THOMAS LOWE HUGHES:

An Inventory of the James Lowe and Family Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

OVERVIEW


	Creator:	Hughes, Thomas Lowe, compiler.
	Title:	James Lowe and family papers.
	Dates:	1491-2009 (bulk 1860-2009).
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Genealogical and biographical data, research notes, correspondence, family documents, photographs, and other materials relating to the family of James Lowe (1820-1896), a Murray County, Minnesota farmer and poet who had lived in Scotland, Quebec, and Iowa before coming to Minnesota. The material was collected by his great-grandson, Thomas Lowe Hughes, and includes both original and photocopied documents.
	Quantity:	4.0 cubic feet (4 boxes).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

James Lowe (1820-1896) was the son of David Lowe and Jean Duncan Lowe. He was an amateur farmer and poet who lived in Scotland, Canada, Iowa, and Minnesota. Lowe came from Aberdeen to Quebec in 1836 at the age of 15; to Waverly, Iowa with his family in 1868; and to Murray County, Minnesota in 1876. Lowe married Wilhelmina Elizabeth Schlaberg in 1845. The couple had eleven children: David (1846-1848), Rebecca (1848-1851), James Jr. (1849-1923), Jean (1852-1854), Charles (1853-1874), David (1856-1935), John (1857-1930), Thomas (1858-1939), William (1861-1949), Minnie (Wilhelmina Lowe Stine, 1863-1947), and Alexander (1866-1953).

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SCOPE AND CONTENTS

In addition to extensive data on several generations of family members, the collection features letters, documents, and poetry of James Lowe; letters and medical essays of Thomas Lowe (1858-1939), a physician in Slayton and Pipestone, Minnesota, and letters of his wife Sarah; an extensive narrative (1991) of field trips and adventures of Panama Canal Company geologists Joanne Lowe Stewart and her husband Robert Stewart; a published reminiscence by Richard Barrett Lowe, governor of American Samoa and Guam in the 1950s; an autobiography of Mark Trafton, a United Fruit Company agronomist in Panama, Honduras, Louisiana, and Florida; and an autobiography and novella by Thomas Alexander Lowe, a South St. Paul physician. Also contains extensive genealogical data on the allied families of Duncan, Whyte, Paul, and Stine.

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ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Hughes, Thomas Lowe, James Lowe and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,947

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, December 2014

Catalog ID number: 008100540

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION


Location	Box
153.I.14.12F	1	Lowe family Scottish ancestry:
			Background materials on Scottish genealogical research; on the Lowe family's Scottish ancestry; on actual or possible Scottish ancestors and their residences; and on the ancestral Duncan, MacLaren, and Stewart clans.
			Scottish genealogy background materials. 2 folders and 7 volumes.
				Pamphlets, brochures, and printed miscellany on Scottish clans and tartans, infantry uniforms, a historical map of Scotland, and resources for historical and genealogical study, particularly with relevance to Lowe family history.
			Scottish Genealogy Society, 1969-1992.
			American-Scottish Foundation, 1984-1987.
			Scottish family towns.
			Parish of Cortachy and Clova.
			Thomas Lowe Hughes visits to Scotland, 1948, 1961.
			Low (Lowe) Scottish ancestry. 2 folders.
			Pre-1855 gravestone inscriptions in Angus: volume one, Strathmore, 1979. 1 volume.
			Clan MacLaren, 1980-2004.
			Clan MacLaren Society newsletters, 1980-2009. 2 folders.
			Duncan genealogy. 2 folders.
			Stewart-Lindsay ancestry.
			Rashiebog: Dauvit (David) Ogilvy (Stewart line), 1888, 1984.
				Information on this ancestral family home.
			The Stewarts.
			White (Whyte) family.


Lowe family Scottish documents:
	Mainly lists, extracts, photocopies, and transcriptions of tacks (leases), muniments (documents establishing title to land and other assets), letters, and miscellaneous documents.
	Lowe family documents, 1612-1826.
		Printed monitory address (original, undated, family connection unknown); handwritten ledger page showing purchases of linens and drugs (original, 1826, family connection unknown); monument inscription for Doctor Peeter Low (1612, from an 1834 printed compilation); five handwritten tacks from the Earl of Airlie and Ogilvy family members to Low family members (photocopies, 1668-1765); two handwritten appraising tickets for property of an earlier James Low (photocopies, 1771, 1799).
	Thomas Lowe naval documents, 1799.
		Includes commission as lieutenant. This Thomas Lowe was possibly an uncle of the immigrant James Lowe.
	Airlie muniments, 1491-1748, 1983-1985.
	Duncan archival papers, 1660-1840.
	Charles Duncan's fright, undated. 2 copies.
		A chapter from Long ago legends of Clova.


