El
Dorado County
Biographies
ALBERT J. LOWRY
A half century has passed since
Albert J. Lowry came to California, arriving here in 1850, the year of the
admission of the state into the Union.
He is therefore numbered among her pioneer citizens and has borne his
part in the arduous labors which have contributed in a large measure to her
development, material progress and substantial upbuilding. He is a native of Ohio, born in Roseville,
Muskingum County, on the 16th of December, 1828. His grandfather, Canada Lowry, resided in New
York and Pennsylvania in his early life and afterward became one of the pioneer
settlers of Ohio. His son, Jeremiah
Lowry, the father of our subject, became a carpenter and subsequently engaged
in merchandising. He married Susannah
Haney. The father attained the age of
seventy-nine years, and the mother, surviving him for several years, passed
away at about the same age. They were
members of the Christian Church and their lives exemplified their faith. Ten of their children are still living in the
year 1900.
Albert J. Lowry, their eldest child,
is indebted to the public school system of his native state for the educational
privileges which he enjoyed. He
participated in the sports of boyhood during the periods of vacation and also
performed such duties as were assigned to him.
In 1850 he crossed the plains to California, making the journey with a
party from Missouri. They were five
months upon the way, and the usual incidents of such a trip befell them. The wagons were hauled by oxen and Mr. Lowry
drove a team, aided in the cooking of the meals and rendered himself generally
useful on the trip. It was on the 18th
of August, 1850, that he arrived in Placerville, just three weeks before the
admission of California into the Union.
Mining was then, as now, the leading industry of the state, and he began
placer mining with a pick, shovel and rocker.
The business was new to him and he met with only moderate success; but
he continued his operations in the mines until 1861, when he was appointed deputy
sheriff. He served for two years and was
then appointed deputy county clerk, serving for one term. On the expiration of that period he was made
postmaster under the administration of President Lincoln, acting in that
capacity for almost twenty years, or until the first election of President
Cleveland, when he was succeeded by a Democrat.
No higher testimonial of his efficiency and fidelity could be given than
the fact of his long continuation in office.
On the 28th of December, 1870, he had also been appointed
agent of the Wells-Fargo Express Company and is still serving in that important
office. Nor has this ended his public
service. For four years he was one of
the county supervisors of El Dorado County, being elected to that position in
1889. In his early manhood he was a
Douglas Democrat; but when the country became involved in civil war he joined
the ranks of the Republican Party, and has since become one of its stalwart
advocates.
Mr. Lowry is a worthy exemplar of
Masonic principles. He joined the order
in 1869, receiving the master’s degree at Indian Diggings. He has filled various offices and had the
honor of being master of El Dorado Lodge, No. 29, F. & A. M., for five
years.
In 1872 Mr. Lowry was united in
marriage to Mrs. Sarah Corning, the widow and C. W. Corning and a daughter of
James and Agnes Ardery. By her first marriage Mrs. Lowry had a daughter,
Edna, now the wife of T. J. Harris, of San Francisco. Mr. and Mrs. Lowry became the parents of one
daughter, Susie, the wife of G. C. Groezinger, also
of San Francisco. Mrs. Lowry is a valued
member of the Presbyterian Church and a lady of many excellent qualities and
enjoys in a marked degree the esteem of all who know her. Our subject and his wife have a delightful
home in Placerville and the circle of their friends is extensive. Through fifty years’ residence in California
Mr. Lowry has become thoroughly imbued with the progressive spirit of the age
and has taken a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the
welfare of the state, doing all in his power to promote the growth and
substantial upbuilding of the county in which he
resides.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 651-653. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden
Nugget Library's El Dorado County Biographies