David Perley Lowe (August 22, 1823 – April 10, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician who served two terms as a representative from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

from 1871 to 1875.

Biography

He graduated from the Cincinnati Law College in 1851 and was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. He moved to

Mound City, Kansas Mound City is a city in and the county seat of Linn County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 647. History Mound City was founded in 1855. It was named from Sugar Mound nearby, a hill covered with s ...

, in 1861 and continued the practice of law.

Career

He was a member of the State senate in 1863 and 1864 and served as a judge of the sixth judicial district 1867-1871. He moved to Fort Scott in 1870 and was elected as a Republican to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1875). He was chairman of the

Committee on Mines and Mining The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recl ...

(

Forty-third United States Congress The 43rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1873, ...

) but declined to be a candidate for renomination in 1874.

After Congress

He was appointed chief justice of

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th st ...

by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in 1875. He returned to Kansas and settled in Fort Scott, Bourbon County, and was again elected judge of the sixth judicial district of Kansas in 1879 and served until his death in

Fort Scott, Kansas Fort Scott is a city in and the county seat of Bourbon County, Kansas, Bourbon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 7,552. It is named for Gen. Winfield Scott. The cit ...

, April 10, 1882.

Legacy

Perhaps best remembered for his support of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

legislation, Lowe was quoted by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

in 1961 in Monroe v. Pape, discussing Congressional debate of the 1871 Civil Rights Act (

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

Act):

While murder is stalking abroad in disguise, while whippings and lynchings and banishments have been visited upon unoffending American citizens, the local administrations have been found inadequate or unwilling to apply the proper corrective. Combinations, darker than the night
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
hides them, conspiracies, wicked as the worst felons could devise, have gone unwhipped of justice. Immunity is given to crime, and the records of the public tribunals are searched in vain for any evidence of effective redress.

''Monroe v. Pape, 365 U.S. 167, 175 (1961), quoting Cong. Globe, 42nd Cong., 1st Sess., App. 166-167.''

References

*Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771–Present {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, David Perley 1823 births 1882 deaths University of Cincinnati College of Law alumni Republican Party Kansas state senators Kansas state court judges Utah Territorial judges Politicians from Fort Scott, Kansas Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kansas Chief justices of the Utah Supreme Court 19th-century American judges 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 19th-century members of the Kansas Legislature