Washington Barrow

George Washington Barrow (October 5, 1807 – October 19, 1866) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for Tennessee's 8th congressional district.

Biography

Barrow was born in Davidson County, Tennessee son of Wylie and Ann Beck Barrow, his father's second wife, on October 5, 1807. He attended Davidson Academy and in 1826 became one of the first graduates of the University of Nashville. He read law and was admitted to the Tennessee Bar in 1827. In that same year, he married Anna Marian Shelby, daughter of Dr. John Shelby, one of the state's wealthiest men.

Career

In 1837, Barrow served a term in the Tennessee House of Representatives. From December 28, 1841 to February 24, 1844, he served as the U.S. Minister to Portugal.^[1] He also worked as a newspaper editor.^[2]

Barrow was elected as a Whig to the Thirtieth Congress, but he was not a candidate for renomination to the Thirty-first Congress in 1848. He served from March 4, 1847 to March 3, 1849.^[3] Returning home in 1849, Barrow was a delegate to the Nashville Convention of 1850. He also founded and served as the first president of the Nashville Gas Light Company.^[4] He worked as a businessman and was a member of the Confederate faction of the Tennessee Senate in 1861 and 1862. He was captured by Union forces and charged with treason. He refused to take an oath of allegiance, but was later paroled in an exchange of prisoners. He served as a private in the Army of Tennessee in 1863. During the American Civil War, he was imprisoned at Ohio and Mackinac Island, Michigan, which gravely weakened his health.

Death

Following the war, Barrow died at the home of his brother in St. Louis, Missouri during a visit on October 19, 1866 (age 59 years, 14 days).^[5] He is interred at the family vault of Dr. John Shelby, his father-in-law, at the Mount Olivet Cemetery Nashville City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.

Barrow was the half-brother of Alexander Barrow, a U.S. Senator from Louisiana, who was the son of Washington Barrow's father and his first wife.

References

External links

• United States Congress. "Washington Barrow (id: B000185)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. 
• Information on Barrow and his family
• "Bright Promotion Brought Gas Light Into Homes" (Article on Washington Barrow in Nashville)
• Biographical entry on Washington Barrow in the TN Encyclopedia