{{Short description|American judge (1883–1940)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = H. Edgar Barnes | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | party = Democratic (1934–1940)<br>Republican (until 1934) | office = Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania | term_start = August 13, 1935 | term_end = October 6, 1940 | predecessor = Alexander Simpson | successor = William M. Parker | office2 = Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue | term_start2 = January 16, 1935 | term_end2 = July 31, 1935 | governor2 = George Howard Earle III | predecessor2 = Leon D. Metzger | successor2 = Harry Ellis Kalodner | birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | birth_date = {{birth date|1883|06|28}} | death_date = {{death date and age|1948|10|06|1883|06|28}} | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. }}
'''Harold Edgar Barnes''' (June 28, 1883 – October 6, 1940) was an American jurist who was Pennsylvania Secretary of Revenue in 1935 and justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1935 until his death in 1940.
==Early life== Barnes was born in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 1883, to George W. and Lydia (Slee) Barnes. His father was an employee of the federal government.<ref>{{cite journal |title=In Memory of Hon. H. Edgar Barnes |journal=Pennsylvania State Reports |date=1940 |volume=339 |pages=xxxv-xxxviii |publisher=West Publishing Company}}</ref> He attended the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. He was admitted to the bar in 1906.<ref name="Obituary" />
==Career== From 1906 to 1916, Barnes taught courses in political science and business law at Penn while also working as a lawyer. In 1916, he was elected to the Philadelphia Common Council as an Independent Republican. He ran for a seat on the new unicameral Philadelphia City Council in 1919, but was unsuccessful.<ref name="Obituary" />
Barnes was the personal attorney of George Howard Earle Jr. and George Howard Earle III and was a director and legal counsel for their Pennsylvania Sugar Company. He advised the younger Earle to run as a Democrat in the 1934 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election.<ref name="Obituary" /> Shortly after winning, Earle announced that Barnes would serve as secretary of revenue in his cabinet.<ref>{{cite news |title=Earle Appoints Personal Counsel To Revenue Post |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQkmAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=%22H.+Edgar+Barnes%22&article_id=3031,5316100&hl=en |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=Gettysburg Times |date=November 22, 1934}}</ref> He was confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate on January 16, 1935.<ref>{{cite news |title=Senate Solid In Confirming Earle Cabinet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZBiAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The Washington Reporter |date=January 17, 1935}}</ref>
Barnes resigned effective July 31, 1935 to run in that year's Supreme Court election.<ref>{{cite news |title=Supreme Court Tangle Studied |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j0wbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=%22H.+Edgar+Barnes%22&article_id=4754,907714&hl=en |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=July 26, 1935}}</ref> Prior to the election, Justice Alexander Simpson died and Earle appointed Barnes to succeed him until an election could be held. He was sworn in on August 13, 1935.<ref>{{cite news |title=Barnes Takes Oath For Supreme Court |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oUwbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2&dq=%22H.+Edgar+Barnes%22&article_id=4340,6350426&hl=en |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=August 13, 1935}}</ref> Pennsylvania Attorney General Charles J. Margiotti ruled that because there were two open seats on the Supreme Court, the top two vote-getters in the 1935 election would be seated on the court. Thus, the winners of the Democratic and Republican primary would each receive a full 21-year term. Barnes easily beat his primary opponent, Michael Musmanno, 215,045 votes to 93,123.<ref>{{cite news |title=Barnes and Stern Victors For State Supreme Court |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlcbAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=%22H.+Edgar+Barnes%22&article_id=4521,4555989&hl=en |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=September 18, 1935}}</ref>
On September 28, 1940, Barnes entered Hahnemann University Hospital to receive treatment for asthma and bronchitis. While there, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died on October 6, 1940.<ref name="Obituary">{{cite news |title=H. Edgar Barnes, Associate Justice |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/10/07/archives/hedgar-barnes-associate-justice-pennsylvania-supreme-court-jurist.html |access-date=3 November 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=October 7, 1940}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, H. Edgar}} Category:1883 deaths Category:1940 deaths Category:Independent Republicans politicians Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Category:Lawyers from Philadelphia Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:Politicians from Philadelphia Category:Secretaries of revenue of Pennsylvania Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni Category:Wharton School alumni Category:Wharton School faculty