> I am a member of the Allegheny City Society, a group of local > historians on the North Side of Pittsburgh. We are involved in a > project in tracing the Pittsburgh connections of Mary Cassatt (b. > allegheny City 1844) and her family. It seems that her mother, > Catherine Kelso Cassatt, was greatly influenced by Anica Preble > Barlow and Anica's sister Harriet. Catherine was present at the home > of the Thomas barlows when they hosted a reception for LaFayette > during his last visit to the US in 1825. Any information about the > Barlow and Preble family would be greatly appreciated. It seems that > both women enjoyed drawing and painting many of the scenes of their > homes in the Pittsburgh and Washington County area. Any help in this > project would be greatly appreciated. johnjcanning@hotmail.com Thomas Paine Barlow was born on October 12, 1793, at Redding, Connecticut, and was a son of Aaron and Rebecca (Sanford) Barlow. Aaron was a brother of Joel Barlow, the poet and statesman. Thomas was educated and adopted by his uncle Joel Barlow and accompanied him to France as his private secretary. He was with him on the fatal journey to Wilna, Poland. Joel, as our Minister to France, was chasing after Napoleon who was invading Russia in the winter of 1812. Joel caught pneumonia, died on December 24, 1812, at Zarnowiec, Poland, and was buried there. After the death of his uncle, Thomas returned to the United States and established himself in the practice of law at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was recorded in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the 1820 through 1850 censuses. He died on October 1, 1859, at Washington, Pennsylvania. While in France Thomas Paine Barlow met and married Frances Anica Preble on July 28, 1817, at Draviel, near Versailles. She was born in 1797 in France and was a daughter of Henry and Frances (Wright) Preble, and granddaughter of Brigadier General Jedejiah Preble of Falmouth (Portland), Maine. Draviel was the beautiful French country estate of Daniel Parker, an American gentleman and Henry Preble's intimate friend. She died on December 24, 1876, at Washington, Pennsylvania. Their children were: i. Frances Emma Barlow was born on June 29, 1818, at Kalorama, Joel Barlow's home near Washington, D.C. She married Hugh Wilson in April 1837 at Washington, Pennsylvania, and they had children. She died on February 12, 1845, at Washington, Pennsylvania. ii. Anica Barlow was born on May 29, 1821, at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. She married John D. Chambers in April 1855 at Washington, Pennsylvania. She was living in April 1911. iii. Harriet Barlow was born on November 19, 1824, at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. She died in March 1827 at Versailles, France. iv. Francis Joel Barlow was born on February 2, 1828, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He did not marry. He died on June 17, 1854, at Ballerat, Australia. Francis Joel Barlow was a graduate of Washington College, Pennsylvania. He studied medicine with Dr. Le Moyne and received his degree from the Philadelphia Medical School. He practiced medicine for a time at West Manchester, York County, Pennsylvania, and had intended to practice in Australia but his early death there prevented. v. Frederick Stephen Barlow was born on August 4, 1830, at Allegheny City, Pennsylvania. He did not marry. He died on August 5, 1864, at Mobile, Alabama. Frederick Stephen Barlow was a graduate of Washington College, Pennsylvania, and he entered the U.S. Navy as a third assistant engineer on June 22, 1860. He served first on the Anacosta, a small screw-tender based at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard; next on board the U.S.S. Sumpter on the west coast of Africa until her return to the United States; and then on the steamer Kanawha under Farragut. He was promoted second assistant engineer on July 30, 1862, and ordered to the steam gun boat Owasco the following year as senior engineer. When it was decided to attempt the capture of Mobile, Alabama, and its defences, an officer of experience being required as senior engineer, he volunteered to go on board the monitor Tecumseh, the leading vessel of the fleet in the "Bay Fight" on August 5, 1864. His services, after being twice declined, were accepted on account of the illness of the senior engineer of the Tecumseh, and he went down with that vessel, at his post, when she was sunk by a torpedo during the fight and all on board were lost, excepting the pilots and eight or ten men.