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 (or possibly Driskell), 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 purchased it. The house originally had a stone exterior, which has since been covered with stucco. When Miss Edith Kohlert's brother-in-law purchased the house in 1921, the stone was the exterior material, and at that time, it was coated with stucco.

According to Miss Edith Kohlert, long-term secretary to the late Mayor I. Langum, who was interviewed on July 18, 1967, Abraham Lincoln was a friend of Judge Barry's and occasionally visited St. Charles. He is reputed to have slept in one of the upstairs bedrooms in this house, possibly on more than one occasion.

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

Miss Kohlert occupied this house from 1942 until 1973. That year she and her late father moved into the house to reside with her sister. Since 1942, this house has been an important political meeting place since Miss Kohlert served as the late Mayor Lang's campaign manager throughout his many administrations. 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)