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AUSBY LAWRENCE LOWE
is one of the best equipped and most able lawyers in Crawford county. He is not only a lawyer by training but one by nature, it being instinctive with him to weigh the merits of a case and look at it from every point of view. This natural tendency towards a judicial mode of thought has given him a great advantage over his fellows who were not so gifted, and in addition he possesses the capacity for hard work, so his success is not to be wondered at. He is a member of a firm which has perhaps the largest clientele of any firm in the county, some of the biggest cases in this section of the country having been handled by them. Not only as a lawyer, but as a member of the judicial body has Judge Lowe won fame. He has served several terms as county judge, and has shown himself to be possessed of so impartial a mind and so vast a store of knowledge that there is no doubt but that he may attain other positions on the bench if he so desires.
Ausby Lawrence Lowe was born in Hutsonville, Illinois, on the 18th of November, 1857. His father, Isaac N. Lowe, was the son of William Lowe and Elizabeth (Swain) Lowe. He was born in Lawrence county, Illinois, on the 9th of November, 1829. When the boy Isaac was only eleven years old his father died, and the support of the family fell principally upon his young shoulders. He was a courageous youngster, and took up this load bravely, and learned the lessons of hardship and responsibility all too early. His boyhood was spent on a farm and he worked early and late, doing tasks that a grown man would think too hard, but he only thrived on hard work. His great regret was that he had no more opportunities for education, but he made up for his lack as best he could. When he became a man he went into the mercantile business at Hutsonville, which continued to be his vocation until the
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breaking out of the Civil war. An interruption came to the quiet course of his affairs when this dawning calamity broke out, for, being young and, enthusiastic, yet being old enough to fight, not because the excitement of the day had swept him off his feet, but because he thought the cause of the Union was right and just, he enlisted in the army and served in Company C, One Hundred and Fifty-second Illinois regiment. After the war he again took up the life of a merchant, but in 1868 was elected justice of the peace and became a property agent. He spent the remainder of his life in that capacity, and died on the 6th of May, 1882. He was married on the 16th of October, 1856, to Amanda Hurst, a daughter of John R. and Nancy (Barlow) Hurst. The death of his wife occurred on the 13th of March, 1860, after a short married life of four years. Ausby Lawrence Lowe was the only child.
Judge Lowe was only a baby when he lost his mother, and he is the more to be commended on his success in life, not his material success, but his spiritual success, one might say, for a boy without his mother is like a ship without a rudder. A boy's mother has a quiet influence over him of which he is scarcely conscious, but which often saves him from losing sight of the ideal which she has set before him. He grew up in Hutsonville, and received his early education at the village school. He later went to Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana, which was at that time a Quaker school. He remained there for one term and then returned to Crawford county, and entered the office of the clerk of the circuit court. This event took place in 1877, on the 4th of December. He had not been in this office long before his remarkable ability for finding and rectifying mistakes was noted and the lawyers commented more and more upon his accuracy. Through the influence of his friends he was persuaded to take up the law and the firm of Callahan and Jones invited him to study in their offices, with the expectation of making him one of the firm where he should be prepared. His service in the circuit clerk's office was therefore terminated in 1884, and after three years spent in reading law with Callahan and Jones he was admitted to the bar in May, 1888. He was at once made a partner in the above firm, the name becoming Callahan, Jones and Lowe.
Judge Lowe has served two terms as master in chancery. In 1893, when Judge Crowley was appointed treasurer of the fisheries department, by a special election Judge Lowe was elected to the vacant seat on the bench. He was a candidate for this office in 1894, but was defeated, however in 1898 he was again elected and was re-elected in 1902. He is a senatorial committeeman for the forty-eighth senatorial district, having held this position since the primary law. For sixteen years he was chairman of the Democratic central committee, and is intensely interested in politics. The Democratic party may always rely on his support and he is one of the most influential workers they have.
In 1906 Judge Lowe was made a member of the board of directors of the First National Bank of Robinson. By the death of Mr. Woodworth on the 12th of November, 1911, the office of president was made vacant. Until the regular meeting of the directors in January the place remained vacant, and at that time Judge Lowe was elected to the presidency, which the members of the directorate believe him unusually well qualified to fill.
Judge Lowe was married on the 20th of November, 1879, to Miss Alice C. Hodge, born September 19, 1859, a. daughter of William B. and Calista (Hillebert) Hodge, of York, Illinois. Mrs. Lowe was a charming woman, with a sweet and noble character, and it was a great sorrow not only to her family but to a large circle of friends when she departed this life on the 28th of August, 1905. She left a family of four
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children. Ausby Lyman, who first graduated from the high school in Robinson, then went to De Pauw University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He received his professional training at Rush Medical College, holding a degree of M. D. from that well known school. At present he is practicing in Robinson, The second son, Clarence Hodge, after taking a high school course took up the study of dentistry at the Chicago College of Dental Surgery and is now practicing his profession here, where he was born and reared. Ethelbert Coke, after graduating at the city high school, took his Bachelor of Arts degree at De Pauw, and is now studying law at the University of Chicago. The only daughter, Florence, is now a student at De Pauw.