Lowder Reunion

The Lowder Family is one of those two dozen or so Stanly County clans that it hard NOT to find in your family tree if you have Stanly County roots.





The Albemarle Press 
(Albemarle, North Carolina)6 Sep 1923, Thu • Page 1



The above story of the 1923 Lowder Reunion gives a brief run down of the beginnings of the Lowder family in Stanly County.  The orginal Lowders supposedly came from Buck County, Pennsylvania, probably down the Great Wagon Road, and settled in what is now Stanly County during the late 1700's, when the growth in this area was really taking off.

Tombstone of Thomas Lowder, Old Freedom Cemetery, Stanly County, NC

The inscription on the above river rock tombstone says "Thomas Lowder  Died August 4, 1821 age 87.

Old Freedom Cemetery is located along Long Creek in the woods, south of Albemarle off of St. Martin's Road. A church accompanied the cemetery until the 1920's and has since collapsed and disappeared. The names on the tombstones, besides Lowders, include Coley's, Holts, Foreman's, Poplin's and Hathcocks, and Underwoods, among others.


According to the work done by several Lowder descendants, the brothers, William and Thomas traveled to this part of North Carolina along with a sister, Rebecca and Jeremiah "Jerry" Adderton.

They obviously were in Maryland for a little while because records attached to these individuals include:

The 1790 census with Thomas in Maryland:

Name:	Thomas Lawder [Thomas Lowder]
Home in 1790 (City, County, State):	Montgomery, Maryland
Number of All Other Free Persons:	1
Number of Household Members:	1

And a marriage license for Jeremiah Adderton in Maryland:

Name:	Jereemiah Aderton
Gender:	Male
Marriage Date:	8 Mar 1797
Spouse:	Mary Wise
Spouse Gender:	Male
State:	Maryland
County:	Saint Mary's

It is believed that the Lowder siblings descended (perhaps) from a Joel Lowther who was a Quaker and married a woman named Phoebe Ellis who was not. There is no solid proof of this, and may never be, so I am putting it out there as a possibility. The loss, or even nonexistence of so many early records keep some things in a perpetual and inevitable state of mystery and uncertainty.

The Lowder (or Lowther) brothers served in the Pennsylvania militia and that William served in the Revolutionary War.




1800

Thomas Lowder is now in Montgomery County and he and Elizabeth have begun their family.

Name:	Thomas Louder
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1
Number of Household Members Under 16:	4
Number of Household Members Over 25:	2
Number of Household Members:	6

William is counted in the Salisbury District - Cabarrus County. While part of Cabarrus County is still counted with Mecklenburg or near Mecklenburg, the part of Stanly County that William settled in was so near the Cabarrus County line, he may have been counted by the Salisbury census taker as being in Cabarrus, while actually living in what became Stanly, or either, he was actually living in Cabarrus, near the Germans in Mt. Pleasant.

Name:	William Londer [William Louder (Lowder)]
Home in 1800 (City, County, State):	Salisbury, Cabarrus, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	3
Free White Persons - Males -10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1
Number of Household Members Under 16:	6
Number of Household Members Over 25:	2
Number of Household Members:	9

1810

The Thomas Lowder family has increased in size to 5 children

Name:	Thos Lowder
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):	Capt Cage, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 16 thru 25:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 26 thru 44:	1
Numbers of Slaves:	3
Number of Household Members Under 16:	5
Number of Household Members Over 25:	2
Number of Household Members:	11

While the Household set up of William H. Lowder shows that in 1810, there was not an adult female in the household, indicating he may have married twice. 

