Remembering Arabella Griffith Barlow

Born in Somerville on February 29, 1824, Arabella Wharton Griffith Barlow is a descendent of both the Wallace and Hardenburgh families. She maintained a lifelong connection to the community even after she was raised in Burlington by her maternal cousin Eliza Wallace.

Intelligent, independent, and well educated, Arabella later moved to New York City, where she met and married Francis Channing Barlow in April 1861, just as the Civil War began. Francis would become a prominent Union general, but Somerville remained an important refuge for the couple. Arabella frequently returned to visit her mother and other relatives, including during periods when her husband was recovering from serious battlefield wounds.

Arabella refused to remain safely at home during the war. As a volunteer with the United States Sanitary Commission, she cared for sick and wounded soldiers and became known for her courage, compassion, and endurance. She twice helped nurse her gravely wounded husband back to health while continuing to serve countless other soldiers.

After months of exhausting work in Army of the Potomac hospitals, Arabella contracted a fatal illness and died on July 27, 1864, at age forty. She was brought home to Somerville for burial, returning in death to the community where her life began. She is buried in Somerville's Old Cemetery on South Bridge Street.

Today, Arabella is increasingly remembered as a remarkable Somerville native and New Jersey Civil War heroine whose life illustrates the essential contributions and sacrifices of women during the conflict.

Research on Arabella Griffith Barlow provided by Andrea M. Quinn, Historian and Author