Lowe, Franklin (1816-1903)

LOWE

Posted By: Joyce Hickman (email)
Date: 9/19/2008 at 16:11:09

Franklin Lowe
Oct 6, 1816 - Apr 20, 1903

(From the 1883 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, by J. H. Keatley, p.163, Macedonia Twp.)
F. Lowe, farmer, and merchant of agricultural implements, Carson, was born in Bourbon County, Ky., October 6, 1816, son of Seth and Rebecca (Ryan) Lowe; he, born in North Carolina about 1786, and died May 4, 1871; she, born in Virginia about 1791, died about 1867; was the mother of six children, four of whom are dead. When our subject's father was about twelve years old, he, with his father's family, moved into Kentucky, passing through the Indian nation. On this journey the family were nearly driven to starvation, being without food seven days; their first food was a 'hoe-cake,' baked in the ashes by a squaw. Subject's father moved from Kentucky to Indiana in 1820; thence, in 1869, to Glenwood, Mills Col, Iowa, where the family remained till our subject could finish his house, which he was then building on his farm of 320 acres, two miles southwest of Carson; to this place they moved May 17, 1871. Mr. Lowe's schooling was obtained in the days when schoolhouses were composed of puncheon floors, benches made of split logs, and the windows of paper, the school year being about three months. Mr. Lowe first worked on the home farm, assisting his parents; then he bought a portion of the place and took charge of the whole farm till it was sold to Charles Elmore, the former owner of Mr. Lowe's present farm. This was unimproved when Mr. Lowe first took it, but is now in a state of cultivation, and worth $35 an acre. January 30, 1854, in Kingston, ind., Mr. Lowe married Miss Julia A. Sperling, born in Middlesex County, N. J., in 1826; her father was a native of New Jersey, and a farmer and gardener by occupation; her mother, Hannah (Morse) Sperling, was also a native of New Jersey, and the mother of ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe have had six children - Horace G., Oriella, Eddie and Emma (twins, who died in October, 1878), William H. and Alice D. In connection with his farming, Mr. Lowe is partner in the Carson Implement Company, which began business July 1, 1882. Mr. Lowe is a strong temperance man, and a firm Republican.