Name:	W Loueder [W Lowder]
Home in 1810 (City, County, State):	Captain Gregory, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 10 thru 15:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 16 thru 25:	2
Free White Persons - Males - 26 thru 44 :	1
Free White Persons - Males - 45 and over:	2
Free White Persons - Females - Under 10:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 10 thru 15:	1
Number of All Other Free Persons:	1
Number of Household Members Under 16:	7
Number of Household Members Over 25:	3
Number of Household Members:	13

1830

Elizabeth Lowder is now on her own

Name:	Elizabeth Lowder
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	1
Total Free White Persons:	2
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	2

Jeremiah Adderton

Name:	Lerunish Adderton [Jeremiah Adderton]  [Jeremiah Aderton]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 40 thru 49:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	2
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	2
Total Free White Persons:	4
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	4

William Lowder

ame:	Wille Lowder [Will Lowder]  [Will Lawder]
Home in 1830 (City, County, State):	West Side Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - 15 thru 19:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 20 thru 29:	3
Free White Persons - Males - 60 thru 69:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 20 thru 29:	2
Free White Persons - Females - 50 thru 59:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	3
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	5
Total Free White Persons:	10
Total - All Persons (Free White, Slaves, Free Colored):	10

1840

Elizabeth

Name:	Betsy Lowder
Home in 1840 (City, County, State):	West Pee Dee River, Montgomery, North Carolina
Free White Persons - Males - Under 5:	1
Free White Persons - Males - 5 thru 9:	1
Free White Persons - Females - Under 5:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 15 thru 19:	1
Free White Persons - Females - 30 thru 39:	1
No. White Persons over 20 Who Cannot Read and Write:	1
Free White Persons - Under 20:	4
Free White Persons - 20 thru 49:	1
Total Free White Persons:	5
Total All Persons - Free White, Free Colored, Slaves:	5

1850

Elizabeth is living alone, but next to a young Jeremiah Lowder family. 

Name:	Elizabeth Londer
Age:	80
Birth Year:	abt 1770
Birthplace:	North Carolina
Home in 1850:	Ross, Stanly, North Carolina, USA
Gender:	Female
Family Number:	816
Household Members:	Name Age Elizabeth Londer 80

Addertons

1860

The 1860 census provides a very interesting scenario. Unlike today, the census takers were not concerned where a particular person was on a particular day. They enumerated the people in the household on the day the census taker arrived and the actual accounting and interviewing took months. People who traveled around, who lived off the grid, or were afraid of census takers were often-times missed. The area was very rural. Roads, or mere paths, that led to homesteads were missed. People who were behind on their taxes, or people who did not want to be counted for other reasons, sometimes hid so the law would not interfere in their business. It was not uncommon to not find someone in one census, and for some other record or another census, to show they were there somewhere and alive. 

And then you have the cases like that of Elizabeth Lowder, those who were counted more than once. I've seen young men being counted in the homes of their families, and then again as farmhands in the household of a neighbor. I've seen families who lived near the border of two counties, or two districts, being counted more than once, by two different people, and probably in the same house. Or the same family counted in one county one year and another county, the next, where land records showed that they probably never moved, but that the census taker wasn't sure where one county ended and the other began. Rivers and other waterways made a pretty clear border, but when the border was mere woodlands or fields, it was not very definite. 

Elizabeth Langley Lowder, for a woman approaching 100, got around in 1860. Various relatives seemed to have been passing her around. Here, she appears with her son George. 

Elizabeth Lowder
[Elizabeth Langley] 
[Elizabeth Adderton] Age:98

Birth Year:abt 1762

Gender:FemaleHome in 1860: Stanly, North Carolina

Post Office:Albemarle

Family Number:574

Value of Real Estate:View image

Household Members:

Name	Age
George Lowder	66
Betsey Lowder	58
Nicy Lowder	21
George Lowder	18
Dr Jennet Russell	7
Elizabeth Lowder	98
Love Coley	34

And then, with her grandson Jacob:

Name:	Elzabethe Lowder [Elizabeth Langley - Lowder]
Age:	98
Birth Year:	abt 1762
Gender:	Female
Home in 1860:	Stanly, North Carolina
Post Office:	Albemarle
Family Number:	787
Value of Real Estate:	View image
Household Members:	Name Age Jacob A Lowder 26 Mary F Lowder 27 Thomas F Lowder 1 Elzabethe Lowder 98

Another Elizabeth Lowder,  Head of her own Household,is living  with Nancy Adderton. This, we know to be Elizabeth Eudy Lowder, the widow of William H. Lowder or the "Bill" mentioned in the above article, who settled on Bear Creek. 

