Alexander Barrow I (March 27, 1801 – December 29, 1846) was a lawyer, slave owner,[1] and United States Senator from Louisiana. He was a member of the Whig Party. He was the half-brother of Washington Barrow, sharing the same father.
Alexander Barrow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Louisiana | |
| In office March 4, 1841 – December 29, 1846 | |
| Preceded by | Robert C. Nicholas |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Soulé |
| Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 27, 1801 Nashville, Tennessee, US |
| Died | December 29, 1846 (aged 45) Baltimore, Maryland, US |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse | Mary Ann Barrow |
| Alma mater | United States Military Academy |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer, Planter |
Born near Nashville, Tennessee, to Willie Barrow and his first wife Jane Green, Barrow attended the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, from 1816 to 1818. Then he studied law and was admitted to the bar, in 1822, commencing practice in Nashville.
Soon afterward he relocated to Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, where he continued to practice law. Later he abandoned his legal career to become a planter.
Eventually, Alexander Barrow became involved in politics and was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives, where he served for several years. While in state office, he denounced bans on slave imports, and said that the state's "wealth and property" were attributable "fair and fully upon the labor of slaves."[2]
In 1840 Barrow was elected a Whig to the United States Senate, serving from 1841 until his death. There he was Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds during the 27th Congress and of the Committee on the Militia during the 27th and 28th Congresses. According to longtime Washington journalist Benjamin Perley Poore, Barrow was "the handsomest man in the Senate."[3]
Senator Barrow died in Baltimore, Maryland, on December 29, 1846. His remains were interred in the family cemetery on Afton Villa plantation, near Bayou Sara, Louisiana.
Alexander and Mary Ann Barrow had three children, Alexander II, Willie Micajah, and Jane.
See also
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References
edit- ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, 19 January 2022, retrieved 25 January 2022
- ^ Ford, Lacy K (2009). Deliver Us from Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South. p. 452. ISBN 9780199751082.
- ^ Poore, Ben. Perley, Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis, Vol.1, p.292 (1886).
- United States Congress. "Alexander Barrow (id: B000183)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Information of Barrow and his family <--broken link 26 Apr 2015.