Lowe Family of Upper Alton
THE LOWE FAMILY
Pioneers of Upper Alton
NEHEMIAH LOWE (1768-1817) was born in Upper Marlboro, Prince
George’s County, Maryland. He married in 1799 to Christiana Elkins
(1780-1830), a native of Virginia, and they had the following
children:
Zephaniah Lowe (1799-1890)
William Calvin Lowe (1801-1866)
George W. Lowe (1805-1859)
Sylvester Woodville Lowe (1812-1877).
Nehemiah Lowe died on September 6, 1817, in Monroe County, West
Virginia, at the age of 48 or 49 years. His burial site is unknown.
His wife, Christiana Lowe, died in 1830 at the age of 49 or 50
years, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
In 1829, the sons of Nehemiah & Christiana Lowe moved to St. Louis,
Missouri, where they lived for two months. William Lowe, with two of
his brothers, crossed the Mississippi River on the ferry and walked
to Upper Alton, where they decided to live. The brothers and their
families settled in Upper Alton, where their mother, Christiana
Lowe, died in 1830 at the age of 49 or 50 years. She was buried in
the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
ZEPHANIAH LOWE (1799-1890), the oldest son of Nehemiah Lowe, became a prominent carpenter and builder in the Alton area. He was highly respect by all who knew him. He married twice – to Abigail Wade (1811-1873), sister of Samuel Wade [Alton mayor and banker] of Alton; and to Mary Matthew (1812-?). Zephaniah was father of the following children: Mary C. Lowe (1824-1894), who married steamboat captain William P. LaMothe; George M. Lowe (abt. 1841-1913); Henry C. Lowe (1845-1925); and Addie Louise Lowe (1851-1906); who married William Wallace Peckham. Zephaniah Lowe and his brother, Sylvester, helped build Shurtleff College in Upper Alton. Zephaniah died in October 1890 at the home of his son-in-law, W. W. Peckham in Ravenswood near Chicago, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Mary C. Lowe (daughter of Zephaniah Lowe) was
born in 1824 in Virginia. She married in 1842 to steamboat captain
William P. LaMothe, and they had four children: Emeline L. Lamothe
Harrison (1843-1905); William E. LaMothe (1845-1874); George Andrew
LaMothe (1847-1868); Edward Arthur LaMothe (1849-1850); Virginia A.
LaMothe McCarthy (1858-1923); Florence Mabelle LaMothe (1859-1920);
and Charles Lockwood LaMothe (1860-1936). Mary Lowe LaMothe died
August 7, 1894, and is buried in the Alton City Cemetery.
George M. Lowe (son of Zephaniah Lowe) was born in about 1841. When
the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the 2nd Illinois Cavalry
under Major Franklin Moore of Upper Alton. He died in September 1913
of diabetes. He had lived in the South (possibly Memphis, Tennessee,
where a son, Henry C. Lowe, lived) since the close of the Civil War.
Henry C. Lowe (son of Zephaniah Lowe) was born in 1845 in Illinois.
He married in 1873 to Mary A. Luzadder. His occupation was steamboat
pilot in 1910. Henry died of prostate cancer on March 14, 1925, in
Memphis, Tennessee. He is buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.
It is unknown if he had children.
Addie Louise Lowe (daughter of Zephaniah Lowe) was born May 02,
1851, in Illinois. She married in 1871 to William Wallace Peckham,
and they had at least two children: May Peckham Roberts (1876-1926)
and William W. Peckham (1881-1954). Addie Lowe Peckham died December
29, 1906, in Chicago, and is buried in the Graceland Cemetery in
Chicago.
