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A MEMORIAL OF 
 
 J. ROBERTS LOWRIE 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 1896 
 
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 ONATHAN ROBERTS LOWRIE was born 
 J at Butler, Pa., on March 16, 1823. He 
 was the fourth son of Hon. Walter Lowrie and 
 Amelia (McPherrin) Lowrie. The first eight 
 years of his life were spent in Butler, whence, 
 after the death of his mother, on the fifth of 
 March, 1832, the family removed to Washing- 
 ton, D. C., his father being Secretary of the 
 Senate. In 1836, his father having accepted the 
 position of Secretary of the Presbyterian Board 
 of Foreign Missions, the family removed to New 
 York City. Preparatory to a college course he 
 attended, with his brother Reuben, the University 
 of New York. 
 
 In 1838 he entered the freshman class at 
 Lafayette College. Remaining there, hawever, 
 but one year, he completed his course at Jeffer- 
 son College, being graduated in 1842 with the 
 highest honors of his class. At Jefferson College 
 Mr. Lowrie was a member of the Franklin Lite- 
 rary Society and a charter member of Beta-Theta- 
 Pi fraternity. 
 
 5 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 Immediately after graduation he began the 
 study of law at Pittsburg in the office of his cou- 
 sin, Hon. Walter H. Lowrie. He was admitted 
 to the Blair County Bar July 27, 1846, being one 
 of its original members, and entered upon the 
 practice of his profession in Hollidaysburg, Pa. 
 
 On February 15, 1848, Mr. Lowrie married 
 Miss Mary A. Lyon, daughter of Mr. John Lyon, 
 of Pennsylvania Furnace. In the spring of 1854, 
 failing health compelling him to relinquish active 
 legal practice, he removed from Hollidaysburg 
 to Warriorsmark, Pa., having accepted the posi- 
 tion of legal adviser to the firm of Lyon, Shorb 
 & Co. Mrs. Mary Lowrie died March 7, 1863, 
 leaving a daughter and two sons, all of whom 
 were born at Warriorsmark. 
 
 On December 27, 1866, Mr. Lowrie married 
 Miss Matilda Hamill Nassau, daughter of Rev. 
 Charles W. Nassau, D. D., of Lawrenceville,N. J. 
 Of this union five children were born. 
 
 Upon the dissolution of the firm of Lyon, 
 Shorb & Co., in 1873, Mr. Lowrie was appointed 
 trustee in charge of all its affairs. This position 
 he held until his death. 
 
 After an illness of two years Mr. Lowrie died 
 at his residence in Warriorsmark on December 
 10, 1885, in the sixty-third year of his life. He 
 was buried at Warriorsmark. 
 
 6 
 
T is evident, from the foregoing brief narra- 
 tive, that Mr. Lowrie’s life was a rather un- 
 eventful one, passed, for the most part, in the quiet - 
 village of Warriorsmark, somewhat aside, appa- 
 rently, from the bustle and stir of the world. It 
 was, nevertheless, a very active life, of noble en- 
 deavor and no mean achievement. 
 
 Though yet young, he was rapidly rising in his 
 profession when compelled by reason of ill health 
 to abandon it. He had made no mistake in 
 choosing the law for his life-work: the qualities 
 of his mind especially adapted him for it; his 
 training and preparation had been faithful and 
 enthusiastic; and his almost immediate success 
 gave promise of future distinction. Those who 
 remember him as a lawyer speak highly of his 
 ability. One especial gift, useful in any walk of 
 life, invaluable in the law, was his in unusual de- 
 gree: he had a native power of persuasion which 
 compelled others to look from his point of view, 
 to see things as he saw them. This must not be 
 confounded with plausibility — the art of making 
 
 7 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 the worse appear the better reason; on the con- 
 trary, it arises from logical powers, belief in self, 
 earnestness, and sincerity. 
 
 He was, then, a well-equipped lawyer, young, 
 but already successful and of great promise, when 
 suddenly warned that he must forsake his pro- 
 fession, relinquish the ambition of his life, drop 
 out of the race so well begun. This in the life 
 of any one can be regarded as no less than a 
 calamity ; only those who have had similar ex- 
 perience can appreciate its nature. That it did 
 not entirely discourage him, that he attained suc- 
 cess and esteem in other fields of labor, though 
 not the distinction he might have reached in the 
 law, speaks well for the stability of his character, 
 his patience, and determination. 
 
