Robert Lowry (governor)

Robert Lowry (March 10, 1829 – January 19, 1910) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 32nd governor of Mississippi from 1882 to 1890. Before entering politics, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

This article is about the 32nd governor of Mississippi. For the Baptist minister, see Robert Wadsworth Lowry.

Robert Lowry
Official portrait, 1905
32nd Governor of Mississippi
In office
January 2, 1882 – January 13, 1890
LieutenantG. D. Shands
Preceded byJohn M. Stone
Succeeded byJohn M. Stone
Personal details
Born(1829-03-10)March 10, 1829
Chesterfield District, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedJanuary 19, 1910(1910-01-19) (aged 80)
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Confederate States
Branch/service Confederate States Army
Years of service1861–1865
Rank Brigadier-General
Commands6th Mississippi Infantry
Lowry's Brigade
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Early life and military service
Lowry as State Senator

Robert Lowry was born in Chesterfield District, South Carolina on March 10, 1829,[1] and was raised in Mississippi. During the American Civil War, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate States Army. He quickly received a commission in the 6th Mississippi Infantry.[2] He commanded the regiment at the Battle of Shiloh, where it suffered very heavy casualties, and he was wounded.[3] In early 1864, he led the troops that were sent to put down the local uprising of citizens near Jones County, Mississippi.[4] Later, Lowry commanded a brigade of Mississippi regiments in the Third Corps, Army of Tennessee; in February 1865, he was finally promoted to brigadier-general. When the war was over, he returned to legal practice in Brandon. Lowry briefly served in the Mississippi State Senate after the war (1865–1866). Massive fraud in the gubernatorial election of 1881 resulted in the election of the subject over the Independent People's Party candidate, Benjamin King.[5]

Governor (1882–1890)

Between 1882 and 1890, he was the Democratic governor of Mississippi, serving two four-year terms. He could be called a Bourbon Democrat. The Farmers' Alliance movement continued to show local action in Yazoo County and most areas of the state.[6]

In September 1889, Lowry ordered the state militia to Leflore County, where organized by the Colored Farmers' National Alliance and Cooperative Union sparked false rumors of an impending Black "uprising." Militia troops killed an estimated 25 Black people.[7]

Political activity related to peonage and racial discrimination in the Mississippi delta and other areas of the state led to violence during his term of office.[8] Rapid industrial development occurred during his administration as well as the founding of the first state-supported women's college at Columbus.[9]

Personal life

Lowry was related to J.A.W. Lowry, a lawyer and politician in Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana.[10]

See also

References
  1. Glory in Grey – Volume 2
  2. Eicher, p. 355.
  3. Duval, Mary V. (1887). The Students' History of Mississippi. Louisville, KY: The Courier-Journal. p. 203.
  4. Coppock, Paul R. (February 3, 1980). "Lowry Brand of Bourbon". Commercial-Appeal (Memphis)
  5. Cresswell, Stephen Edward (1995). Multiparty Politics in Mississippi, 1877–1902. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. p. 200. ISBN 0878057706.
  6. (1888 November 15). "Board of Supervisors" Yazoo Sentinel (Yazoo City, MS).
  7. Holmes, William F. (1973). "The Leflore County Massacre and the Demise of the Colored Farmers' Alliance". Phylon. 34 (3): 267–274. doi:10.2307/274185. ISSN 0031-8906. JSTOR 274185. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  8. (1889 September 19). "More Race Troubles". Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS).
  9. "Robert Lowry: Thirty-second Governor of Mississippi". mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us. Archived from the original on November 17, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
  10. ""John A. W. Lowry of Bossier Parish, Louisiana" in Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Northwest Louisiana". Chicago and Nashville, Tennessee: Southern Publishing Company. 1890. Retrieved March 23, 2015.

Sources
  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8047-3641-1.
  • Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. ISBN 978-0-8160-1055-4.
  • Warner, Ezra J. Generals in Gray: Lives of the Confederate Commanders. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1959. ISBN 978-0-8071-0823-9.
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