John Henry Barber was born around 1846 in Albemarle County, Virginia, to Tillman and Elmira Barber. Barber, like his parents, was owned by Benjamin Wheeler of Albemarle. Wheeler eventually relocated the family to Tennessee, and by 1861, Barber was owned by Sarah Ann Wheeler in Union Depot, Tennessee.

Barber enlisted as a private in the Union army on July 14, 1864, in Knoxville, Tennessee. His service record describes him as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and yellow complexion. He served in Company I of the 1st USCT Heavy Artillery Regiment. He served only briefly, dying of fever on October 21, 1864, at the regimental hospital in Knoxville, Tennessee.

After the war, in the late 1880s, Barber's mother Elmira began receiving a pension due to her son's service. According to witnesses, Tillman and Elmira were unable to work, living on the charity of wealthy white people. She received a pension of $12 a month until her death in Johnson City, Tennessee, in early 1904.

Documents: 

Testimony of John Henry Barber's Mother, Elmira