WILLIAM CALVIN LOWE (1801-1866) was born in Virginia, and settled in Upper Alton. He married in 1822 to Mary Catherine Spade (1801-1851). They had the following children: Alfred Humbert Lowe (?-1897); Michael A. Lowe (1823-1910); Richard Edgar Lowe (1825-1905); William Calvin Lowe Jr. (1827-1896); John L. Lowe (1832-1890); Unknown son (per obit of Samuel Stanton Lowe); and Samuel Stanton Lowe (1842-1924). Following the death of Mary, William remarried to Galena Humphries Schott (?-1899), and they had one son, Frank K. Lowe (1861-1935). William and his family lived on Washington Avenue, between Benbow and Bloomfield Avenues, in Upper Alton. William Calvin Lowe Sr. died in November 1866, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Michael A. Lowe (son of William Calvin Lowe)
was born in Uniontown, Virginia in 1823. He came with his parents to
St. Louis, then moved to Upper Alton, where he became a well-known
resident. Michael Lowe was present at the Lincoln-Douglas debate in
Alton in 1858. He married Eliza Wagner, and together they conducted
a summer boarding house at their residence at Main Street and
Grandview Avenue in Upper Alton. Their home was on a 100-acre tract.
Michael and Eliza had the following children: William P. Lowe
(1847-1885); Charles A. Lowe (1848-1886); Edward L. Lowe
(1851-1916); Alice E. Lowe Tesson (1853-1915), wife of Frank
Barncastle Tesson (Alice and Frank were aboard the ship RMS
Lusitania on May 7, 1915, when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat
and sank. Their bodies were never recovered); Harry Lowe
(1860-1880); and James E. Lowe (1871-1919). Michael died in April
1910, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery. In 1917,
the Michael Lowe homestead was purchased by Mrs. Herman Luer, who
converted the 18-room residence into the Grandview Apartments. She
had workers install bathrooms on three of the floor, and made other
improvements. The rest of the property was divided into tracts for
homes.
Richard “Dick” Edgar Lowe (son of William Calvin Lowe) was born
January 4, 1825 in Virginia. He was a well-known resident of Upper
Alton. He conducted the Laclede Hotel in Upper Alton for 25 years.
He was best known as a horseman, and devoted much of his life to
them. He owned a famous race horse named “M.C. Jr.,” and his farm on
the brow of the hill overlooking what was later the site of the
Federal Lead Works was known as “M.C. Jr.’s Home.” Richard married
in 1846 to Frances Ann Rader (1829-1899), and they had eight
children.
William
Calvin Lowe Jr. (son of William Calvin Lowe Sr.) was born June 27,
1827, in Virginia. He came with his father’s family to St. Louis,
then Upper Alton. He was a witness of the early history and growth
of Upper Alton, and remembered the Civil War soldiers camping in
Upper Alton. He married Susan Harriet Waggoner (1831-1910), and they
had ten children. William died September 17, 1896, and was buried in
the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
John L. Lowe (son of William Calvin Lowe) was born in 1832 in Alton,
Illinois. He married Emaline “Emily” Hunt, who was born in Illinois
in about 1831. John was in business in Upper Alton, then moved onto
a farm in the southern part of Madison County. There, he became
insane in about 1889, and was sent to Jacksonville, Illinois asylum,
where he died October 18, 1890. His remains were brought to Upper
Alton, where he was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery.
Alfred Humbert Lowe (son of William Calvin Lowe) was born in October
1839 in Upper Alton. He served as a soldier in Company F, 27th
Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. He married in 1870 to
Henrietta Elizabeth Schott (1849-1926), and they had six children.
