Sylvanus Lowry

Sylvanus B. Lowry (c.1824 – 1865) was an American Democratic politician, newspaper publisher and pioneer in St. Cloud, Minnesota before the American Civil War. He moved there from Kentucky, bringing some slaves with him as laborers. He was elected to the Territorial Council, as the first mayor of the city, and to the Minnesota State Senate in 1862.

Repeatedly attacked in writing by the abolitionist newspaper publisher Jane Swisshelm, he found his political influence reduced. He started a rival paper The Union, which became the St. Cloud Times. He died young in 1865.

Early life and education

Born in Kentucky, Lowry became a trader and slaveowner. His father was David Lowry, a Cumberland Presbyterian minister of Scots descent.

Migration

In 1847 Lowry moved to Minnesota, settling in Brockway about 10 miles north of Saint Cloud, on the Mississippi River.[1] He moved into St. Cloud in 1853. His success as a trader enabled him to build a large mansion there.[2] His father, a Presbyterian minister who established a Cumberland mission; and sister Elizabeth and her husband also migrated to St. Cloud by 1854.[2] Lowry took slaves with him as laborers, although the territory residents voted to have it be "free" or without slavery. Initially Lowry worked as a trader with Indians for furs, establishing a wide network.[1]

More Southerners entered the state after 1857, when the US Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott case that, as slaves were not citizens, they had no standing to file freedom suits. Its decision also that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional meant that Minnesota could not enforce its prohibition against slavery. Although the numbers of slaves were not high, several counties around and including St. Cloud had populations of slaves brought by Southerners before the American Civil War. When the war broke out, most of the Southerners left, taking their slaves with them.[2]

Political career

Lowry became active in the Democratic Party in the territory, and established himself as the political boss of St. Cloud. He was elected to the Minnesota Territorial Council, serving from 1852-1854. He served as the first mayor of the newly incorporated city in 1856. The city hospital was built on land which he had owned.

Active in the state party, Lowry was being groomed to run as Lieutenant Governor. He is well known in Minnesota folklore for his conflict with the abolitionist newspaper publisher Jane Grey Swisshelm, who repeatedly attacked him for his slaveholding as well as mistreatment of the Winnebago people, damaging his political influence. He started a rival paper, The Union, to offset her paper's opinions. It continued as the St. Cloud Times.[2]

Lowry was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in 1862. He died in St. Cloud in 1865.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Sylvanus Lowry", Minnesota Legislators Past and Present, accessed 4 July 2012
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ambar Espinoza, "St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota", Minnesota Public Radio, 7 May 2010, accessed 4 July 2012
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