Joseph Macauley Lowe: The Indiana Years and a Happy Birthday

Earlier this week, on the 13th, was the day J.M. Lowe, the inspiration for this blog, was born in Callensville, Pendleton County, Kentucky.  The year was 1844.  He was the son of Moses and Nancy Watson Porter Lowe.  He was the eighth of ten children and the youngest son. I found this picture of a young J.M. Lowe on Ancestry.com.

Joseph Macauley Lowe

As I said in this post, his father died when he was young.  According to his biography found in Battles and Biographies of Missourians in the Civil War Period of Our State by W.L. Webb, J.M. was a courier in the Confederate Army, serving three months before ending up in Indiana.  I have not found any official record of his service but haven't stopped looking.  Just how did he wind up in Indiana before the war's end? I hope to find out one day. 

J.M. first appeared in Indiana in 1863. He was teaching in one of the district schools in Greenfield, Hancock County. There doesn't seem be any information on the schools in Hancock County dating back to J.M.'s time there.  I've checked in all the usual places; the Historical Society and the library.  While employed as a teacher, he read law. This was done under the tutelage of James L. Mason, a local lawyer, during the evenings and his spare time. In 1864, he was appointed a clerk in the Indiana State Senate.  He held this position for two years. He passed his exam and was admitted to the Indiana Bar on 15 Aug 1866.  

This article appeared in his local paper in 1867: 

The Hancock Democrat

November 7, 1867

found on newspapers.com

His bid was unsuccessful and he headed to Missouri in 1868.  The communication apparently didn't appear in the paper either of the next two weeks (or part of the paper was missing from the Newspapers.com scan). 

Sources:

newspapers.com - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9994667/jm_lowe_in_greenfield_in_1867/?xid=865 

Kansas City, Missouri: Its History and Its People 1800-1908 by Carrie Westlake Whitney.