Louis Kinney Harlow was born on March 28, 1850 in Wareham, MA and died in 1913. After attending school at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, Harlow went into business and married Julia Coombs. They started their family and eventually had three children.

His subjects were usually landscapes, and he provided the colour lithographer Louis Prang with a stream of watercolour views of New England that were used in his illustrated works.