 The firm of Lyon, Shorb & Co., with which 
 he became connected soon after his retirement 
 from the practice of law, was the largest iron 
 manufacturing firm in the United States. Its pos- 
 sessions embraced valuable properties in Pitts- 
 burg and St. Louis, and about twenty thousand 
 acres of land and ore rights in central Pennsyl- 
 vania. His work at first lay chiefly in perfecting 
 the surveys of its lands and establishing more 
 firmly the titles thereto—an out-of-door life 
 which gradually wooed back health and strength. 
 
 The scope of his duties grew broader and broader; 
 8 
 
A Memorial 
 
 he became indispensable to the firm, and finally, 
 when disaster threatened it in 1873, its mainstay. 
 
 The president of this company, known through- 
 out the State as a most careful and sagacious 
 business man, made at a critical time a fatal mis- 
 take. It was the mistake which generous natures 
 are prone to make — that of too great confidence 
 in supposed friends. The affairs of the firm be- 
 came deeply involved; only by the most skilful 
 management was insolvency avoided. Dissolu- 
 tion, however, was necessary; and Mr. Lowrie 
 was appointed trustee of the assets of the firm, 
 with the task of rescuing the property from em- 
 barrassment. An enormous indebtedness, press- 
 ing creditors, somewhat discordant parties in 
 interest — these were the difficulties of the situa- 
 tion. The responsibility was made heavier from 
 the fact that the interests involved were those 
 of his personal friends and relatives. 
 
 He entered upon his new duties with a full 
 understanding of the difficulties in the way, but 
 with the determination of bringing about a suc- 
 cessful issue, if such were possible. It may be 
 briefly said that after years of wise, patient, ener- 
 getic management, years of mingled hope and 
 discouragement, promise, and disappointment, 
 and from which anxiety was never absent, suc- 
 cess was attained. The entire indebtedness was 
 
 2 9 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 paid, and the property, free from all incumbrance, 
 yielded for some years prior to his death a hand- 
 some yearly profit. 
 
 It was undoubtedly a great achievement. 
 Those familiar with the facts in the case, espe- 
 cially those whose interests were involved, had 
 thought it impossible. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie’s chief characteristics as a business 
 man were energy, patience, promptness, and un- 
 usual foresight. Cool and self-reliant, he never- 
 theless sought counsel of others in important 
 matters. His plans, never hasty, were carefully, 
 deliberately formed. Once determined upon, 
 however, he was untiring and relentless in prose- 
 cuting them to fulfilment in the quickest possi- 
 ble manner. 
 
 Thus is briefly indicated the story of his life 
 as lawyer and business man. But to know him 
 only as such was scarcely to know him at all. 
 Law and business are matters too practical to 
 portray the gentler, more attractive phases of 
 character; it was necessary to know him in his 
 home-life to fully understand and appreciate 
 him. 
 
 He was a man of many resources, and thereby 
 was enabled entirely to resist the somewhat 
 stultifying influences of continuous country life. 
 Dwellers in the city have many sources of inspi- 
 
 10 
 
A Memorial 
 
 ration; country people must often fall back upon 
 themselves. This was far more emphatically so 
 during the greater part of his life than it is to- 
 day. 
 
 He drew his inspiration from religion, from 
 nature, from books. Nature was a part of his 
 religion, for under Nature’s “ habitual sway” he 
 lived; to him she spoke a “ various language” ; 
 in her manifold beauties he saw divine benefi- 
 cence. He was especially devoted to the beauti- 
 ful things in plant-life, not alone from the bot- 
 anist’s standpoint of study and classification, but 
 as lovely creations, worthy of admiration and 
 bearing each a lesson. With another lover of 
 Nature he could say — 
 
 To me, the meanest flower that blows can give 
 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 
 
 In books his taste was practical. His library 
 was rich in religious works, in histories, biogra- 
 phies, cyclopedias, scientific treatises, and par- 
 ticularly in books of travel. Everything that 
 told of unknown lands had an especial fascina- 
 tion for him. It was rather weak in metaphysics 
 (save as bearing directly upon religion), fiction, 
 and poetry. It would be expected of one so 
 
 fond of Nature that he would be a lover of her 
 II 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 best interpreter, poetry. But poetry is a thing 
 that a man either bows down to and worships or 
 altogether escapes and ignores. 
 
