Alexander Barrow I (March 27, 1801 – December 29, 1846) was a lawyer, slave owner, and

United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. He was a member of the Whig Party. He was the half-brother of Washington Barrow, sharing the same father. Born near

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, to Willie Barrow and his first wife Jane Green, Barrow attended the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

, from 1816 to 1818. Then he studied law and was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

, in 1822, commencing practice in Nashville. Soon afterward he relocated to

Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Feliciana Parish, or New Feliciana, French: Paroisse de Félicianne, was a parish (administrative division), parish of the Territory of Orleans and the U.S. state, state of Louisiana, formed in 1810 from West Florida territory. Given an increas ...

, where he continued to

practice law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professio ...

. 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 The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

, 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." In 1840 Barrow was elected a Whig to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, serving from 1841 until his death. There he was Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds during the

27th Congress The 27th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., between March 4, ...

and of the Committee on the Militia during the 27th and 28th Congresses. According to longtime Washington journalist

Benjamin Perley Poore Benjamin Perley Poore (November 2, 1820 – May 30, 1887) was a prominent American newspaper correspondent, editor, and author in the mid-19th century. One of the most popular and prolific journalists of his era, he was an active partisan for the ...

, Barrow was "the handsomest man in the Senate."Poore, Ben. Perley, ''Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis'', Vol.1, p.292 (1886)
Senator Barrow died in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, on December 29, 1846. His remains were interred in the family cemetery on Afton Villa plantation, near

Bayou Sara, Louisiana Bayou Sara was a town in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States until the Mississippi River washed it away in 1927. In the early 1800s it was the most important landing between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi. According to the Americ ...

. Alexander and Mary Ann Barrow had three children, Alexander II, Willie Micajah, and Jane.

References

Information of Barrow and his family
<--''broken link 26 Apr 2015.''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barrow, Alexander 1801 births 1846 deaths Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee Whig Party United States senators from Louisiana Members of the Louisiana House of Representatives Louisiana Whigs Louisiana lawyers Tennessee lawyers Farmers from Louisiana 19th-century American planters American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature United States Military Academy alumni

See also

References

External links