Henry Taylor Blow

Infobox Congressman
name=Henry Taylor Blow


width=200px
state=Missouri
district=2nd
party=Unconditional Unionist, Republican
term=March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867
preceded=James S. Rollins
succeeded=Carman A. Newcomb
date of birth=July 15, 1817
place of birth=Southampton County, Virginia, USA
date of death=September 11, 1875
place of death=Saratoga, New York, USA
spouse=Minerva Grimsley Blow
profession=Politician, Businessman
religion=
footnotes=

Henry Taylor Blow (July 15, 1817 – September 11, 1875) was a U.S. Representative and Ambassador from Missouri.

Born in Southampton County, Virginia to Captain Peter and Elizabeth (Taylor) Blow, owners of the famous slave Dred Scott, Blow moved with his parents to Huntsville, Alabama, where his father unsuccessfully tried farming. In 1830 the family moved again to St. Louis, Missouri, where Peter Blow died two years later. Taylor Blow attended Saint Louis University in 1830 and 1831. He was then forced to drop out and engaged in the paint and oil business and later in lead mines in which he made his wealth. He married Minerva Grimsley (1821–1870), the daughter of Colonel Thornton and Susan Stark Grimsley. They had six children, one of whom was Susan Elizabeth Blow, a noted educator of the nineteenth century.

Blow was a member of the Missouri Senate from 1854 to 1858. He was strictly against the Dred Scott Decision in 1857, siding with his family's former slave, Dred Scott. A Union supporter in the American Civil War, Blow was appointed Minister to Venezuela by President Abraham Lincoln in 1861, serving until 1862. On his return, he was elected an Unconditional Unionist to the United States House of Representatives and was reelected as a Republican, serving from 1863 to 1867. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1866.

Blow resumed his former business pursuits and in 1869 was appointed Minister to Brazil by President Ulysses S. Grant, serving until 1870. He was an original member of the Washington, D.C Board of Commissioners, serving from 1874 to 1875.

Blow died at the age of 58 in Saratoga, New York on September 11, 1875. He was interned in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri.

External links

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* [http://shs.umsystem.edu/famousmissourians/educators/blow/blowhenry.html Henry Taylor Blow at Famous Missourians]