 These, then, were his resources: Religion, 
 home, nature, books, friends. He needed them 
 all, for his life during many years was, as has 
 been indicated, one of great anxiety — anxiety 
 not for his own, but for the interests of others 
 intrusted to his care. Business worries were his 
 daily, often his nightly, companions; he over- 
 came them by resolutely keeping up interest in 
 other things. His faithful hobby, botany, never 
 deserted him. Often, the day’s work over, he 
 resorted to his herbarium, and in rearranging 
 and adding to his superb collection of specimens, 
 found relief from worry and forgetfulness of care 
 which “not poppy nor mandragora”’ in any 
 other form could have given. 
 
 In appearance Mr. Lowrie was tall and rather 
 slender ; his manner was quiet and dignified. His 
 countenance, perhaps severe in repose, bright- 
 ened attractively in conversation. To some who 
 knew him but slightly he may have seemed re- 
 served and distant; on the contrary, he was 
 cordial and gracious, and made friends instantly 
 with all who could appreciate him. Grave and 
 serious he was, but there was a native charm 
 about him which could not be resisted; it arose, 
 
 12 
 
A Memorial 
 
 perhaps, from his genuine solicitude for the hap- 
 piness of others. He insisted upon cheerfulness 
 as a Christian duty and attractive grace; he de- 
 lighted to see others enjoy themselves. Good 
 humor and gaiety were not distasteful to him, 
 but he was profoundly impressed with the sober 
 reality of life, and seriousness and earnestness 
 were the prevailing traits of his character. 
 
 He was scarcely more than in the prime of 
 life when the disease which was to be fatal laid 
 its hand upon him. It was a two years’ struggle 
 for life—a long battle and a very brave one. 
 There was so much to live. for, so much to ac- 
 complish, he could not believe his life-work 
 ended ; yet not a murmur of rebellion escaped 
 his lips. He laid down his burden with a sub- 
 mission and grace that charmed while it dis- 
 tracted those who were near him during the last 
 months of his life. Pain and suffering but sweet- 
 ened his disposition and added to its gentleness ; 
 disappointment and distress only brought into 
 clearer relief the nobleness of his character. 
 Thoughtful of every one but himself, he died as 
 he had lived. 
 
 13 
 

 
 WRITTEN BY HON. J. M. SULLIVAN, 
 AT sBH Ew TIME OF: MRewkOWRIES 
 DEATH) ;RORssT HEs* BULLER SECITI- 
 LEN 
 
 T is due to the memory of Mr. Lowrie, a 
 worthy son of Butler County, that something 
 more than a formal announcement of his decease 
 should appear at his birthplace, as a testimonial 
 of our appreciation of his high character and 
 useful and exemplary life. This is especially ap- 
 propriate as we remember that the deceased was 
 the son of one of the pioneer settlers of Butler 
 County, whose distinguished character and abil- 
 ity elevated him, whilst a citizen of this county, 
 from the position of a poor boy on his father’s 
 farm in the midst of a wilderness, through vari- 
 ous grades of responsible public trusts to a seat 
 in the Senate of the United States. Cherishing 
 his memory, the members of his family have al- 
 ways been regarded by our people with partied 
 interest. 
 14 
 
A Memorial 
 
 Jonathan Roberts Lowrie was born in the town 
 of Butler, Pa.,in the month of March, 1823. His 
 father, Hon. Walter Lowrie, was at that time one 
 of the Senators from Pennsylvania in the Senate 
 of the United States. When Mr. Lowrie en- 
 tered the Senate in 1818, he found there as his 
 colleague from this State Hon. Jonathan Rob- 
 erts, from eastern Pennsylvania, for whom Mr. 
 Lowrie’s son was afterward named. 
 
 Butler was the home of this young son during 
 most of his early boyhood, and through life he 
 cherished the warmest regard for his birthplace. 
 He spent most of his college vacations in Butler 
 with relatives, and often made visits to his native 
 place in later life. The scenes of his boyhood 
 here seemed to be ineffaceably engraven upon 
 his memory, and he always retained a warm 
 friendship for the companions of his youth re- 
 maining among us. Butler was peculiarly dear 
 to him as the burial-place of his sainted mother 
 and youngest brother, and of his maternal grand- 
 father, Rev. John McPherrin, and other relatives. 
 During his last years he was most anxiously so- 
 licitous that the resting-place of the remains of 
 these relatives should be carefully cared for, 
 generously contributing from his means to re- 
 claim the old Butler burial-ground from the 
 desolation into which it had fallen. 
 
