Judge Barry House

Judge Barry moved to St. Charles in April 1840, according to Samuel W. Durant's History of St. Charles, Illinois, Revised and Corrected, published in 1885. He had practiced earlier in Ohio courts after his admission to the bar there. At once, Judge Barry became a highly effective and popular attorney within Kane County.

In 1842 or 1843, according to the above source, "he defended Taylor Driscoll, one of the famous Driscoll family of Washington Grove, Ogle County, on a serious criminal charge at Woodstock, McHenry County, to which place he had taken a change of venue from Ogle County. The mob was furious and inclined to deal roughly with the prisoner and his attorney, but Sheriff Hill managed to keep them at bay until he was examined and sent to Rockford for safekeeping."

"During his residence in St. Charles, he has (had) served three terms as judge of the county court, and during his forty-five years of residence had been a continuous and prominent practitioner in the various courts in northern Illinois, both State and Federal."

"During all the years of General John F. Farnsworth's congressional career, he was emphatically his right-hand man and firm supporter and was chiefly instrumental in securing several of the later nominations of his old friend against a tremendous pressure from other counties for a rotation of the office."

Soon after Judge Barry moved to St. Charles, he either had this house on present-day Cedar Avenue built, or he purchased it. The house originally had a stone exterior, which has since been covered with a stucco coating. About 1921, when Miss Edith Kohlert's brother-in-law purchased the house, the stone was the exterior material and at that time was coated with stucco.

According to Miss Edith Kohlert, when interviewed on July 18, 1967, Abraham Lincoln was a friend of Judge Barry's and came to St. Charles on occasion for visits. He is reputed to have slept in this house, possibly on more than one occasion in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

There is an old maple about 125 years old directly to the southeast of the kitchen on the same property. The tree is about the age of the house, according to Miss Kohlert, long-term secretary to the late Mayor I. Langum. (See part IV and the "Background for Mayors of St. Charles.")

Miss Kohlert also noted that the interior of the house is not the original. Here again, about 1921, when her brother-in-law purchased the property, he had to complete major repairs to make the house attractive and useable. At that time the entire interior of the house had to be rebuilt for he had purchased nothing more than a shell!

Miss Kohlert has occupied this house since 1942. That year she and her late father moved into the house to reside with her late sister. Since 1942 this house has been a most important political meeting place since Miss Kohlert served as the late Mayor Lang m's campaign manager all through his many administrations. As well after his retirement from office she served as campaign manager during the campaigns of later mayors, Mr. Ralph M. Richmond and Mr. George Neumark (first campaign).(See interview remarks of Miss Edith Kohlert of July 18, 1967)