Bio of LOWRY, Thomas (b.1843 d.1909), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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Vol II, pg 20-24
THOMAS LOWRY
There are few men who combine modesty with successful achievement and the
democratic spirit with executive power, so thoroughly as did Thomas Lowry, long
an outstanding figure in the history of Minneapolis and the Northwest. It was
his vision, his plans, and his activities that formed the warp and woof of the
great fabric that was woven in the greatness, development and achievement of the
northern Mississippi valley. In his vocabulary there was no such word as fail.
When one avenue of opportunity seemed closed, he opened other paths to the
desired goal. At all times his labors were constructive. He builded for the
benefit of all. He looked beyond the exigencies of the moment to the
possibilities and opportunities of the future and he labored not only for his
own but for later generations as well.
Stimulating, indeed, is his life story, which had its beginning in Logan county,
Illinois, on the 27th of February, 1843, and which terminated in Minneapolis on
the 4th of February, 1909. His parents were pioneers of central Illinois, where
they located in 1834. The father was born in Ireland and the mother in
Pennsylvania and it seemed that their son, Thomas, combined the versatility and
readiness of the Irish race with the sturdiness, firm balance and indomitable
industry of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Reared upon the western frontier, his
experiences were those that fell to the lot of the farm bred boy, who early
becomes acquainted with the features of plain living and hard working, who
learns that industry is the basis of success and unremitting toil the condition
of advancement. He attended the country schools near his father's home until he
was qualified to enter Lombard University at Galesburg, Illinois, in which he
became a student at the age of seventeen, there remaining until he had completed
his college training. He afterward traveled for awhile, through the west, and
then became a law student in the office and under the direction of Judge Bagby
of Rushville, Illinois, who directed his reading until his admission to the bar
in 1867.
Attracted by the opportunities of the growing Northwest, Mr. Lowry came to
Minneapolis in that year, arriving in July and opening his office as a lawyer.
After two years he entered into a partnership with A. H. Young, which continued
until the latter was elected judge of the Hennepin county court of common pleas.
Mr. Lowry remained in the practice of law until 1875, when his connection with
the street railway interests of the city began. In the meantime he had dealt
largely in Minneapolis realty and had also become interested in a considerable
amount of outlying property. All this made him a student of conditions affecting
the growth and welfare of Minneapolis, which like all new western towns was
sadly demoralized by the widespread financial panic of 1873. Mr. Lowry, however,
never lost faith in the city and its future and always felt that ultimately
there must be here a great metropolitan center. The panic woke his energies, and
his influence literally compelled the financial kings of the east to come to the
rescue. They came to the rescue because they had faith in Thomas Lowry; and many
a struggling industry and tottering institution was saved.
Mr. Lowry recognized the value of adequate urban transportation; and although
the city street railway service was in a deplorable condition at that time, he
nevertheless became identified with the company and accepted the vice
presidency. His object was to make the street railway contribute to the city's
growth and substantial development. After three years he was elected president
of the company, which was still a struggling corporation, fighting off
bankruptcy, meeting its little pay rolls with difficulty, and having no surplus
for extending or improving its equipment and operations. It was in this dark
hour in the history of the enterprise that Mr. Lowry put aside all other
business interests and activities to give his undivided time and attention to
the task of developing the corporation and improving the service. From that time
until his death he devoted himself almost exclusively to the street railway
business and in this connection a contemporary biographer has written: "The
story of the decade that followed reads like an industrial romance. Triumphing
over almost insurmountable difficulties, involved in a mountain of debt incurred
by his corporation, for which he did not hesitate to make himself personally
liable, this modern Hercules cast all fear to the winds, and with ah optimism
that was heroic stubbornly fought his way toward the end which he had in
view-the completion of the system, its establishment on a firm and enduring
basis, and a public service that should be unsurpassed by anything in the
country."
So he worked on courageously, not alone for himself, but for his city and its
residents as well. The career of Thomas Lowry illustrates the great truth, too
often lost sight of, that men need not be selfish and narrow in order to
succeed. He did not thrive upon the city, but with it. He helped to create the
prosperity he shared. His own welfare was bound up with the welfare of
Minneapolis. His fortune was not built upon the ruins of other men's fortunes.