 15 
 
 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 After the death of Mr. Lowrie’s mother, the 
 family home was transferred to Washington City, 
 and he was prepared for college in the schools 
 of that city. He first entered Lafayette College, 
 but soon afterwards his father transferred him 
 to Jefferson College, where his three elder broth- 
 ers, John C., Mathew S., and Walter M., had 
 previously graduated. J. R. Lowrie was a favor- 
 ite at college, and ranked high in his class as a 
 scholar. He graduated in 1842, and was chosen. 
 to deliver the valedictory of his class. Imme- 
 diately after leaving college he entered upon 
 the study of the law, under the direction of his 
 cousin, Judge Walter H. Lowrie, then of Pitts- 
 burg, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of Pennsylvania. Soon after his admission 
 to the bar he removed to Hollidaysburg, the 
 county seat of Blair County, then just organized 
 as a county, with a view to making that the place 
 of his permanent residence in the practice of his 
 profession. He entered upon the duties of his 
 profession with bright prospects and high hopes. 
 Well equipped for the service, gifted with a keen, 
 discriminating mind, and trained by thorough 
 education for effective work, few had superior 
 advantages for a successful start in life. But his 
 physical constitution, always delicate, proved in- 
 sufficient for the labors imposed upon it in the 
 
 16 
 
A Memorial 
 
 wear and tear of professional life connected with 
 the confinement of an office, and he was admon- 
 ished to abandon the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession and seek more health-giving outdoor em- 
 ployment. He reluctantly yielded to the appar- 
 ently inexorable demand, and all his plans for his 
 life-work were thus changed. A new field seemed 
 already to have opened for Mr. Lowrie to suit 
 the requirements of his delicate constitution, and 
 at the same time engage his legal ability and 
 practical business talents. This was the super- 
 intendence among the mountains of one of the 
 largest landed estates in central Pennsylvania, 
 including farms, furnaces, mines, and wild lands. 
 To be in the midst of his work, he selected a 
 beautiful historic spot, known as Warriorsmark, 
 in Huntingdon County, as his permanent home. 
 Here through life, nestled among the mount- 
 ains, in full view from his mansion of the tower- 
 ing Bald Eagle Ridge and the picturesque Canoe 
 Mountain, he devoted his hours of leisure to the 
 exercise of a cultivated taste, in improving and 
 adorning a domestic retreat, which all who have 
 shared its warm-hearted hospitality have pro- 
 nounced a model. Here he devoted himself with 
 untiring energy to his business in his new field 
 of labor, and soon established a wide-spread repu- 
 tation as a first-class business man, 
 3 ty 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 The financial crisis of 1873 bore so heavily 
 upon the business interests of Pennsylvania that, 
 with others, perhaps the wealthiest, certainly one 
 of the most substantial and respected business 
 firms of the State, was obliged to yield to the pres- 
 sure and close up its business. The operations 
 of this firm were not confined to Pennsylvania, 
 but extended outside to most of the principal 
 centers of trade in the country, and the settle- 
 ment of its affairs involved the collection and dis- 
 bursement of many millions of dollars. By unani- 
 mous choice of all parties interested, Mr. Lowrie 
 was selected as the sole trustee to settle the vast 
 estate. This, too, in addition to the duties of 
 superintendent, already referred to, still remain- 
 ing in his charge. He entered upon the hercu- 
 lean task assigned him with all the energy and 
 determination of his nature, and for seven long 
 years unremittingly devoted himself to the work, 
 with the satisfaction, at the close of this period, 
 of surrendering his trust with every dollar of in- 
 debtedness of the estate paid, with interest, and 
 of restoring to the deserving owners a very large 
 property entirely unincumbered. This was a 
 triumph of honest, faithful, and intelligent busi- 
 ness management, which has scarcely a parallel. 
 Mr. Lowrie was now anxious to enjoy rest in his 
 
 18 
 
A Memorial 
 
 delightful mountain home, surrounded by his 
 dearly cherished family. But as the strain of those 
 seven long years of overwork was removed, he 
 discovered that an insidious and fatal disease had 
 marked him as its victim. Its inroads upon his 
 system baffled all the efforts of the best medical 
 skill in this country and abroad at the celebrated 
 Carlsbad springs, which promised relief. He 
 returned home but to linger and die in the home 
 of his love, surrounded and tenderly cared for by 
 all those who were bound to him by the dearest 
 earthly ties. 
 
 Thus closed a life of modest, unobtrusive 
 worth; a life well spent, full of earnest labor, 
 unostentatiously performed, and rich in its glo- 
 rious rewards. 
 
