Penny and I play a little game whenever we go on vacation. At any souvenir shop we come across that features the typical display of personalized trinkets, such as keychains with names on them, we look to see if we can spot one with “Penny” on it. Thus far we have not spotted a single item.
During a recent cruise to Alaska, Penny and I visited the Mendenhall Glacier outside of Juneau. While perusing the displays about glaciers and the area’s natural wonders a familiar sight caught my eye on a relief map on the wall.
Wait. What is that? My own personalized mountain?
Yes, there’s a summit bearing my name on Admiralty Island not too far from the state’s capital. I’m not sure what I’d done to deserve such accolades, so of course I did some research to find out the true story.
This Robert Barron was the son of James Barron who helped develop the Funter Bay region. James for a time was the President of the Thlinket Packing Company. Robert graduated from Boston University and would serve as Vice President of the company. Years prior to that young Robert’s face was apparently used on the “Buster Brand” labelling for the company. “Buster” was a nickname that applied to both Robert and his father.
Young Robert Barron
When the US entered World War I Robert joined the Aviation Training Corps at MIT and was killed during training while trying to rescue some fellow pilots who had fallen into the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. His father received a personal letter from President Wilson.
Cadet Robert Barron
In 1919 the US Geological Survey named the peak on Admiralty Island in his honor. One last image, of his gravestone, offers up one more interesting fact:
Grave Marker
He also had my middle name. Or is that the other way around?
I know of no relationship between these Barron’s and us, but it made for an interesting find nonetheless.
Very interesting… I was in Alaska last summer and missed our peak! Ah well.
Are you familiar with Commodore James Barron? He was in a dual with Stephen Decatur that wound up killing Decatur. It’s a fascinating story. My particular line of Barrons is related to that line.
If you’re interested, I have a grip of Robert Barrons that I’ve friended on facebook… I’m up to 50-something of them. Come join the Robert Barron party. We may attempt to take over the world 🙂
I feel like I’m talking to myself here. 🙂
I have heard of Commodore Barron, though I don’t remember the duel. A quick visit to Wikipedia filled me in.
Over the years I’ve run into a number of Robert Barron’s, which always surprises me. One, is a Roman Catholic priest who has several books to his name. Another committed some crime bad enough to require a probation officer to be appointed. I know this because I received a call intended from this guy intended for the other Robert!
Hopefully most RB’s out there are going about things in the right way.
“Buster” was also a brand of Pink Salmon packed by Barron. In 1907 a portrait of young Robert appeared on the label, as well as on the cover of that year’s
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