Background
Barrow was born in Davidson County, Tennessee son of Wylie and Ann Beck Barrow, his father"s second wife, on October 5, 1807.
Diplomat politician representative
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 1837, Barrow served a term in the Tennessee House of Representatives. From December 28, 1841 to February 24, 1844, he served as the United States. Minister to Portugal.
He also worked as a newspaper editors
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.
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.
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.
He is interred at the family vault of Doctor John Shelby, his father-in-law, at the Mount Olivet Cemetery Nashville City Cemetery in Nashville, Tennessee.
He worked as a businessman and was a member of the Confederate faction of the Tennessee Senate in 1861 and 1862.
