Sacramento Valley Biographies

Edmund Russell Lowe

Transcribed and submitted by Sally Kaleta, March 2009

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

          Edmund Russell Lowe. Born in St. Joseph, Mo., June 18, 1812,
Edmund Russell Lowe was a son of Russell Lowe, who was by birth a
Kentuckian. The latter removed to Missouri in an early day and started a
meat market in St. Joseph when that now prosperous city was merely a hamlet.
His life was prolonged to within three years of a century, while his wife, a
sister of President William Henry Harrison, lived to be ninety-nine. In
their family were three sons and three daughters. Mr. Lowe's father was a
native of this country, being the son of a Welshman who crossed the ocean
and settled in the new world.
         Reared in his native city, Edmund Russell Lowe, received his
education in the public schools, after which he learned the butcher's trade
under the supervision of his father. After his marriage, December 22, 1847,
he went to St. Louis, Mo., where he bought property and ran a meat market.
The real estate which he owned is still in the possession of his family, but
after 1852 he made his home in the west, having crossed the plains overland
with his wife and children. Across the plains at the same time came Fred
Cox, and after arriving in Grass Valley the two men embarked in the cattle
business together. In 1864 Mr. Lowe sold his interest to C. Clark and
removed to Yolo county, where he bought about one thousand acres of land on
Cache creek. As early as 1854 he had purchased the Harbin grant of
twenty-two leagues, comprising all the lands from the Sacramento river to
the foothills, but a part of this he sold, and after settling in Yolo county
he disposed of other tracts, retaining, however, twelve hundred and eighty
acres in his own possession.
        Included in the possessions of Edmund R. Lowe were a one-half
interest in twenty thousand acres, three thousand acres in the valley and
eleven thousand acres of grazing land in the hills, the whole tract
furnishing him with splendid facilities for the pasturage of sheep and
cattle. In 1867 he moved to Woodland, where he built a residence and made
his home until his death, which occurred August 1, 1800. Though advanced in
years he had remained quite active up to the time of his demise, and enjoyed
his usual health to the last day of his life, retiring in his accustomed
strength and cheerful spirits. The following morning he was found dead in
bed, having passed quietly and peacefully away in the night. Prior to his
death he had deeded much of his land to his children, and his estate, which
was appraised at $235,000, represented less than one-half of what he had
accumulated, the remainder having been carefully bestowed upon his family.
After the founding of the Bank of Yolo, in which he bore a part, he served
as a member of the finance committee and director until his death. Probably
few pioneers of Yolo county were more successful than he, and in addition to
the attainment of large financial success he enjoyed the confidence and
esteem of all his associates and acquaint-ances. His wife, who was born
October 23, 1830, and died February 27, 1889, was a descendant of English
ancestors through her father, and through her mother, who was Kate Clemens,
a sister of Mark Twain's father, traced her lineage to Scotland.
          The family included thirteen children, of whom the following
attained mature years: Harriett V., the wife of W. W. Brownell, of Woodland;
Annie, the wife of D. McPhee, a stone contractor in San Francisco; William
E., a large land owner of Yolo county, but a resident of San Francisco;
Thomas R., a farmer living at Woodland; Obe A., whose home place in near
Woodland; and Russell J., who died at the age of twenty-six years.

"History of the State of California and Biographical Record of the Sacramento Valley, 
California," J. M. Guinn, The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1906, Pages 333-334.