Notes for: Jesse Lowther
From "The History of Edgar County, Illinois," published in 1879, p. 631:
"Jesse Lowther, farmer, S. 30; P.O. Cherry Point City; born in Harrison, now known as Ritchie Co., West Va., March 29 1823, where he lived and engaged in farming until 1865, when, selling his farm in West Virginia, he emigrated West and located on Cec. 30, Ross Tp., Edgar Co., Ill., where he has since continued to live; he owns 160 acres of well-improved land in his home farm, and has an interest in eighty acres more, which he has secured by his own hard labor and industry; living in West Virginia during the late rebellion, and being a strong Union man, the inconveniences and persecutions which he suffered from his outspoken sympathies and heartfelt interest in the success of the Union army, led him to look for a new location, where he could settle quietly, free from the above persecutions; coming West, he selected his present place, which at that time was unimproved; he has improved it since that time until it is second to none in the township. He was married Dec. 25, 1845, to Hannah Leeson; she was born in West Virginia March 27 1827; they are the parents of eleven children now living, viz., Granville, Mary J., Elizabeth, Nancy, Rosetta, Charles L., Sarah A., Rachel, William A., Virginia and Arminta."
His son, the Rev. Granville Lowther, D.D., wrote in 1907:
"My father, Jesse Lowther, was a man of smaller stature, about five feet ten inches high, but very quick and muscular. He is now living at the age of eighty-four years and is still strong. He, too, was of the pioneer type, who knew no defeat and acknowledged no superior. He was captain of Virginia Militia upon the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. Excitement ran high and many reports of raids and invasions from the Confederates were rife. The colonel had ordered his regiment to West Union, West Virginia to meet a supposed enemy and to guard the town. My father mounted a horse and rode it down, gathering his company. He rode a second horse down getting equipment and necessary preparations for the journey and camp. Then they started on a forced march of eight miles across the hills to West Union. When about half-way, they were met by the colonel on horseback, who in anger and excitement commanded: 'Quick step. Run into town.' My father retorted 'Run yourself. We will be there to assist in any fight you may have on hand when we arrive.' This was insubordination, but he had inherited the spirit of his ancestors and brooked no intolerance, even from his commandant."
(Above quote from "Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia from 1768 to 1795 ... " by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter, 1915, page 271.)