Walter Lowrie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Dec. 10, 1784, to John and Catherine (Cameron) Lowrie. He was the fourth of the couple’s six children.

For many years, John Lowrie was a banker in Scotland before the family immigrated to a small farm in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania in 1791. In 1800, the family relocated to Allegheny Township, Butler County.

John Lowrie was reportedly called “a man of ability, energy and integrity.” Walter took after his father. At a young age and in a rustic landscape, he was working long hours herding livestock and cutting timber. But their parents wanted more for their young children. They understood the importance of tutors and found mentors.

The Presbyterian family was deeply religious. In 1802, at the age of 18, Walter Lowrie felt a calling and was tutored by Reverend John McPherrin, of Butler’s First Presbyterian Church. Over the next three years, and utilizing McPherrin’s vast library, Lowrie mastered Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Lowrie had another reason to stay close to Reverend McPherrin: his daughter Amelia. The two fell in love, even though McPherrin did not approve of the coupling. Without her father’s approval, Amelia, 17, and Walter, 24, rode off on horseback to Butler, where they eloped on Jan. 14, 1808.

McPherrin immediately sought to censure the newlyweds from the Presbyterian Church. That blocked Lowrie from becoming an ordained pastor. According to reports, “Sometime later reconciliation took place and the irate parent lived to see his son-in-law advance to high places in civil life.”

Walter and Catherine welcomed their first son, John Cameron, that same year.

In 1809, Lowrie worked in a variety of jobs in agriculture, as well as schoolteacher, surveyor and shopkeeper before becoming Clerk in Butler County Commissioner’s office. The next year, he became a County Commissioner and Justice of the Peace. He didn’t stay in that post long, as in 1811 Lowrie won a seat in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives as a Democratic-Republican.

Among his memorable actions, Rep. Lowrie was on the committee that assisted with the move of the Commonwealth’s capital from Lancaster to the more centrically located and accessible Harrisburg.

He served for a year before advancing to the Pennsylvania Senate and the 19th legislative district, which covered Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, and later Armstrong counties.

While on the U.S. Senate’s finance committee, Lowrie “he actively promoted Pennsylvania's commercial interests and sought legislation to set tariffs high enough to protect his state's iron, glass, and textile industries' interests from foreign competition.”

He served as a Speaker of the House in 1813 and 1814. During that time, the couple welcomed their daughter Mary Lowrie.

Always ambitious, Lowrie ran an unsuccessful campaign for the United States House of Representatives, Pennsylvania District 14, 1816. Two years later he was elected to the state Senate. He was 34.

The Lowries welcomed daughter Eliza in 1817, and sons Walter in 1819, and Jonathan in 1823.

In January 1823, Lowrie was being considered on the short list as a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania Governor. It was a crowded primary field that ultimate saw fellow Democratic-Republican (also at the time called a Jeffersonian Democrat) John Andrew Shulze handily defeat former U.S. Sen. Andrew Gregg to become the Commonwealth’s 6th Governor.

Still quite popular, Lowrie chose not to run for reelection and retired from the Senate in March 1825. At first, political leaders had a difficult time finding a replacement; however, he was replaced by William Marks, who at one time was Allegheny County’s Coroner.

In 1825, Lowrie became the third person to serve as Secretary of the Senate. According to the United States Senate website, the position “is an elected officer responsible for an extensive array of offices and services to expedite the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Senate.”

Lowrie served in that capacity during a fascinating time in U.S. history. There were contentious legal debates, and the Senate censured President Andrew Jackson for usurping congressional power.

Sons Reuben and Henry were born in 1827 and 1830 respectively. Henry, however, died in 1831.

In 1832, Amelia passed away in Bedford, from a pulmonary condition, on her way to D.C. She was 41. Lowrie, 49, wed 20-year-old Massachusetts native Mary King Childs Lowrie in 1833. Daughter Eliza passed away in 1834 at the age of 17.

Lowrie was there in 1834 when the Senate rejected Roger B. Taney as Jackson’s choice for Secretary of the Treasury. That’s the first time the Senate had ever rejected a presidential cabinet nominee. Then there was the investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate President Jackson.

Lowrie’s deep religious faith never left him. Around the time he became the Secretary of Senate, Lowrie also rejoined the Presbyterian Church is an official capacity. He joined the church’s Board of Foreign Missions and was credited with fundraising and guiding hundreds of people into missions.

Lowrie died in New York at the age of 84 on Dec. 14, 1868, after an illness, and was interred at First Presbyterian Church. His death was reported in newspapers all over the country.

Several of his children followed their father in the ministry. Walter and Reuben were described as “zealous missionaries.” Lowrie’s brother Matthew served as Pittsburgh’s 5th Mayor in 1830-1831, while his nephew and namesake, Walter H. Lowrie, went on to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

A Butler County historical website calls Lowrie “one of the most distinguished sons of Butler County, and none of her citizens has ever attained greater eminence or labored in a broader field.”