BARRY, Mrs. Flora Elizabeth, concert and opera singer and musical educator, born in Paris, Maine, 19th September, 1836. Mrs. Barry is descended on the paternal side from William Harlow, who came to this country from England prior to 1637, and Richard Thayer, who immigrated into Massachusetts among the earliest Puritans. On her mother's side, the Watermans claim a direct line of descent from Alfred the Great, while the Maxims were of Spanish origin, dating back to the time of Philip and Mary. Mrs. Barry's father, Isaac Harlow, was a cultured gentleman of musical tastes. Her mother possessed talent as a writer and a musician. Mrs. Barry received a superior education and is still an earnest student in every department of learning, French, Italian, Spanish and German receiving careful attention. Her musical talent was the dominant one, and she early began the study of that art that she might make herself proficient as a vocalist and teacher. Her first appearances in public were with the Mendelssohn Quintette Club and the Händel and Haydn Society of Boston, in 1863. Later she studied with Luigi Vannucini, of Florence, Italy. Sacred music is her especial work, although successful in classical music, pathetic ballad singing and opera. Mrs. Barry has sung successfully throughout her native country, and from Halifax to the interior of Mexico. She has appeared in many elaborate
FLORA ELIZABETH BARRY.
rôles of the standard operas, has sung in the grand
oratorios in all the large cities, and has held prominent places in church choirs in Boston since her
twelfth year. She is a member of Trinity Church, Boston. She has been twice married. Her first husband was John S. Cary, son of Dr. N. H. Cary, of Maine, and Brother to Annie Louise Carv, the noted contralto. Her second husband was Charles A. Barry, an artist, from whom she was divorced in 1873. Since her father's death, in 1S77, Mrs. Barry has devoted her musical efforts to her pupils. At her home in Boston she dispenses a large hospitality.