Barker was born in Troy, New York in 1857.
[1][2] In 1883 in New York, he married Isabelle C. Webber (1861–1947), with whom he had a son and daughter.
In 1910, the family moved to Antigo, Wisconsin.
He died as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident on September 22, 1943, in Antigo.
[1] Barker was a member of the Assembly from 1923 to 1924 for Langlade County and of the Senate from 1925 to 1932.