Stanislaus
County
Biographies
FREDERICK W. LOWE, M. D.
Although one of
the younger representatives of the medical profession in Stanislaus County, Dr.
Lowe is enjoying a large and lucrative practice as a physician and surgeon. His years seem no bar to his success, for he
has prepared himself carefully for the discharge of the important duties which
devolve upon him, and his skill and ability, both natural and acquired, have
enabled him to capably minister to the needs of the sick and suffering at
Knights Ferry and through the adjoining country.
The Doctor was born at Knights
Ferry, on the 8th of September, 1870, and is a son of Dr. James
Humble Lowe, one of the early physicians of Stanislaus County, where for many
years he practiced with splendid success.
He was born in Louisiana on the 20th of June, 1836, and was
graduated from the medical department of the State University of Louisiana in
1858. He then engaged in practice in his
native state and during the Civil War served as surgeon in the Confederate
army. He was wounded by the explosion of
a shell, but recovering he remained at his post of duty until the cessation of
hostilities. After the close of the war
he engaged in the practice of medicine and in the raising of cattle in
Louisiana until 1868, when he determined to take up his abode in California,
arriving at Knights Ferry in February of that year. For thirty-two years he was an honored and
valued member of the medical fraternity of Stanislaus County. In the early days he rode on horseback forty
or fifty miles to minister to the suffering people of the community, never
refusing to respond to a call no matter what hardships were entailed
thereby. Added to his excellent ability
and careful preparation his was a very generous and noble spirit which prompted
him to put aside all personal wishes when his fellow men needed his
professional services. He responded as
freely to the call of the poor as to the rich, never stopping to consider
whether he would receive remuneration for his services. He won the love and respect of many and his
memory is enshrined in the hearts of a very large circle of friends. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and
his life exemplified its benevolent principles.
On the 16th of October, 1900, he was called to his final rest
and his loss was deeply and sincerely mourned throughout his portion of the
state.
Dr. James Lowe had been happily
married on the 18th of November, 1869, to Miss Hulla
Maria Kapplemann, a native of Germany, but reared in
Wisconsin. Their union was blessed with
four sons, all of whom are living, and the good wife still survives her
husband, residing in a nice home which he had provided for her in Knights
Ferry. The sons are well known in
business circles and are as follows:
Frederick W., whose name heads this record; Eugene, who is chief
electrician on the United States gunboat, Castine; Milus O., who is an engineer; and C. D., who is in the
railway postal service, his route being between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Dr. Frederick W. Lowe of this review
is the eldest of the family. His common
school education was supplemented by a course in the University of California
and he was graduated from its medical department on the 13th of
December, 1892. For a year he was in the
United States Marine Hospital and the Presidio.
He then returned to his home in Knights Ferry and joined his father in
practice, the association between them continuing until the latter’s death. Dr. Lowe has since carried on the work laid
down by his father and is the only physician in the town. While in the hospital he gave special
attention to surgery and is particularly well qualified in that branch of his
chosen work, but he engaged in general practice with excellent success. A member of the Masonic fraternity he belongs
to the blue lodge, was one of the charter members, and is past patron of the
Eastern Star. In politics he is a
Democrat, prominent in the work of his party and is now serving on the
Democratic county central committee. He
is a member of the board of school trustees of the town in which he was born
and in which he still makes his home, and as a citizen he has ever been
public-spirited and progressive, giving his support to all measures calculated
to prove of public benefit along social, moral, material and intellectual
lines.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 759-760. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2011
Gerald Iaquinta.