		David Lowe and family:
			Genealogical and historical data, land records, letters, and miscellany of David Lowe (1785-1868), his wife Jean Duncan Lowe (1788-1871) and their family. David Lowe emigrated to Quebec, Canada in 1834, his son James in 1836, and the rest of the family in circa 1841.
			David Lowe and family data.
			David Lowe's Lachute land transactions, 1842-1864.
			Jean Duncan Lowe correspondence, 1836-1884.


Location	Box
153.I.14.13B	2	Margaret Lowe Paul (1824-1882) and family:
			Paul family genealogy, 1983.
			Paul family genealogy: Notes and miscellany.
			Alexander (Sandy) Paul (1849-1931) and family, 1880s-2004.
			Charles Paul (1865-1958) and family, 1934-1987.
			Paul family letters to Dr. Thomas Lowe, 1898-1907.


		David Lowe Jr. (1827-1863) and family:
			David Lowe Jr. family genealogical miscellany, 1862-1987.


James Lowe (1820-1896) and family:
	James Lowe: Canada, 1836-1859.
	James Lowe: Canada, 1860-1868.
	James Lowe trip to California, 1867-1868. 2 folders.
		In 1867-1868 James and his eldest son, James Jr., spent several months in California in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to recoup his finances. Includes information on Fort Ross and the Isthmus of Panama.
	James Lowe: Iowa, 1868-1876.
	James Lowe: Minnesota, 1876-1896. 3 folders.
		Miscellaneous information on the Lowes' move to Murray County, Minnesota and their life there; numerous poems by him; James Lowe obituaries; Wilhelmina Lowe death certificate and obituary; and photographs of their headstone.
	The Lowe-Schlaberg feud.
		James Lowe and his father-in-law, Charles Frederick Schlaberg, intensely despised each other, apparently precipitated by Lowe's alcoholism. This file contains some background on the feud, and extracts from Lowe's letters and other writings reflecting his feelings toward Schlaberg.
	James Lowe seeks loans from Queen Victoria, 1878, 1881.
		Handwritten drafts or copies of two letters to Queen Victoria of England asking for money to clear his debts (1878, 1881), and a poem written on the death of her daughter, Princess Alice (1878).
	Letters to James Lowe from Lachute, Quebec, 1867-1890.
	James Lowe library books list, undated.
	James Lowe poetry.
	James and Wilhelmina Lowe photographs.


James Lowe descendants:
	Lowe descendants in the United States,
	Lowe descendants: J. L. Holm research, circa 2009.
		Genealogical chart and accompanying biographical data. Holm's relationship to the Lowe family is not apparent. A note in the file written by T. L. Hughes states that it is full of errors.
	Photograph of children of James Lowe, circa 1890.


		James Lowe Jr. (1849-1923) and family:
			James Lowe, Jr. biographical and genealogical data.
			James Lowe Jr. letters, 1868-1874.
			James Lowe Jr. and family photographs.
			Charles Frederick Lowe.
			John William ("Jack") Lowe, circa 1890-2003.
			James David Lowe, undated and 1954-1987.
			Wilhelmina (Lowe) Mitson, 1902-1994.
			Florence (Lowe) Haberman, undated and 1941-1994.
			Miles Howard Lowe.
			Harry Alexander Lowe, circa 1900-2004.
			George Kenneth Lowe, 1935-2006.


		Charles Frederick Lowe (1853-1874), 1867-1875, 2005.
			Son of James Lowe; died in a hunting accident. Includes letters from Charles, mainly 1874 from Iowa and on his fatal hunting trip; poems by him; obituaries; coroner's report; James Lowe's poems on his death; and a photograph.


		David Lowe (1856-1935), circa 1900-1941.


		John ("Jack") Lowe (1857-1930).


