Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/54

 LOW

LOW

ing that although a member of the Church of England *' he damned the King, cursed the ministry and insisted that all wlio refused to sign the * articles of agreement ' should be pub- lished as the enemies of America and the rights of mankind." He was colonial treasurer and president of the chamber of commerce. To the surprise of the patriots, in the spring of 1776, just after the battle of Lexington, he suddenly an- nounced his opposition to any efforts to obtain independence and his belief that *' we ought not to deny the just rights of our mother country." He used his ofiicial positions to assist the mi- litary authorities and he welcomed tlie British armies when they took possession of the city. On Oct. 22, 1779, he was attainted of treason by the legislature of New York, his property was confiscated and his person banished from the state. He fled to England, and his only son Isaac became commissary-general in the Royal army. His brother Nicholas, father of Henrietta Lowe, wife of Dr. Charles King (q.v.), president of Columbia college, was also a prominent mer- chant in New York, and remained true to the patriot cause, being a member of the state legisla- ture and a delegate to the state convention at Poughkeepsie, June 17, 1788, that deliberated on adopting the Federal constitution. Isaac Low died at Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, in 1791.

LOW, Philip Burrill, representative, was born in Chelsea, Mass., May 6, 1836; son of Francis and Reliance (Cobb) Low ; grandson of Jennison and Dinah (Haynes) Low, and of Philip and Reliance (Burrill) Cobb, and a descendant of Francis Low of Cape Ann, whose anceator fought in the Colonial and Indian wars, and, through the Cobbs, of Stephen Hopkins, the pilgrim. His father was a shipmaster. He was graduated from the high school, and adopted the profession of his father. In 1862 he volunteered in the U.S. navy and was appointed ensign, serving in the North Atlantic squadron, 1862-63. He engaged in mercantile business in Boston, 1863-65, and in the latter year removed to New York city, where he became identified with shipping and maritime interests. He organized and was the first com- mander of the New York state naval militia. He was a Republican representative from the fif- teenth New York district in the 54th and 55th congresses, 1895-99.

LOW, 5eth, educator, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Jan, 18, 1850; son of Abiel Abbot and Ellen Almira (Dow) Low, and grandson of Seth and Mary (Porter) Low. He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic institute until 1866, and was graduated from Columbia college in 1870. He entered his father's mercantile house as a clerk, and was admitted to a partnership in the firm in 1875. Upon the retirement of the

senior members he succeeded to the business with other junior partners, in 1879 ; the business was finally liquidated in 1888. He was elected a member of the New York chamber of commerce, before which body he made several important addresses. He en- listed as a volunteer visitor to the poor in 1876, in a movement which reformed and subsequently abolish- ed the system of out- door relief in Kings county, and in 1878 he organized and was first president of the Bureau of Charities. He was married Dec. 9, 1880, to Annie, daughter of Benjamin R. Curtis, of Boston. He was president

of a Republican campaign club organized in Brooklyn in 1880 to promote the election of Garfield and Arthur, and the conspicuous success of the organization in swelling the party vote brought its president into public view. He was- elected mayor of Brooklyn in 1881 as a reform candidate, and re-elected in 1883, serving until 1886. He was the first mayor to introduce the system of competitive examination for appoint- ment to municipal offices. Upon the expiration of his term of office he visited Europe. He was elected a trustee of Columbia college in 1881, and president of the college, Oct. 7, 1889. During his administration the college became a univer- sity, the College of Physicians and Surgeons was. incorporated with the university and the School of Mines was broadened into the Schools of Applied Science. An entire new set of buildings, was erected for the university on a new site on Moniingside Heights at a cost of about |7, 500, 000. In 1894 he gave for the endowment of the Henry

Drisler classical fund, in memory of his old professor, $10,000. In 1895 he gave $1,100,000 for- the erection of a new university library ; and in honor of Iiis munificence the trustees established twelve scholarsliips in the college for Brooklyn^