Name:Elizabeth Lowder
Age:100
Birth Year :abt 1760
Gender:Female
Birth Place:North Carolina
Home in 1860: Stanly , North Carolina
Post Office: Albemarle
Family Number:910
Value of Real Estate:View image
Household Members:

Name	Age
Elizabeth Lowder	100
Nancy Adderton	45

After 1860, the original Lowder settlers were gone, but left a community of children and grandchildren to carry on the family name and tradition. 

While looking into the Lowders, I came across research that seemed to indicate that William and Thomas Lowder of Stanly County were related to a John Lowder who settled in Guilford County, and his family, probably another brother, and to a Caleb Lowder who settled for a brief time in Randolph County, before heading west, that he was a nephew who came down with them after one of their three records visits to relatives north and back. 

That is information for another time. For the most part, all of the Stanly County Lowders and those who descend from Stanly County Lowders, link back to these two brothers, William H. and Thomas A.

Thomas A. Lowder and Elizabeth (perhaps Langley) Lowder:

1) George Lowder

2) Katherine Lowder

3) Amy Lowder

4) Daniel Lowder

5) Rebecca Lowder

6) Samule Lowder

William H. Lowder and Elizabeth Eudy Lowder: 

1) Mary

2) John

3) Henry

4) Emmanuel

5) Lewis C. 

6) Barbara

7) Elizabeth

8) Catherine

9) Jacob

10) Solomon

11) Sarah

12) William J. 

13) George Gideon

14) Isaac

Fortunately, there have been several books written on the Stanly County Lowder family.

"Our Children's Heritage"  By Alberta Lowder Boggan,
"Stanly County Lowders"  By Elsie Lowder Edwards,
and "Ancestors and Decendants of Annecy Clay Lowder and Julia Ann Eudy" By Gloria Petrea Griffin,  to name a few.



From these, I garnered the following information, of which most agreed.

• Thomas A. Lowder, William H. Lowder, their sister Rebecca and Jeremiah "Jerry" Adderton came to NC from Pennsylvania in 1785.
• Rebecca married a Deese in 1787 and their family ended up migrating to Mississippi. 
• Both brothers were in the PA Militia in 1781 and in the NC census by 1790.
• Thomas settled on Long Creek, near present day Albemarle and William settled on Bear Creek. 
• William claimed land in both Montgomery (part that is now Stanly) and Cabarrus Counties.
• Their father Joel was a Quaker and was disowned for marrying a Presbyterian (Phoebe Ellis). 
• There was an Indian trail along Long Creek and a deer path leading from Long Creek to Bear Creek. The Lowders are credited with helping turn these paths into roads. 
• Jere Adderton is said to have lived in between the Lowder brothers and was said to have been neighbors. He lived one mile from the current (at the time of the book) city limits of Albemarle. 
• Jere Adderton's son Bill, married a daughter of Abraham Forrest who lived in what is present day Badin. 
• William and his wife Elizabeth Eudy Lowder were members of the Dutch Buffalo Creek Church in Cabarrus County. 
• Thomas was the oldest son of Joel and Phoebe. 
• The story of Amy: Amy Colby or Coley was said to be a stowaway on a ship from Holland, in about 1765. Thomas Lowther or Lowder was working at a port in Philadelphia. The ship captains were hiring out those who could not pay for their passage. (Called bonding). Thomas there met and fell in love with Amy. She was supposed to work as a servant for 7 years to pay for her passage. Thomas persuaded Jerry Adderton to pay for her passage so she would not have to. In turn, Thomas worked for Jerry for a year. 
• Elizabeth Langley, whose family was also residents of Montgomery County, NC, was likely a second wife and married Thomas in North Carolina. 
• Thomas's daughters Amy, who married a Cagle, and Catherine, who married a Poplin, were not mentioned in their father's will. 
• The Lowders made 3 trips back to Pennsylvania during their lifetimes to visit with family. 

The deer path from Long Creek to Bear Creek became "pretty close" the Concord Road.