 During Mr. Lowrie’s residence in Hollidays- 
 burg he was married to Miss Mary Lyon, daugh- 
 ter of Mr. John Lyon, one of the best known 
 and most highly respected business men of the 
 State. Three children of this marriage, two sons 
 and a daughter, still survive. Their estimable 
 mother died during their childhood, and for sev- 
 eral years their care was added to the duties 
 of Mr. Lowrie. Subsequently, Mr. Lowrie was 
 again married, to Miss Matilda Nassau, daughter 
 of Rev. Dr. Nassau, of Lawrenceville, N. J. Five 
 
 19 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 children of this marriage, four sons and a daugh- 
 ter, still survive, to share with their devoted 
 mother the sorrows of this great bereavement. 
 The fidelity of Mr. Lowrie’s friendships will 
 be attested by all who were honored with his 
 confidence. He was an undemonstrative man; 
 he did nothing for show. He would rather be 
 right than be popular. He shrank from public 
 observation, except where duty called. Among 
 the most prominent traits of his character were 
 manly independence, unflinching firmness, calm, 
 cool self-reliance in business matters, always 
 regulated by the strictest integrity. His large 
 business experience brought him in contact with 
 every phase of character. He was a close ob- 
 server, and was rarely deceived in the men 
 with whom he dealt. He was an earnest, inflex- 
 ible, upright business man. But underlying these 
 strong qualities, and only fully discovered by 
 those who knew him best, were the gentlest and 
 tenderest affections. No husband or father had 
 a more loving heart. His sympathies went out 
 to those in suffering and want, and he never 
 turned from an appeal of sorrow. With his 
 own hand he ministered to every case of dis- 
 tress within his reach, and there is many a poor 
 mountaineer to-day mourning in Mr. Lowrie’s 
 
 death the loss of his last earthly friend. Mr. 
 20 
 
A Memorial 
 
 Lowrie was liberal in his charities, but was always 
 best satisfied when none knew of them but the 
 receivers. Home was his earthly paradise. In 
 its sunlight he gathered strength and inspiration 
 for the weighty business duties of the world. 
 
 Tender as woman, manliness and weakness 
 In him were so allied 
 
 That they who judged him by his strength or weakness 
 Saw but a single side. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie, naturally gifted with talents of a 
 high order, was a scholar and a gentleman of 
 refined and highly cultivated tastes. His ample 
 library was an attractive resort to him among 
 the other pleasures of his home. There he en- 
 joyed the companionship of the best authors. 
 He was fond of music, and was always glad to 
 join his own voice in the strains of the family 
 circle. He was much interested in geological 
 research, and many fine geological specimens 
 enriched his cabinet. He was almost an enthu- 
 siast in the study of botany. His own botanical 
 collection was one of the largest in the State, 
 and was frequently referred to by distinguished 
 botanists for aid in their researches. He seemed 
 to know familiarly by name every tree, shrub, 
 plant, and flower he ever saw, assigning it at once 
 
 to its proper botanical class. Whilst in Ger- 
 21 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 many during his last illness, seeking health, he 
 eagerly visited the great German forests and was 
 overjoyed to find, after careful inspection, that 
 he had a greater number of varieties of trees 
 planted under his direction in the grounds sur- 
 rounding his own family mansion in Pennsylvania 
 than could be found in any of these celebrated 
 foreign forests. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie took a deep interest in the affairs 
 of the nation. He was a close observer of cur- 
 rent events, and was thoroughly patriotic in all 
 his convictions. He was fearless in declaring his 
 opinions on all questions affecting national or 
 State policy, and always ready to give a reason 
 for his political faith. But he had an innate aver- 
 sion to the methods of modern politics, and his 
 manly nature shrank from contact or association 
 with the selfish political tricksters and schemers 
 who have so offensively obtruded themselves into 
 the management of public affairs. He never held 
 or desired to hold any political position himself, 
 and discouraged his friends from seeking promo- 
 tion through any of the corrupt channels in these 
 days leading to political preferment. His learn- 
 ing and ability, his manly courage, his broad, 
 well-balanced mind, his calm, cool, intelligent 
 judgment under other auspices might have been 
 invoked to render the State valuable service. 
 
