William M. Lowe

Who was William M. Lowe?

William Manning Lowe was an American politician who served the state of Alabama in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1879 and 1881 and in 1882. He was born on June 12, 1842 in Huntsville, Alabama. He attended the Wesleyan University at Florence, Alabama and the University of Virginia. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as a private, lieutenant, captain, and lieutenant colonel. He studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Huntsville. He was solicitor of the fifth judicial circuit between 1865 and 1867. In 1870 he was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives, and was a delegate to the Alabama constitutional convention of 1875.

Lowe was elected in 1878 as a Greenback to the U.S. House of Representatives, but in initial results was defeated for reelection by Joseph Wheeler in 1880, 601 votes for Lowe having been declared illegal by election judges. In a highly contentious recount that lasted over a year, Lowe successfully contested Wheeler's election and assumed the office on June 3, 1882. Lowe, however, only served four months, and died of tuberculosis at his home in Huntsville on October 12, 1882. He was buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. Wheeler won a special election and served the remaining weeks of the term.