Lt. Col. Tileston Barker (1807 - 1879)
Born at Westmoreland (NH); died at Keene (NH).
Shoe and bootmaker; state Senator.
Artist: James H. Bemis (1846 - 1917)

Tileston Barker was one of eleven children. On his own from an early age, Barker learned the trade of bootmaker and shoemaker.

Barker joined the Second New Hampshire Volunteers and was appointed captain in June 1861. Aged fifty-four, Barker colored his hair with stove blacking and lied about his age in order to enlist. He fought with Company A of the Second New Hampshire Volunteers at Bull Run, Malvern Hill, Richmond, and Williamsburg. In September 1862 Baker became Lt. Colonel of the Fourteenth New Hampshire Volunteers; he served on the General Court-Martial Panel at Washington, D.C. (February 1864 - February 1865) and was brevetted Colonel, September 13, 1866.

In 1871 Barker was elected to the State Senate from the Ninth District. This pencil and charcoal sketch is being conserved as of this writing (1998).

References: S. G. Griffin, History of Keene (1904); [Anonymous] A Memorial of The Great Rebellion; Being a History of The Fourteenth Regiment...1862 - 1865 (1882).
Location: First Floor, State House