Alfred died in Upper Alton on April 4, 1897, and is buried in the
Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Samuel Stanton Lowe (last son of William Calvin Lowe) was born March
7, 1842, on Washington Avenue, between Benbow and Bloomfield Avenues
in Upper Alton. He was the youngest of seven brothers, all of whom
died before him. In 1858, Samuel accompanied a government caravan in
a cross-country trip to Denver, driving a team of oxen. A brother
went along on this trip. Buffalo would often cause problems for the
caravan, and once they were involved in a buffalo stampede, narrowly
escaping with their lives. After his return to Upper Alton, the
Civil War broke out, and he enlisted. After returning home from the
war, he never left the area again. He married in 1866 to Sarah Belle
Cooper (1846-1916), and they had four children. After the death of
his wife in 1916, Samuel moved into the home of his youngest son,
Millard Lowe, on Washington Avenue. Samuel died on March 8, 1924,
and was buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
GEORGE W. LOWE (1805-1859) was born in Virginia in 1805, and settled in Upper Alton. He married Harriet Holliday (1814-1887), and they had the following children: George P. Lowe (?-1864); Margaret Lowe Nye (1830-1909); Sophia Deliliah Lowe Greathouse (1837-1920); William A. Lowe (1838-1918); Elizabeth Lowe (abt. 1841-1860); John Harvey Lowe (1844-1900); Laura Harriett Lowe Butts (1847-1923); and Amie Lowe Butts (1853-1933). George Lowe died on March 16, 1859, at the age of 53 or 54 years. He was buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Margaret Lowe (daughter of George W. Lowe)
was born in Carthage, Illinois, April 01, 1831. She married in 1858
to John Nye, and they had eight children, of which four preceded her
in death. Four of their children were: George W. Nye (1858-1944);
Florence R. Nye Parsons (1865-1940); Amy Armity Nye LeMaster
(1869-1918); and John Nye (1871-1934). Margaret died October 15,
1909, in Clark County, Missouri. She was buried in Sand Cemetery in
Saint Francisville, Missouri.
Sophia Deliliah Lowe (daughter of George W. Lowe) was born October
8, 1837, in Keokuk, Iowa. She married in 1867 to Isaac Greathouse,
and they had at least two children: James Napoleon Greathouse
(1873-1948) and Margaret Greathouse Boone (1876-1943). Sophia died
September 19, 1920, in Kahoka, Missouri, and is buried in the Kahoka
Cemetery.
William A. Lowe (son of George W. Lowe) was born in 1838. He served
four years in the Civil War, serving under General Thomas and
General Ulysses S. Grant. He married Anna Holley (1848-1944), and
they had two daughters. William and his family moved to Oklahoma
City, Oklahoma in 1890, and was one of the city’s pioneer residents.
He died there January 4, 1918, at the age of 80 years. He was buried
in the Fairlawn Cemetery in Oklahoma City.
Elizabeth Lowe (daughter of George W. Lowe) was born in about 1841,
and died in February 1860, at the age of 19 years. She was buried in
the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
George P. Lowe (son of George W. Lowe) was born ? He served during
the Civil War in Company D, 133rd Illinois Infantry, and died from
his wounds August 3, 1864, in Rock Island County, Illinois. He was
buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Upper Alton.
John Harvey Lowe (son of George W. Lowe) was born April 27, 1844, in
Missouri. He married on December 25, 1877, to Sarah “Sadie” Jane
Karr (1859-1891), and they had one son, Guerney Ratio Lowe
(1880-1955). After Sarah Karr Lowe died in 1891, John H. Lowe
remarried to Jennie Mills. They had an infant daughter who was born
and died in 1897. John divorced Jennie about a year or two before
his death. John died of malaria in Newton County, Missouri, on April
27, 1900, at the age of 56 years. He is buried in the Odd Fellows
Cemetery in Neosho, Newton County, Missouri.
Laura Harriett Lowe (daughter of George W. Lowe) was born December
17, 1847, in St. Francisville, Missouri. She married in Alton,
Illinois, on October 03, 1866, to J. J. Flaharty. To this union were
born three children: Nellie, Miles, and Albert. Nellie and Miles
died when young. Laura married at Kahoka, Missouri on September 25,
1889, to Frank Amos Butts (1865-1934). The family moved to Newton,
Kansas in 1906. Laura died there on May 21, 1923, at the age of 75
years. She was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Newton.
Amie Lowe (daughter of George W. Lowe) was born November 13, 1853.
She married to Andrew Geeding, who died June 18, 1922. Following the
death of her sister, Laura Lowe Butts, in 1923, Amie married her
brother-in-law, Frank Butts. They lived in Newton, Kansas. Both
Frank and Andrew Geeding trained horses. Frank was also a veterinary
surgeon. Amie died on February 01, 1933, at the age of 79 years. She
is buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Newton, Kansas.
