Henry T. Blow
| Henry Taylor Blow | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1867 |
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| Preceded by | James S. Rollins |
| Succeeded by | Carman A. Newcomb |
| Member of the Missouri Senate | |
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In office 1854-1858 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 15, 1817 Southampton County, Virginia, USA |
| Died | September 11, 1875 (aged 58) Saratoga, New York, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Minerva Grimsley Blow |
| Profession | Politician, Businessman |
Henry Taylor Blow (July 15, 1817 – September 11, 1875) was a two-term U.S. Representative from Missouri and an ambassador to both Venezuela and Brazil.
Henry was born in Southampton County, Virginia, to Captain Peter and Elizabeth (Taylor) Blow, owners of the famous slave Dred Scott. Blow was the eighth of ten children. He 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 opened a boarding house, and hired out his slaves, including Dred Scott, who worked as a roustabout. Henry's mother died in 1831, followed by his father the next year.
Henry Blow graduated from Saint Louis University and started apprenticing in a law office, but was forced by the deaths of his parents to become a clerk in his brother-in-law Charless' business, selling paint and oil. Peter Blow had left his estate to his two unmarried daughters and Henry's younger brothers, Taylor and William. Henry was only fifteen when his father died, but that was old enough to be seen as a man able to survive on his own. Henry's married sister, Charlotte Taylor Blow, also did not receive an inheritance. She married Joseph Charless, Jr. in 1831. Charless' father had founded the first newspaper west of the Mississippi. The Charless family helped Henry after the death of his father and Henry began working as a clerk at their wholesale drug and paint company. When Joseph Charles Sr. retired in 1836, Henry was made a partner in the business. In 1838, the business was renamed Charless, Blow, and Company. Only a few years later, in 1844, the partnership was dissolved. Charless retained ownership of the drugstore and Blow kept the manufacturing firm, which was later known as Collier White Lead and Oil Company. The Collier Company was one of the largest factories in St. Louis.
Charless, Blow, and Company was not the only business that Blow would lead. Henry and his brother, Peter, created the Granby Mining and Smelting Company. Henry also served as president of the Iron Mountain Railroad for a time and helped to establish a furnace for the iron industry in Carondelet.
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