Lowery
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FIVE GENERATIONS MRS. M. M. LOWERY, 87, MOTHER. MRS. W. T. ODLE, DAUGHTER MRS. JIM THOMAS, GRANDDAUGHTER, MRS. ORVILLE REAVES, GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER ANN REAVES, 4, GREAT-GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER. Newspaper, March 17, 1938 (Note - There is a photo, but it did not copy.) Mrs. Melissa Ross Lowry [sic] was born near Nashville, Tennessee, July 5, 1849, and is therefore, nearing her eighty-eighth birthday. She was the daughter of Col. John F. And Ardena Ross, a pioneer couple, who immigrated to Texas in 1866, when she was only about sixteen years old. The Ross family settled in the New Hope community. Her father was a native of Tennessee, while her mother Ardena Phillips, was born in Virginia. The subject of this sketch, then Miss Melissa Ross, was united in marriage to James Curtis Lowry in 1859. He husband was a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, his parents being William and Ellen Curtis Lowry. They moved to Texas, and settled in the Lowry Crossing community. William Lowry was blind during the last twenty years of his life. James C. Lowry and bride settled near where the Higgins schoolhouse now stand, about eight miles southeast of McKinney, later moving to the present homestead, in 1873, about five miles east of McKinney, where Mr. Lowry passed away in 1905, and where his aged widow is still living. In his earlier days, James C. Lowry taught school and later on entered the ministry of the Christian Church. He used his influence to spread the gospel in a number of communities in Collin County, resulting in the establishment of churches and an uplift of the people, generally, in a spiritual manner. It was through his influence, largely, that the Mount Zion Church was established. He built the first crossing over East Fork, about six or seven miles southeast of McKinney, which is still known as Lowery Crossing and Lowry Crossing community. MARGARET LOWRY Funeral services for Margaret Lowry, 61, of McKinney who died Tuesday at her residence will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Fairview with Rev. Calvin Ussery officiating. Interment will be at Ridgeview memorial Park Cemetery with Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in charge. She was born Sept. 26, 1923 in Collin County the daughter of Tom Blasingame and Lela Gunter Blasingame. Mrs. Lowry was a housewife. Survivors include her husband Mr. Homer Lee Lowry of McKinney; five sons Tommie Lee Lowry of McKinney, Charlie Lowery of Fairview, Carl Ray Lowry of Plano, David Glenn Lowry of Garland, and bobby Allen Lowry of Richardson; 11 grandchildren; one brother Hubert Blassingame of McKinney; one sister Marie Chapman of McKinney and a number of other relatives. LOWRY FAMILIES HOLD REUNION The descendants of J. C. and Melissa Ross Lowry held a reunion at the McKinney Community Center with 40 in attendance. They included five from the Minnie Lowry Odle family; 10 from the Florence Lowry Bass family; six from the John Lowry Sr. family; and 19 from the Jim Lowery family. Three special guests were Bessie Drake, the oldest of attend, John Lowry Jr., the only survivor with the Lowry name, and the youngest, John Jowry Jr.'s granddaughter, 10 month old Melony Kendall. Everyone enjoyed the food and fellowship and hoped that more of the family would be able to attend next year. Courier Gazette, March 15, 1981 JUNE WEDDING PLANNED Freda Lowry, daughter of John Lowry of McKinney, and Dan Kendall, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don F. Kendall, also of McKinney, have selected June 20 as the date of their wedding in the First Baptist Church of McKinney. |
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF ELD. J. C. LOWERY COLLIN COUNTY PIONEER
McKinney Daily Courier, November 30, 1905 Eld. James Curtis Lowery, whose picture accompanies this article, was born Aug. 12, 1834, in Pennsylvania, at the foot of the Allegheny mountains. When about five years of age, his parents moved to Iowa, where, after a brief residence, they left for Kentucky, settling at Louisville. At the latter place, the subject of this sketch attended school and received a good common school education. In 1852, his parents, William L Lowery and wife, with their children, emigrated to Texas. They came direct to Collin county and settled near the resent site of New Hope school house, three and a half miles east of McKinney. Later they moved to the Wilmeth community north of town and then bought land six miles southeast of McKinney on the East Fork of Trinity river. They settled there and the East Fork crossing near their place is known yet as "The Lowery" Crossing. This old family homestead was the property of Eld. Lowery at the time of this recent death, Nov. 9, 1905. About the close of the war, his mother died there and her dust now reposes in the Old McKinney cemetery just west of Capt. J. H. Jenkins. In 1866, his father died in Mississippi. He was en-route to visit relatives in that state when he was stricken with cholera, during the prevalence of the dread epidemic of that year and died after a very brief illness. After coming to Texas the subject of this sketch followed school teaching during his early young manhood. About 1854 and 1855, he taught at old Sugar Hill, two miles north of Farmersville. Prior to the war he also taught at Orchard Gap near Forest Grove and also in a little log school house at Lowery Crossing. At Orchard Gap, he boarded with Uncle Wess and Aunt Patsy Kirby, an old pioneer couple of the county, whose numerous posterity are settled all over this county. In the latter part of 1861, or the first part of 1862, Prof. Lowery enlisted in Co. G, Alexander's Regiment which was organized in McKinney. In choosing of its officers, Jordan O. Straughn was elected captain and Mr. Lowery one of the lieutenants. Sam H. Fox, Andy Atkinson, W. G. Barnes, all of this city, J. M. Nicholls of Melissa and J. E#. Fletcher of Plano and possibly others, are still living. Company G. was soon reorganized, broken up and absorbed by other companies. After the war, Mr. Lowery freighted much from Jefferson to McKinney. He would haul cotton to Jefferson from which city he would bring back lumber or goods for merchants. On March 19, 1863, he was married to Miss Melissa M. Ross, who lived on the old John Nelson place at Woodlawn. Capt. Ross, it will be remembered by old settlers, in 1868, while enroute home from the old Harris Mill (now known as Squeezepenny) was instantly killed in the road by lightning which also killed his team that he was driving. Eld. Lowery commenced preaching about 23 years ago, being a minister of the Christian church. He was a great reader and a man well informed on current events, especially taking a keen interest in affairs concerning a well-being of this fellow man. His sunny, ever cheerful disposition won him a host of friends and held them through a long lifetime. He was afflicted for sixteen months prior to his death in a way that partially affected his mind. His death is sincerely mourned by a wide circle of relatives and friends scattered in nearly every part of the county. His old time friend, Rev. Abe Enloe, a Baptist minister, conducted the last sad rites over his body which was interred in Wilson Chapel graveyard. This was in accordance with the request of the deceased which was a beautiful tribute to a life-long friendship that existed between the two which was never allowed to be cooled or interrupted by denominational or any other honest difference3s in opinion. Besides the widow the following children survive: Mrs. James Bass of Bishop; Mrs. Joseph D. Bass of Sulphur Springs; Mrs. Sam Bass of Greenville; Mrs. James McCollum of Alba; Mrs. Wm. F. Odle of Lowery Crossing; James G., John M., Ross H., and Miss Rosa May Lowery, all at home with their mother. Another son, William L. Lowery was the unfortunate young man who perished in the burning of the Johnson block only a couple of weeks before his father's death. His picture also appears with this article. Eld. Lowery was a half brother of Jake Harbarger, a lawyer of McKinney, who moved after to war to Weatherford where he died a few years ago. He also had a half-sister in Kentucky. His. John T. Dugger of Princeton is a full sister. His other full sisters, now all deceased, were: Mrs. Andrew Tucker of Vineland; Mrs. Henry Howell who died at Marlin and the first wife of Eld. J. R. Wilmeth of Brown county. |
