Allegany County MD Archives Biographies.....Peter & Catherine LOWDERMILK & KERSHNER, abt 1750 - abt 1816 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/md/mdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Jack Reid jamarei@bellsouth.net November 9, 2010, 3:56 pm Source: Allegany County Histories Author: Unknown Descendant John Peter Lowdermilk was born in Cumberland in 1805. He appears to have been living or visit­ing in that town in 1833 when his clothing was burned in the great fire, but he probably began teaching at an early age in the vicinity of Selbys­port, Md, where he met his wife, Elizabeth Fearer. The couple resided on the Liston farm near Selbysport. John P. Lowdermilk began teaching in the old subscription schools and continued in the public schools when they were organized in 1865; in the old days the "term" of school was usually three months, so John farmed most of the year to help support his large family. In his day he was an efficient school master, but in the 'good old days" teachers did not "retire", they were "fired". So when Mr. Lowdermilk was sixty-five years of age the President of the Allegany County School Board wrote, under date of 1870, to D. H. Friend, a school trustee at Sang Run: "I think it would not be good policy to give J. P. Lowdermilk the school he had last winter. You need a better teacher." In addition to teaching and farming, "Uncle Johnnie" was a Methodist local preacher; his loud and earnest prayers and exhortations in the "pro­tracted" meetings are remembered by the old resi­dents of the western part of our county. "Aunt Betty" Lowdermilk was a skilful midwife and officiated when many of the present generation came into this world. John P. Lowdermilk died at the age of eighty-­two, followed by Elizabeth at the ripe age of ninety-two years. They are buried in the Ryland graveyard, near Selbysport, like most pioneers, in unmarked graves. Children of John P. and Elizabeth Lowdermilk: (1) George, b. April 29, 1835; d. Sept. 15, 1929. m. Elizabeth Frazee. (2) Mary C., b. Aug. 17, 1836; d. age 11 years. (3) Samuel P., b. March 1, 1840; m. Martha Frazee. (4) John M., b. May 5, l842; m. Ella Koontz. (5) Lloyd, b. Sept. 23, 1844; m. Sarah Riley. (6) Thomas J., b. Feb. 24, 1847; m. Louisa Boucher. (7) James H., b. Sept. 2, 1850; m. Sophronia Dewitt. (8) Lucretia, b. Jan. 29, 1853; m. Charles Liston. (9) William, b. May 22, 1855; m. Marggie Dewitt. One other child died in infancy. Lowdermilk Ancestry This family is of old German descent, the original name "Lou der milch" meaning "Cream of the milk." The family is said to have had its seat in the foothills of the Thuringen mountains where the father of the emigrants was a farmer with a large family. There is an account of four Lowdermilchs who came from Germany to Pennsylvania about 1760, said to have been brothers: Wentel, one name unknown (possibly Micheor), Upton and Peter; the last named may have been a son of Upton instead of a brother. Upton and Peter finally came to Maryland and are identified in the records of Cumberland. Upton Lowdermilk remarried and had three more sons Samuel, George and John. He lived on what is now Bedford Street, Cumberland. In 1784 George Lowdermilk built one of the first frame houses in Cumberland; in the great fire of 1833 his house and furniture were burned. In 1787 George Lowdermilk was reported as occupy­ing State land "Westward of Ft. Cumberland." In the court house at Carlisle, Pa., there is a record of the marriage of Elizabeth Lowdermilk to Jacob Stewart, or Steward, in 1786. On April 15, 1795 a marriage license was issued in Cumber­land to Mary Lowdermilk and John Bridenhart. Samuel and Peter Lowdermilk had a saddlery and harness shop in Cumberland in 1811. Peter Lowdermilk was issued a license, Dec. 8, 1801, in Cumberland to marry Catherine, daughter of Michael Kershner. He brought his bride to the Lowdermilk home on Bedford Street, and here his children were born. But in the census of 1800, Peter is listed as head of a family of four; his father was then dead and Peter was the head of the family. Peter is on the assessment roll of 1804-­1812 in Cumberland, and in 1814 he was authorized to hold a lottery to raise $2000 for the purchase of a fire engine for Cumberland. Peter Lowdermilk's children were: (1) Hanson, who m. Elizabeth (?) of Frostburg; they had no children. He was a saddIer and went from house to house making harness as required by the farmers. He is remembred as a genial old man "always had a joke for the children. (2) John Peter. (3) William. (4) Upton, m. Eliza Rizer; they had five children, one of whom was Col. Will Lowdermilk (1839-1897), editor and author of a "History of Cumberland. In Col. Lowdermilk's history of his native city, he wrote little of his own family, because records were lacking. The pioneer Peter Lowdermilk was born in the early 1750's and died about 1816. His widow, being comparatively young, married a widower named Shryer who had five children. Catherine was a fine mother and grandmother. She raised her own four children, her second husband's five, and five grandchildren -- her son Upton and his wife both dying young. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mdfiles/ File size: 5.5 Kb This file is located at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/md/allegany/bios/lowdermilk-pc.txt