EDMOND LOWRY
by David Lowrey
Edmond Lowry was alleged to have been one of the Lowrey immigrants to the New World in the early to mid 18th century. Although we do not have any direct evidence of his existence, he has been credited by many as the progenitor of one of the American Lowrey lines. The details vary in some ways from source to source but the overall story is essentially the same. It appears that the story has been handed down in the family because the documentation for his existence is quite elusive, even with the increased availability of information that the Internet and increasing interest in Genealogy has given us. This lack of documentation for him is partly due to the fact that he most likely immigrated to the Colonies in the 1720-1740 period, a time when Scots-Irish were coming in droves and by whatever means they could find. During this period, there was also a large number of people from the British Isles, especially England that were brought to the Colonies as indentured servants. Maryland was a very common destination for these immigrants. It is not surprising that many "fell through the cracks" when it came to documenting their arrival. It was a time when some ships did not even maintain complete passenger lists. Once in the New World, the documentation was not a whole lot better in some places. Many of the records that did exist became casualties of war and progress when courthouses were burned and cemeteries "relocated". Here is what we know about Edmond Lowry and the generations to follow him.
As the story goes, Edmond (Edmon) Lowry came to the Colonies in the early part of the eighteenth century. Accompanying him was his son James who was a small boy. They settled first in Delaware and later in Maryland, where Edmond died. James married and had son, William, who was born in late 1759 or early 1760. James and William later moved to Virginia where William fought in the Revolution. About 1785 they moved to SC where William had a son, James, born 1785. About 1795, elder James, son William and grandson James moved to GA where elder James died in Franklin Co. at the age of 103. Young James married Catherine Dorsey October 13,1808 in Franklin Co, GA. William moved to Hall Co, GA where he died about 1836, at the age of 76.
There are few clues as to the existence of Edmond. The above information is mostly undocumented and is a compilation of four different sources. Unfortunately all four of the sources appear to have come from the line of Basil Lowry, gg grandson of the alleged Edmond. Of course, this does not mean that the story is not true , only that there is an increased likelihood of the four sources originating from one common source. Without corroboration, it is only heresay. One of the four sources is in published form and comes from "The National Cyclopedia of American Biography", Volume XXXII by James T. White & Company, 1945 New York). The other three are from the Basil Lowry line and one of them may actually be the source of the published version.
In order to know when Edmond immigrated, we would need to know something about his son, James who came over with Edmond and died in Franklin Co, GA at the age of 103. Because of the fact that the evidence indicates that James was not in Franklin Co until about 1800 and the evidence indicates that his family was gone from Franklin Co by 1830, his death can be placed between 1800 and 1830. Counting back 103 years, James' birth can be placed at between 1697 and 1727. If James was a young boy when he accompanied his father to the Colonies, it could be estimated that he was between five and ten years of age which would put the year of immigration between 1702 and 1737. Unfortunately this is not what could be construed as narrowing it down much.
There is a possible clue in the existence of another Edmond Lowry, born about 1763 and died February 25, 1835 in Gwinnett Co, GA. Although it is reported that he was born in SC, this is not known for sure. If he is a son of the elder James and grandson of the immigrant Edmond Lowry, then he could not have been born in SC since the elder James was probably in MD at the time of the younger Edmond's birth.
There may be another clue in a man referred to as "Edmond Larrey" who turns up in "Chronicles of the Scotch Irish Settlement in Virginia" by Lyman Chalkley in a section dated May, 1763 in Augusta Co, VA. There is also a James Lowery mentioned in the same section. Other evidence points to a connection between the Franklin Co, GA Lowreys and the Lowrys of Augusta Co, VA. Mutual associations with families like the Houstons, the Gillespies and the Trimbles hint at a connection. Perhaps a tax record or a ship manifest will turn up to substantiate the existence of our Edmond Lowry.
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