 22 
 
A Memorial 
 
 The crowning glory of Mr. Lowrie’s character 
 was his devoted, humble piety. He was a Chris- 
 tian. His daily walk and conversation, at home 
 and abroad, illustrated in a very eminent degree 
 the reality of his religion. His denominational 
 faith was that of his father’s Presbyterian. For 
 many years he had been a Ruling Elder of 
 the Presbyterian Church at Birmingham, Hun- 
 tingdon County, and through his instrumentality 
 a Mission Church was established at Warriors- 
 mark, near his residence. The amount or ex- 
 tent of Mr. Lowrie’s Christian work will never be 
 fully known here. It reached from the humblest 
 cabin among the mountains to the most refined 
 and intelligent business circle of the city. He, 
 like his Divine Master, “went about doing good.” 
 His religion was never obtrusive, it was never 
 austere ; but always, everywhere, it was felt with 
 his presence. He never suffered any business 
 cares, however important, to interfere with his 
 religious duties. Morning and evening in his 
 own home he led the devotions of his family at 
 the family altar. As a Sabbath School Super- 
 intendent and Sabbath School teacher, he ob- 
 tained the key to the hearts of the young, and 
 he lost no opportunity to lead, if possible, all 
 within his reach to the Saviour. No pressure of 
 business could induce him to violate the sanctity 
 
 23 
 
 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 
 
 
 
 of the Sabbath. In the various ecclesiastical 
 courts of his Church he was regarded as one of 
 the safest and most prudent counsellors, and 
 throughout the whole community in which he 
 lived and was known he was recognized as a 
 power for good. It is to be observed that this 
 eminent Christian life was connected with daily 
 business duties of great magnitude, and that, 
 instead of interfering with, it helped their dis- 
 charge. That ‘“ fervency of spirit’? which dis- 
 tinguished the life of Mr. Lowrie seemed to have 
 been the great motive-power for his “ diligence 
 in business.” 
 
 Every Christian consolation can be appro- 
 priated by sorrowing friends in the review of a 
 life so well spent, so triumphantly ended. 
 
 BuT Ler, Dec. 14, 1885. 
 
 24 
 

 
 FROM. THE,“ BOTANICAL GAZETTE.’ 
 VOL. XI, MARCH, 1886. 
 
 R. LOWRIE. On December 10, 1885, the 
 1 death of J. Roberts Lowrie, Esq., in the 
 63d year of his age, occurred at his residence 
 in Huntingdon County, Pa. <A son of the Hon. 
 Walter Lowrie, at one time U. S. Senator from 
 the State, he was born in the town of Butler. 
 From Jefferson College he received his first aca- 
 demic degree, with honor, in 1842, and devoted 
 himself to the study of law with his uncle, Judge 
 Lowrie, of Pittsburg, afterward Chief Justice of 
 the Supreme Court. Asa field for the practice 
 of his profession he chose Hollidaysburg, in Blair 
 County, but a year or two later removed to 
 Warriorsmark, a village at the base of Bald Eagle 
 Ridge, near the Alleghanies, where he spent the 
 remainder of his life. Having married Mary, 
 the daughter of Mr. John Lyon, the senior mem- 
 
 4 25 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 ber of a firm which owned one of the largest 
 estates in central Pennsylvania, including farms, 
 furnaces, forges, ore-banks, and many thousand 
 acres of mountain lands covered with forests, he 
 became its legal adviser and the general manager 
 of the domain. 
 
 Thus situated, he had ample means and oppor- 
 tunity for the study of the natural sciences, to 
 which he was strongly inclined. Of these, botany 
 was his favorite, as a visitor would soon discover 
 from the full and choice array of botanical works 
 on the shelves of his library and the herbarium 
 which occupied a place in the same room. His 
 love of trees and shrubs amounted to a passion, 
 and he was well acquainted not only with all the 
 wild arborescent vegetation in his neighborhood, 
 but, soon after coming to Warriorsmark, con- 
 verted the extensive grounds attached to his man- 
 sion into an arboretum, where now may be seen, 
 after the lapse of more than thirty years, splen- 
 did specimens of many beautiful and remarkable 
 species, native and exotic. In the creation of 
 this park he was guided by thorough scientific 
 knowledge and excellent taste. May it long 
 flourish as a monument to his memory. 
 