For every dollar that went to himself, thousands went to others from the vast
enterprise he called into existence. "There was no movement," says one of his
biographers, "for the upbuilding of the place that he did not aid; no project
for its enlargement or adornment that he did not encourage by his praise and his
purse; no laudable private or public charity to the appeal of which he turned a
deaf ear, or treated with indifference. As Mr. Lowry hoped, so he labored, with
indomitable, unconquerable will. No discouragement could quench his gaiety, no
obstacle darken the transcendent optimism of his nature. The great task of
financing his enterprise, which might have daunted a less courageous soul, only
served to inspire him with intensified zeal and vigor. He had both faith in the
future and patience in the present. To build, equip and operate a transportation
system; to accommodate the shifting and growing necessities of a rapidly
widening area; to abandon one motive power after another as the improvements
demanded; to construct in advance of the population and wait for the traffic to
follow slowly-these were elements in the problem he had to solve, and they
required the supply of a constantly increasing stream of money and the resources
to withstand long intervals of unremunerative operation.
"In 1886 Mr. Lowry's foresight, already justified by actual results, led him to
conceive and execute the brilliant plan of bringing the street railways of
Minneapolis and St. Paul under one control and management. This resulted in the
formation of the Twin City Rapid Transit Company. The advantages which have
accrued to the residents of both cities by reason of this consolidation are
today so obvious that it is unnecessary to recount them, and it is doubtful if
they could be numbered. On January 11, 1892, the citizens of Minneapolis and St.
Paul united in a fine tribute to the man whose courage and foresight had given
them a system of electric transportation as nearly perfect as it was possible to
devise. The testimonial took the form of a reception and banquet, and was given
at the West Hotel, Minneapolis, a hostelry in the production of which he was a
very potential factor. On this occasion the governor of the state presided, and
Mr. Lowry's fellow citizens and friends bore ample testimony in sincere and
eloquent words, to the regard in which they held him and the value of the
service he had rendered to the two communities. He had done his part for them
with admirable success. They showed him that they appreciated it by a
demonstration as fervent and commendatory as they were able to make it."
On the 14th of December, 1870, Mr. Lowry was united in marriage to Miss Beatrice
M. Goodrich, a daughter of Dr. C. G. Goodrich, then a leading physician of
Minneapolis. They became the parents of two daughters and a son, Horace Lowry,
the latter succeeding his father in the business enterprises he had promoted.
This sketch would not be complete without a word, at this point, concerning Mrs.
Lowry, who shared the life of her distinguished husband, and helped him on the
upward climb, inspiring his efforts. She filled a place-not only in the home,
but also in the community-that her own gracious personality had won. "And so
these twain, upon the skirts of time, Sit side by side, full-summed in all their
powers."
Great as were his achievements in the business world, Mr. Lowry was honored not
alone for these, but because of the integrity on which they were built. He was a
citizen of the highest repute and there was no time in which he did not respond
to any call for public service or give generous aid to any plan or project which
he believed would prove of public good. He was ever a friend of the poor as well
as of the rich and his unfailing generosity was one of his strongly marked
characteristics. In his own youth he had been deprived of many advantages which
other boys enjoyed, but notwithstanding this handicap he had worked his way
steadily upward and his entire career was marked by all that is manly, all that
is admirable and much that is great. His nature was characterized by kindness,
tolerance and benevolence and he had no words of condemnation for the
unfortunate. Whatever he accomplished he always kept himself in the background,
sharing with others the honor of achievement and the rewards of labor. He was
actuated at all times by an optimistic spirit that looked for the best in the
individual and the community and was ever on the side of progress. He builded
not for himself alone, but above all, for the community in which he lived. .
There are few men who within the span of forty-five years accomplish as much as
he. He grew in greatness and in the esteem of men, with the passing years, and
when he passed away he held the foremost place in the citizenship of
Minneapolis.