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. 

I Give... Here's My Five

I've noticed that I've only had a few "idle" hours in the past couple of years. That's sad. My goal when I started this blog was to write about my ancestors. I thought taking them on one at a  time would be a great way of writing the family history. At the rate I'm going, I'm going to have to live (and have my mind and eyesight) another 120 years. Not happening.

If you've been on social media and in a genealogy group there, sooner or later THE question is going to be asked. I bet you know what I'm going to say, right? Yes, that's the one. "If you could talk with any of your ancestors, which one/ two/three/ five would you like to talk with and why?" I usually just scroll on by. Most people want their brick walls dismantled. Don't we all?  How brazen of them. Well, I'm an administrator of one of those social media genealogy groups and a few days ago I asked that same question but with the caveat that the visit could have nothing to do with a brick wall. Hey, these folks were good. They had genuine interests and weren't just looking for an easy way through the wall (although I'm willing to bet copious sums of money borrowed at high interest rates at short term that most would steer the interview in the direction of that wall. I know these people.).

This compound question led me to think. That can be dangerous at times. I thought I'd blog about the five ancestors I'd like to meet and why, while avoiding the proverbial brick wall questions. I thought I'd write it in the form of a letter to you, my future "cousin", "niece", "nephew", "grandchild".  Aren't you feeling lucky? Here goes:

An Idle Hour

A couple of years back I began working on my Lowe family line and in doing so came across this jewel:

Joseph Macauley (J.M.) Lowe would have been my 4-great uncle, the brother of my 3rd great-grandfather, William "Thomas" Lowe. 

I've known I was a Lowe descendant most of my life and was familiar with the names Moses (J.M.'s father),  Jake and Alvin (nephews of J.M.), and a few others. My father remembered "Uncle Jake Lowe" and always said his full name when he spoke of him. My mother's grandfather spoke of Alvin and his store in Williamstown. I knew who some of Uncle Jake's descendants were - went to school with one. When I'd ask my father how we were related (obviously his last name wasn't Carr or Abercrombie or Angell, the names I knew the "how" about), he'd say "through the Carrs". What an answer, right? One time I did get him to say that his great-grandmother Carr was a Lowe before she married. I really don't think he knew more than that.  He didn't even know her first name. I've often wondered why he didn't know more and haven't been able to decide. I find not knowing to be a bit irksome! But such is life, right?  So finding Judge J.M. Lowe in my family tree was like winning the lottery. I was beginning to connect the dots. Thomas and  "Mack" (as he was known in Pendleton County) led me to Moses, my fifth great-grandfather.

During his youth, J.M. Lowe was an ordinary boy. He swam in the Mill Pond with his brothers and the neighbor boys on Saturday afternoons. He worked on the farm. He had the ordinary boyhood memories: of grandma, of singing, of church, and of family. Yet he grew up, left Pendleton County, Kentucky and became extraordinary, someone his descendants should be proud to claim. Researching and studying him makes me wonder if the mark I've made during my time in 'life's pilgrimage' will be worthy of a page in someone's blog a hundred years or so after my pilgrimage has ended.

During the Civil War, J.M. Lowe enlisted in the 4th Kentucky Cavalry Company D, CSA. He served three months. Upon returning home, he went to Indiana where he taught school and read law in the evenings. After passing the bar, he moved to Missouri, working as an attorney, a prosecutor, judge, and eventually the  President of the National Old Trails Road Association. As president of the Association, he pushed for federal funding of an "ocean to ocean" highway based on connecting the old trails such as the Santa Fe trail. He put much time and effort into this organization.  On paper, he seems tireless. In reality, I'm sure there were times he was exhausted. He didn't give up. That's his legacy. When the going got tough, as I'm sure it did, he kept going.

                            Judge Joseph Macauley Lowe



This book is in the public domain and is available to download free here:  An Idle Hour in Life's Pilgrimage by J.M. Lowe

Other Sources:
Legendary Route 66: A Journey Through Time Along America's Mother Road by Michael Karl Witzel & Gyval Young-Witzel
The national old trails road : the great historic highway of America by Judge J.M. Lowe