Career
Born in Woodbury, Tennessee, Barry received a limited education. He served as a private in Company East, Eighth Confederate Cavalry, Colonel William B. Wade"s regiment, during the Civil War.
He studied law.
He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Aberdeen, Mississippi. He moved to West Point, Mississippi, in 1873 and continued the practice of law. Barry was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1889).
He was not a candidate for renomination in 1888.
He resumed the practice of law in West Point, Mississippi, where he died May 7, 1909. He was interred in Odd Fellows Rest Cemetery, Aberdeen, Mississippi.