SYLVESTER WOODVILLE LOWE (1812-1877) was born in Virginia in 1812. He settled in Upper Alton until 1855, when he moved to Alton. Sylvester married Mary Unknown (1821-1840). She died in Upper Alton in January 1840, at the age of 19 years. Sylvester then married Sarah Ann Matthews (1821-1854), a native of Missouri. They had five children: Mary J. Lowe (1846-1854; John Herman Lowe (1848-1928); Freddy Lowe (1850-1859); Warren Washington Lowe (1851-1931). Following the death of Sarah Matthews Lowe of cholera in 1854, Sylvester marred Sarah Ann Robinson (1833-1888), a native of Dorchester Massachusetts. They had two children: Ellen “Ella” Lowe (1857-1860); and Nellie W. Lowe Sutton (1860-1940). Sylvester and his brother, Zephaniah, helped build Shurtleff College. Sylvester died of typhoid fever in 1877, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Mary J. Lowe (daughter of Sylvester Woodville
Lowe and Sarah Ann Matthews Lowe) was born in 1846. She died of
cholera in 1854, at the age of 7 or 8 years. She was buried in the
Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
John H. Lowe (son of Sylvester Woodville Lowe and Sarah Ann Matthews
Lowe) was born May 25, 1848, on the corner of College Avenue and
Seminary Street, where the Upper Alton Baptist Church stands. He and
his brother, Warren W. Lowe, lived together all their lives, and
were very close. The brothers passed through an epidemic of cholera
that visited Alton in 1854, which took both their mother and a
sister. John Lowe never married. He followed the carpenter trade in
his younger days, and later he engaged in the lightning rod business
with Marion T. Christy. They traveled many miles into the country in
Madison and surrounding counties, to place rods on farm buildings.
John Lowe died in the home he shared with Warren Lowe, on February
11, 1928. He was buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Warren Washington Lowe (son of Sylvester Woodville Lowe and Sarah
Ann Matthews Lowe) was born February 26, 1851. Due to a cholera
epidemic in 1854, he lost both his mother and sister. His brother,
John H. Lowe, lived with him. Warren married in 1879 to Mary Eliza
Gillham (1852-1922), daughter of Daniel Brown Gillham, a State
Representative and later, Illinois Senator. They had the following
children: Sadie Lowe Smith (1878-1959); Benjamin Herman Lowe
(1880-1933); Sue Lowe Olmstead (1881-1967); and Fredrick Warren Lowe
(1890-1899). Warren Lowe was one of the earliest realtors in Alton,
who sold property on the time-payment plan - $5 down, and $5 a month
thereafter. He did business in Upper Alton and Alton (in the Laura
Building). He was part of a syndicate that erected business
buildings on Washington Avenue in Upper Alton. He served on the
Upper Alton village board and school board, and was a member of the
Oakwood Cemetery board of trustees. He died at the age of 80 years,
on July 23, 1831, in his home at 2802 Edwardsville Street in Upper
Alton. Surviving him were two daughters and one son.
Richard Sylvester Lowe (son of Sylvester Woodville Lowe and Sarah
Ann Matthews Lowe) was born in 1854. He died in 1866 at the age of
11 or 12 years, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Ella Lowe (daughter of Sylvester Woodville Lowe and Sarah A.
Robinson Lowe) was born in 1857. She died at the age of 2 or 3 years
in 1860, and is buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Nellie Woodville Lowe (daughter of Sylvester Woodville Lowe and
Sarah A. Robinson Lowe) was born in Alton on November 9, 1860. She
married a Mr. A. H. Sutton, and they had two daughters, one of which
was Sarah Helen Sutton Haney (1896-1961). The family lived in
Winchester, Illinois. Nellie died at the home of her brother, Warren
Lowe, at the age of 42 years in Alton, on August 15, 1903. She is
buried in the Upper Alton Oakwood Cemetery.
Sources:
Alton Evening Telegraph
Find A Grave
Madison County ILGenWeb