[3] Barney attended Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he was a member of Kappa Alpha Society, graduating in 1870.

[4] With his mustache and beard and slightly thinning hair, Barney somewhat resembled his late, well-regarded father in appearance.

His ties to the Whitney family helped him achieve great success in banking, real estate investment[5] and opened the door to profitable business opportunities.

[7] In 1902-04 it built a new main office at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 34th Street (pictured), designed by McKim, Mead and White.

In 1907, the Knickerbocker entered into a deal organized by speculators F. Augustus Heinze and Charles W. Morse to corner the market of the United Copper Company.

Heinze's brokerage firm failed on October 17, and he was forced to resign as president of the Mercantile National Bank.

[11] On October 21, Monday of the week after the bid collapsed, the board of the Knickerbocker Trust Company asked Barney to resign after he admitted involvement in the Morse speculations.

[16] Foster made public statements, including one following the death of Barney, that greatly embarrassed the Rehabilitation Committee under F.G. Bourne and William A. Tucker that was trying to get the trust company on its feet again.

Medical assistance was summoned, and in the meantime Barney made and signed arrangements for the disposal of his affairs in addition to his existing will.

Then, still in his home, he underwent exploratory surgery at the hands of Dr. Joseph A. Blake and the family's physician, Dr. George A. Dixon.

Following the service, the hearse took Barney's body to Grand Central Station, from whence a special train took it to Woodlawn Cemetery.

[27] Of his sons, the elder, James W. Barney, was graduated from Yale University in 1900 and, an architect by profession, took up residence in Paris.

[28] Through his daughter Helen, Barney was the grandfather of Archibald S. Alexander (1906-1979), Under Secretary of the Army in the Truman Administration.