 But his attention was not confined to the cul- 
 tivation of trees and shrubs. To him the entire 
 
 flora for many miles around his home was an 
 26 
 
A Memorial 
 
 object of special interest. He made large collec- 
 tions of the rarer plants, and by his efforts one 
 species new to science was brought to light 
 (Prunus Alleghaniensis, Porter), and a number 
 new to the State, of which may be named //ex 
 mollis, Gray; Lathyrus ochroleucus, Hook; Sym- 
 phoricarpos racemosus, Mx., var. pauciflorus, Rob- 
 bins; Phlox ovata, L.; Pinus pungens, Mx. (since 
 found elsewhere); Lzstera convallarioitdes, Hook. 
 The circumstances under which the last was ob- 
 tained will furnish a good illustration of his en- 
 ergy and zeal as an explorer. On a botanical 
 trip to the Bear Meadows, an elevated mountain- 
 bog in Center County, he made his way very 
 slowly, and with great toil for a considerable 
 distance, through a dense wall of rhododendrons 
 to an open space where he gathered the plant, its 
 only known station south of northern New York, 
 and then, with his treasure in hand, by the aid 
 of a compass, struggled back through the jun- 
 gle to the point where he had entered —a diffi- 
 cult and dangerous feat which occupied several 
 hours. 
 
 In person Mr. Lowrie was tall and rather slen- 
 der. His eye was keen and his movements quick. 
 In temperament he was grave, but cheerful, and to 
 his intimate friends a most agreeable companion, 
 decided in his opinions, but tolerant, a man of 
 
 27 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 sterling integrity and great influence, courteous 
 in his manners, hospitable, and, above all, an ear- 
 nest Christian. Regutescat in pace. 
 
 THOMAS C. PORTER. 
 
 FROM*®THE*BULLETIN *OF slTHE¥TOR= 
 REY BOTANICAL CLUB, VOL. XXI, 
 NO. 3, MARCH 24, 1894. 
 
 ASTER LOWRIEANUS (A. /ezophyllus, Porter). 
 The good and fit name for this species, published 
 in the BULLETIN (20: 254), being antedated by 
 A. letophyllus, Franch. & Sav. (Enum. FI. Jap.), 
 is here replaced by another, given in honor of 
 the late J. Roberts Lowrie, who contributed 
 largely to our knowledge of the plants of central 
 Pennsylvania. The varieties noted in the article 
 of the BULLETIN just cited must follow this 
 change and become respectively A. Lowrieanus 
 lanceolatus, Porter, and A. Lowrieanus inctsus 
 (Britton). 
 
 THOMAS C. PORTER. 
 
 28 
 

 
 WRITTEN, BY REQUEST, BY THE 
 REV. ROBERT HAMILL, D.D. 
 
 T was my privilege to first form the acquain- 
 tance of Mr. J. R. Lowrie in the year 1837, 
 when, as fellow-students in college, we were alike 
 seeking our educational training for future posts 
 of duty. After separating from our alma mater 
 we failed to meet again for years. In the interim 
 each had completed his preparation for, and had 
 entered upon, the sphere of usefulness and duty 
 which he had chosen for his life-work. Subse- 
 quently we were, in the providence of God, thrown 
 into close relations socially and religiously, and 
 amid circumstances in which we were able to form 
 a fuller estimate of, to contract a closer intimacy 
 with, and to have awakened a deeper interest in, 
 one another. i 
 Out of that intimacy developed many precious 
 results, the memories of which will give to each 
 of us delight while eternity endures. 
 29 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 In one of those seasons of special religious in- 
 terest with which the Church of Birmingham was 
 so remarkably blest, and in which the writer was 
 permitted to labor—among those who were sub- 
 jects of a work of saving grace was Mr. Lowrie. 
 Although he had been trained under religious 
 influences and could claim the royalty of a Chris- 
 tian ancestry, he did not identify himself with 
 the people of God until some years after enter- 
 ing upon his married life. His development ofa 
 personal interest in religious things was gradual, 
 and his views were intelligently formed. His 
 investigation of the truths of the Gospel was 
 searching and practical, he being unwilling to 
 receive any statement until his judgment was 
 clear as to its correctness. He was theoretically 
 a Christian before he became such by grace. 
 Having obtained a clear comprehension of the 
 doctrines of grace as taught in the Presbyterian 
 Church—received after careful inquiry as to the 
 truth—he cordially accepted of Christ and his 
 mediatorial work as his only ground of hope, 
 and came into the peaceful and joyous posses- 
 sion of “a good hope through faith.” His sub- 
 sequent life of consistent godliness bore testimony 
 to the genuineness of the work of grace wrought 
 upon his heart. He soon came into the full com- 
 munion of the Church of Birmingham in which he 
 