Location	Box
153.I.14.14F	3	Thomas Lowe (1858-1939) and family:
			Content notes from donor.
			Biographical and genealogical data.
			Thomas Lowe obituaries and memorials, 1939.
			Photographs, 1870-1940. 2 folders.
			Thomas and Sarah Lowe golden wedding photographs, 1937.
			Thomas Lowe: Youth, schooling, 1879-1895.
			Poems by Thomas Lowe.
			Thomas Lowe speeches and essays, undated and 1890s.
			Thomas Lowe medical papers, 1898-1981.
			Free silver, 1896, 1898.
			State and national politics, 1898-1933.
				Includes an invitation to the wedding of Ignatius Donnelly (1898); several letters from state and national political figures, including William Jennings Bryan (1908); correspondence regarding John A. Johnson's Minnesota gubernatorial campaign (1908) and the 1912 state and national campaigns; and miscellaneous political letters from later years.
			Mayor of Pipestone, Minnesota: Proclamations and notices, 1929-1932.
			State legislature, 1936-1939.
			Sarah Southwell essays and art.
			Thomas and Sarah Lowe correspondence, 1887-1939. 15 folders.
				Letters in 1892-1897 give news of family, friends, and medical activities, with a few comments on the Chicago World's Fair (1893) and the devastation left by the Wisconsin forest fires (1895). Thomas' letters in 1898 and 1901 give details about his medical studies, as well as sightseeing in New York City and the development of his medical practice in Slayton. A letter from a Mrs. N. Kenison (1908) talks of life in the Panama Canal Zone. Files include some letters to daughter Alice Hughes and her family (1920s-1930s).
			William M. Lowe and family, 1898-1992.
			Douglas M. Lowe and family, 1942-2007.
			Betty Lowe Pinkham and family, circa 1930-2006.
			Margaret Lowe, 1896-1978.
Location	Box
153.I.15.1B	4		Alice Lowe Hughes and family, 1943-2001.
			Duncan Paul Lowe and family, circa 1905-1992.


		Content notes from donor.


William Lowe (1861-1949) and family:
	Biographical and genealogical data.
	Photographs.
	William Lowe letters, 1885-1907.
	Helen Lowe Mundy and family, 1937-2003.
	Annual Christmas letters from William Lowe Mundy, 1987-2008.
	George Lowe and family, 1937-2009 (bulk 1980s-1990s).
	Stewart's adventures, 1991.
		Narrative by Robert Stewart recounting field trips and other adventures of himself and Joanne ("Jay") Lowe in Central America, particularly Panama, 1947-1960s.
	Barrett Lowe and family, circa 1937-2005.
		Includes information about Barrett's service as governor of American Samoa (1953-1956) and Guam (1956-1959), and the Lowes' restoration of George Washington's Cameron Street town house in Alexandria, Virginia (1959-1961).
	Problems in paradise : the view from Government House, 1967. 1 volume.
		Barrett Lowe's story of the trials and tribulations of governing tiny island territories thousands of miles from the United States.
	Bruce Anderson Lowe and family, 1943-1996.
	Cameron Lowe and family, 1954-2005.


		Wilhelmina (Minnie) Lowe Stine (1863-1947) and family:
			Minnie Lowe Stine family.
			David Lowe (Tad) Stine, 1902-1987.
			Richard, Janet, and Alan Stine, 1947-2004.
			Stine family: Traftons, 1952-1993.
			Mark Trafton, Jr. autobiography, 1986. 2 folders.
			Stine: Hamer, Hulse, 1986-2004.
			Stine: Wilbur Trafton, 1990-circa 1997.
			Stine: Tobin, 1994-1998.
			Alan Stine charts to be corrected.


Alexander Lowe (1866-1953) and family:
	Alexander Lowe, 1886-1953.
	Alex Lowe photographs.
	I remember Alec, undated.
		Typescript reminiscence by family friend Lucille Weld Reynolds.
	Alex Lowe (Reed, Cosper line), 1961-2009.
	Walter Lowe, 1938-circa 1994.
	Dr. Thomas Lowe, 1919-1990.
	Dr. Earl Lowe, 1943-2006.
	George H. Lowe and family, 1938-2006.
	George A. Lowe, 1979-2006.

CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Scottish Americans -- Minnesota.

Persons:: Duncan family.; Lowe, Ja. (James), author.; Lowe, Richard Barrett, author.; Lowe, Sarah, author.; Lowe, Thomas Alexander, author.; Paul family.; Stein family.; Stewart, Joanne Lowe, author.; Stewart, Robert, author.; Trafton, Mark, author.; White family.

Document Types:: Photographs.; Poetry.

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THOMAS LOWE HUGHES:

OVERVIEW

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CATALOG HEADINGS