Gabriel Thomas Barbee was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia, in 1814. In 1834 he moved to Petersburg in Hardy County (then Virginia, now West Virginia), where he worked as a merchant and a dealer in land. He served in the Virginia Senate from 1847-1851.
In 1887, after a trip to Texas where he came into contact with Farmers Alliance leaders, Barbee began holding meetings in Bridgewater to form a sub-alliance in Virginia. For the next three years he devoted most of his time to organizing a state Farmers' Alliance, serving as president in 1889 and 1890, by which time the organization had over 30,000 members in 85 county alliances.
From the description of Miller, Gordon W. collection, 1787-2005. (James Madison University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 234380902