 30 
 
A Memorial 
 
 was for years an active and consistent member. 
 The joy and peace of one born into the kingdom 
 it was his privilege fully to share. He at once 
 recognized himself as no longer his own, but 
 “bought with a price.” He felt that he be- 
 longed to Christ. In conformity with the recog- 
 nition of this fact, his religious life became one 
 of ceaseless activity, a living development of the 
 beauty, the power, and the reality of godliness. 
 At an early date he was chosen and ordained 
 a Ruling Elder, which office he filled with fidelity 
 and great acceptance. As an Elder he was a 
 model. The interests of Zion were ever near his 
 heart. He had a tongue ever ready to speak in- 
 telligently, earnestly, and impressively for Christ, 
 and his consistent Christian life gave force to all 
 his utterances. By his earnest prayers, his pru- 
 dent counsel, his tender sympathy, and his un- 
 impeachable sincerity, he was an efficient helper 
 to his pastor; ever willing to codperate in every- 
 thing that would promote the welfare of the 
 Church and the glory of the Divine Master, whe- 
 ther in the particular organization with which he 
 was more immediately identified, or in the higher 
 courts of the Church in which he was at times 
 called to serve. His interest in his own particu- 
 lar church and community was especially marked. 
 There was not in the bounds of the congregation 
 31 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 a family that he did not visit, converse, and pray 
 with, not an individual that he did not speak to on 
 the vital question of seeking a saving interest in 
 Christ, nor did he limit his labors and influence 
 to those of his own communion; but wherever, in 
 the community in which he dwelt, there was one 
 who he felt should be approached, he watched 
 his opportunity to drop a word of counsel for 
 his welfare. 
 
 He was preéminently a man of prayer. 
 Prayer with him was not a mere form—a per- 
 functory discharge of a recognized duty—but 
 the improvement and enjoyment of a precious 
 privilege. He loved to make Christ his confidant 
 —to carry all his interests to the notice of Jesus, 
 and to seek in all things His guidance and coun- 
 sel. He had his regular hours for devotion, and 
 no outside pressure from any direction ever pre- 
 vented him from fidelity to this duty. He loved 
 to cultivate, through the mercy seat, intimacy 
 with his loving and beloved Redeemer. He took 
 everything to Christ. He never formed a plan, 
 nor executed a purpose, without first consulting 
 the Lord. His prayers in the family and in the 
 social meeting betrayed in their utterance and 
 impressive fervency an intimacy with, a nearness 
 to, and a confiding trust in, Christ that told of 
 his implicit faith. I never arose from his family 
 
 32 
 
A Memorial 
 
 altar, where it was occasionally my privilege to 
 bow, without feeling, after following him in 
 prayer, that Christ was very near. 
 
 He delighted ever to respond faithfully and 
 first to the claims of Christ. While scrupulously 
 conscientious in meeting all his obligations in 
 the faithful discharge of every trust, he held his 
 religious obligations as paramount to all others. 
 The discharge of religious duty, however self- 
 sacrificing it might be, was to him a privilege 
 and it was ever kept in the foreground. While 
 actively, faithfully, and successfully engaged in 
 secular duty in his important position of business 
 responsibility, he never permitted his business re- 
 lations to interfere with his higher obligations to 
 Christ. Everywhere, at all times and under all 
 circumstances, he subordinated his secular in- 
 terests to his higher spiritual interests without 
 slighting either. He often made his business 
 intercourse with others the occasion on which to 
 further their spiritual welfare. He seemed to be 
 ever on the alert, watching, always judiciously, 
 for opportunities to speak a word intelligently 
 and earnestly for Christ, and his kind and cour- 
 teous manner gave force to every word he spake. 
 
 Mr. Lowrie’s crowning grace was his unpre- 
 tending modesty. This gave emphasis to all his 
 other excellences. While possessed of a degree 
 
 5 33 
 
J. Roberts Lowrie 
 
 of intelligence which rendered him competent 
 to be an instructor, he preferred to take the po- 
 sition of a learner. While he had pronounced 
 views intelligently formed, he was ready to defer 
 to others rather than to thrust his own into the 
 front. With attainments and qualities of mind 
 and heart which fitted him to be a leader, he was 
 disposed to shrink from, rather than to court 
 prominence; ever depreciative of, rather than 
 disposed to, magnify himself. Developing such 
 characteristics, it is not strange that he should 
 have been universally held in high esteem. He 
 was justly honored and beloved by all: 
 
 None knew him but to love him, 
 None named him but to praise. 
 
 Those who were associated with him in all the 
 different walks of life—the community in which 
 he dwelt, the Church in which he was a faithful 
 office-bearer, as well as those in closer relations 
 with him, all loved him. While they cherish 
 sacredly his memory, they have never ceased to 
 feel and mourn his loss. May they have grace 
 to emulate his bright example. 
 
 34 
 
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