returned to Mansfield around 1905. Giving lessons from the Barker home, she became a notable music and piano instructor. In 1920, Daisy Barker married Captain Walter S. Thomas (1853-1928), a Spanish-American War veteran who served as a clerk in the Ohio Senate and a trustee for Wilberforce University. Residing in the Barker House, the couple were active civil rights leaders. In 1961, Daisy Thomas helped establish a Mansfield chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The Daisy Barker house was sold in 1973 and demolished in 2024.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.