Thomas H. Barland was born in San Francisco, California, March 3, 1930, the son of George and Lois Barland. Educated in San Francisco public schools and in schools at Wahiawa, Dahus Hawaii, he graduated from Eau Claire High School in Wisconsin in June 1947, Barland spent the years 1936 to 1942 in Hawaii, where his father was a civilian employee of the Army. While there he witnessed the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After the attack his family was evacuated from Schofield Barracks to the mainland and eventually to Eau Claire, his father's home town.
Barland entered the University of Wisconsin in September 1947, and received a B.A. in economics in June 1951. During the summer of 1949 he attended the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, as a member of the national YMCA presidents' school. While an undergraduate at the University he was selected to Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Eta Sigma, won two major “W's” in gymnastics, and received the Wisconsin Alumni Association's “Outstanding Senior” award, He enrolled in the University of Wisconsin Law School in September 1951, and attended until June 1953, when he joined the U.S. Army.
Stationed originally at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, he was transferred to Ft. Crowder, Missouri, where he was a 1st lieutenant in a military police company and assistant confinement officer of the post stockades. He later became a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserves. He was discharged from the service in 1955 after a 21 month tour of duty and re-entered the University of Wisconsin Law School, from which he received his law degree in June 1956.
As an undergraduate, Barland was a member of Argus and the Iron Cross. Among honors he received were the C.V. Hibbard and the Sterling Day awards. While in law school Barland was a member of the editorial board and contributed articles to the Wisconsin Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif, a distinguished honorary law fraternity.
Mr. Barland returned to Eau Claire in 1956, where he became an associate and later a partner in the law firm of Ramsdell, King, Carroll, and Barland. In addition to having an active law practice, he became involved in numerous civic and community activities, including the Eau Claire Red Cross (president, 1956-1960), the Eau Claire Family Service Association (vice- president, 1958-1960, director, 1957-1963), the Eau Claire Foreign Film Society (vice-president, 1956-1960, director, 1957-1963), the Eau Claire Civic Music Association (director), the Eau Claire Downtown Development Steering Committee (chairman), the Eau Claire County Taxpayers Association, the Chippewa Valley Boy Scouts (council director), the lst Presbyterian Church of Eau Claire (Sunday school superintendent), the YMCA, the Civil Air Patrol, the Wisconsin “W” Club, the Eau Claire Wisconsin Alumni Club, the Wisconsin State University-Eau Claire Campus Ministry Committee, and the Eau Claire County Young Republicans (chairman).
In recognition of his extensive civic activities, the Eau Claire Junior Chamber of Commerce presented Barland with its “Distinguished Service Award” in 1959 and the Wisconsin State Junior Chamber of Commerce named him as “One of the Five Outstanding Young Men of the State” in 1963.
Included among Barland's professional activities are membership in the Eau Claire County Bar Association (past treasurer) and the Wisconsin and American Bar Associations. He served as secretary, vice-chairman, and director of the Wisconsin State Bar's Tax Section, and as a member of the State Bar's Drafting Committee on Powers, Trusts, and Estates. He has also served on the Eau Claire County Board of Election Canvassers.
In 1960 Barland was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican from the 1st District of Eau Claire County. While in the Legislature he was a member of the Assembly Judiciary, State Affairs, and Taxation Committee, and the Joint Finance Committee. He was also a member of the Temporary Committee on Administrative Branch Reorganization (Kellett Committee); secretary of the Legislative Council Judiciary Committee; vice-chairman of the Legislative Council Taxation Committee; and a member of the Board on Government Operations. He was elected majority caucus chairman in 1963. In 1966, after completing his third term, Barland chose not to run for re-election to the Assembly because of the pressing demands of his private law practice. He returned to Eau Claire, where in 1967 he was appointed County Judge of Eau Claire County by Governor Warren P. Knowles.
In addition to his strenuous legal and political career and his extensive participation in local civic activities, Barland has been both a patron of and a participant in presentations of the Wisconsin Ballet Company. He has also been a member and president of the Board of Curators of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and has served on the Board of Curators' Membership, Legislative, and Executive Committees.
Judge Barland married the former Ann Carlson in 1964 and has one stepson.