The children of Thomas Alexander Lowder were:

A) George Lowder  March 8, 1788 - May 1881 Age 93, buried at Old Freedom Cemetery in Stanly County. He married Elizabeth Adderton, the daughter of Jeremiah Adderton and wife, Ursula Forrest.       Increase;
1824 - Jeremiah Lowder
1825 - Thomas II
1829 - Francis
1831 - William Preston
1832 - David Tillman
1835 - Ursula
1838- Eunice
1842 - George William

B) Katherine Lowder , b 1794 died unknown. Married Jesse Poplin
     Increase: Thomas, David, Margaret, Davidson, Jesse II, Daniel, Nancy and John Poplin

C) Amy Lowder  born 1795 and buried in the old Cagle cemetery. Married as a second wife to Benjamin Cagle, who would later marry Judith Simpson. One daughter: Talitha Adeline Cagle.

D) Daniel Lowder  24 Sept. 1800- 19 Aug. 1881  Married Elizabeth Harwood, daughter of Malachi and Mary Herndon Harwood.
    Increase:
1827- Naomi
1829 - John M.
1831 -Mary Ann (married Lindsey Hathcock)
1833 - Thomas T.
1834 - Archibald
1836 - Lindsey F.
1838 - Eben
1840 - Malachi
1842 - Abigail
1850 - Henry

E) Rebecca Lowder  1804 - Unknown. Married Bryant Dees (son of Charlie and Easter)
     Increase:
1828- Laura
1832- Martha E.
1839 -Thomas
1841- Caroline J.
1842- Mary C.
1843- Charles F.
1846-Daniel J.
1850- William
1851- Susan J.
1854- Mantra Rebecca

F) Samuel Lowder March 3, 1808 - Jan. 26, 1885 Age 76, in Albemarle. Married Nancy Mabry.
     Increase:
1830- Isaac De Jarnett Lowder (Ingram connections maybe?)
1832- Thomas A.
18334 -Jacob Angleheart
1836- Minta
1837- Catherine
1839- Sophia
1840- Mary Frances (married Isaac Turner)
1842- Nancy

Children of William Henry Lowder and Elizabeth Eudy Lowder:



1780- John  married Catherine. Increase: Jane, Mathias, Melly, John J. , Sophia, Eva Catherine, Daniel M.

1793- Henry married Mary ?. Increase: Eddison, Martha (married Elijah Sides), Harris, Davidson, Roland A. , Mary.

1795- Manuel married Edy Cassells, married Sarah Cassells. Increase; Elizabeth, Thomas, Catherine, William, John Allen Lowder, Daniel Archibald Lowder.

1797- Lewis C. Lowder married Sarah Huey, married Charlotte Sharpe. Migrated to Carroll County, Tennessee, Died in Gibson County, TN.  Increase by 1st wife Sarah; Enoch, William C, Lydia B., Thomas C., Morgan R., Minerva, Sarah Ann. Increase by 2nd wife Charlotte: Jaretha, Carilla, Dorothea, David C., Eliza W. , Jack

1798- Elizabeth Lowder -never married- 2 daughters: Eliza and Lunda.

1800- Jacob Lowder, married Celia Cooper. Migrated to Carroll County, TN and then to Scott County Missouri. Issue: John F. , Elizabeth Jane, Caroline, Tillman, Mary A., Sarah

1802 - Catherine married John Udy (Eudy) Increase: Levi Eli Eudy (another report includes daughters Mary and Elizabeth). Met Gilbert Ramsey: son Lee Lowder b May 23 1822 -removes to Arizona.

1804 - Solomon marries Annie Margaret Harkey: Increase: Jacob W,  Moses Monroe, Catherine E. , Julianne, John A., Daniel E., Caleb F., Mary M. (Mrs. Valentine Plott).

1809 - Sarah married Daniel Lefler: Increase: Leflers: William, Coleman, Elizabeth, Susan A.,  Monroe.

1810- William  marries Sarah Sides - Sophia Catherine, Esther Elizabeth, Amelia Melinda, George, Daniel Riley, Levi.

1811- George Gideon Lowder- migrates west ending up in Illinois. Some time spent in Tennesee and Iowa. Married first: Mary Serilda Bishop. Married first: Eliza Pendleton. Reported 6 children by each wife.

1814- Isaac Lowder married Lydia Smith: Increase: Laura, Susan, Milla E. , William Monroe, James Chaney, Martha L., Julia A., Moses, Elizabeth E., Alexander, Andrew, Sarah, Delia.