Notes for: Alexander J. Lowther
In 1822, Alexander Lowther was the first settler in, and founder of, the community of Oxford, in present-day Doddridge County, WV, near the Ritchie County border. He was one of the earliest Justices of the Peace in the region.
We previously reported another child with this family, a daughter Emily, b. 1819, d. 1903, the only basis for which was Don Norman's "Descendants of Robert Lowther." We now believe that to have been an error that resulted from confusion with son Alexander (1816-1903) and his wife Emily (1819-1892).
Similarly, we had also previously reported another son with this family, Sinnett, b. 1830, d. 1919, citing the same source. But no corroborating evidence of that child has been found, and we now believe his inclusion to have been in error, possibly resulting from confusion with son John Alexander (b. 1820) and his wife Elizabeth Sinnett (1831-1913).
1830 Census, Harrison County, Virginia (now West Virginia), Western District:
Household of Alexander Lowther:
1 male age 30-40 (this would be Alexander himself)
2 males age 10-15 (Alexander, William)
2 males age 5-10 (John, Jesse)
1 male under 5 (Archibald)
1 female age 30-40 (wife Sarah)
1 female age 10-15 (Margaret, Rebecca .... one is not counted)
1 female under 5 (Elizabeth)
With the one exception as noted, these counts conform closely to this family as we have it.
1840 Census, Harrison County, Virginia (now West Virginia):
Household of Alexander Lowther:
1 male age 40-50 (Alexander himself)
1 male age 20-30 (William)
2 males age 15-20 (John, Jesse)
1 male age 10-15 (Archibald)
2 males age 5-10 (Robert, Andrew)
1 female age 40-50 (wife Sarah)
1 female age 20-30 (Margaret)
1 female age 10-15 (Elizabeth)
Son Alexander had married in 1837, but Rebecca (age 16) and Catherine (age 6) are not accounted for at all.
1850 Census, Ritchie County, Virginia (now West Virginia), Western District, enumerated on Sep 4 1850:
Alex Lowther, 59, farmer; Rachel, 49; Robert, 19; Jackson, 17; Cath, 16; Rebecca, 18; Sarah, 9; Philander S. Austin, 29, merchant.
(Note: Sequence and ages are exactly as listed on the census form. Rebecca's placement and age are curious, since she is known from other census returns and her death record to have been born in 1824.)
1860 Census, Ritchie County, Virginia (now West Virginia), enumerated on Jul 26 1860:
Alexander Lowther, 69, farmer; Rachel Lowther, 59; Sarah J. Lowther, 19; Rachel J. Bice, 13.
(Note: Relationship of Rachel Bice to this family is not known.)
Alexander Lowther's grandson, the Rev. Granville Lowther (1848-1933), D.D., wrote in 1907:
"Another son, Alexander Lowther, my grandfather, was in temperament nervous, quick and excitable; a man of strong will power, who scoffed at the idea of failure. He was hopeful, cheerful and sociable, with enough imagination to have been a poet, novelist, or orator; but living where these powers were not in demand, he exercised his imagination in laying plans for the future of his children, building machinery and buying almost every patent device that agents tried to sell to him. He was hospitable to a fault, and for miles in every direction people knew that if they reached 'Uncle Alex Lowther's' about meal time or night, food or lodging were as free as the water from the well. In this way he gave to travellers hundreds of dollars, but gained in return the information and sociability they brought into his home, for it was before the days of newspapers, railroads or telegraph, and the principal source of information of a public character was gained from travellers passing from place to place on horseback. He was never a member of church, inclining to a belief in the doctrine of Universalism. When he was approaching death, he appeared for a time a little disturbed about his destiny in the future, until someone read to him the language of Christ, 'I was hungered and ye gave me meat; thirsty and ye gave me drink; a stranger and ye took me in; naked and ye clothed me.' When the reading was finished, he seemed at perfect ease and to rest his hope of salvation upon it."
"From his widow's claim for pension, admitted December 15, 1879, it is shown that "Alexander Lowther, when twenty or twenty-one years old, was drafted from Harrison County, Virginia, in Captain John Bozarth's Company, Virginia Militia, War of 1812, and served from August 30 to December 10, 1814. Was on duty at Norfolk, Virginia. Occupation farmer. Born in Harrison County, Virginia. ... Died April 30, 1864. Widow's maiden name, Rachel M. Neel; married Alexander Lowther, June 6, 1842." Widow was granted eight dollars a month from March 9, 1818, the date of approval of this act."
Above quote from "Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia from 1768 to 1795 ... " by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, 1915, pages 270-271.
In her 1911 "History of Ritchie County," p. 582, Minnie Kendall Lowther reported:
"Alexander Lowther, Sr., the first settler [of Oxford, Ritchie County, West Virginia], was its founder. He was born in Harrison county on January 14, 1791, and was the son of William and Margaret Morrison Lowther, and the grandson of Col. William. He married Miss Sarah Ireland, daughter of Alexander Ireland, who first saw the light of day on August 13, 1796; and near the year 1820, he came to this county and settled on the north bank of Hughes River, just opposite the mouth of the Middle Fork, on land that now belongs to G.M. Ireland -- the site of this old cabin is said to be marked by an oil well -- and from here he went to Oxford, where he erected the old log residence, which, though in a state of dilapidation, still stands at the western edge of the village. Here, in 1841, a great shadow fell upon the home when the beloved wife and mother 'passed from sight.' Some time after this sad event he married Mrs. Rachel Stout Neal, mother of M.A. Neal of Ellenboro, and the one child of this union died in infancy. He was a soldier of the War of 1812, and was one of the earliest justices of the peace of the county. He died at Oxford on April 20, 1864, and sleeps in the White Oak Cemetery. His first wife lies near the M.P. Church at this place, and the second at Pullman."