[7] Subsequently, he became interested in many other large financial institutions in the city, including the Life and Fire Insurance Company, on the failure of which in 1826 he, with a number of others, was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to defraud.

[9][10][11] After the removal of the iconic portrait from the White House event and reception room, the frameless life-size canvas painting was furnished to Jacob Barker and Robert Gilbert Livingston De Peyster for safe passage during the progression of the War of 1812.

[12][13] As the daylight hours retreated and a vortex storm approached Washington City, Mr. Barker and Mr. De Peyster sought refuge for the night at a farmhouse near Tiber Creek which was a tributary of the Potomac River.

[14][15] The George Washington painting remained at the farmhouse as Mr. Barker and Mr. De Peyster proceeded their northern journey towards New York while eluding the British Royal Army and Naval commands who occupied the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay territories.

In the 1840s he collaborated with Rowland G. Hazard (cousin to Barker's wife, Elizabeth) to secure the release of free African-Americans who were being illegally detained in Louisiana under the assumption they were escaped slaves.

They succeeded in securing the freedom of a few men and persuading a New Orleans grand jury to report on the matter, but were unable to create any systemic change.

But as an example of rectitude and upright dealings, carried consistently through the most gigantic operations and disastrous losses, there is no brighter page in the merchant annals of our country than his business life.