Isaac Low (April 13, 1735 – July 25, 1791) was an American merchant in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

who served as a member of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

, where he signed the

Continental Association The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies, adopted by the First Continental Congress, which met inside Carpenters' Hall in Phi ...

. He later served as a delegate to the

New York Provincial Congress The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...

. Though originally a Patriot, he later joined the Loyalist cause in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

Early life

Low was born on April 13, 1735, at Raritan Landing in Piscataway,

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial history of the United States, Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherla ...

. He was the son of Cornelius Low Jr. and Johanna (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Gouverneur) Low and the brother of Nicholas Low. His father was a well-established merchant and shipper who built the Cornelius Low House, an extant 1741 Georgian mansion, and brought prominence to the community of Raritan Landing. Low's family was descended from German, Dutch and French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

settlers.

Career

Low served as a tax commissioner for the New York provincial government during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. Low was a prominent merchant in New York City, with various firms including Lott & Low. He had large real estate holdings, built up sizable trade, and had interests in a slitting mill. Low was chosen as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1763. Although he accumulated a fortune that placed him in the upper ranks of colonial New York's merchant leaders, he was "nowhere near its absolute pinnacle." He was an active speaker against taxation without representation and the chairman of New York City's Committee of Correspondence in 1765. He became chairman of New York City's Committee of Sixty in 1774. Low was named one of nine delegates from New York to the

First Continental Congress The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies held from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia at the beginning of the American Revolution. The meeting was organized b ...

in 1774 and to

the following year where he pursued a moderate approach towards the British. In 1775, he was a founder and the first president of the New York Chamber of Commerce.''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography,'' edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company (1887–1889); published on the Web by StanKlos.com (1999).

American Revolutionary War

Opposed to armed conflict with the British Crown, Low quit the Patriot cause after the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

was announced in 1776 and relocated to New Jersey, where he was imprisoned on suspicion of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

by the New Jersey Convention. He was eventually released after

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intervened. He later collaborated with British occupation forces in New York, and his property was confiscated after the New York assembly passed a motion of attainder in 1779. Four years later, Low emigrated to England where he died in 1791.

Personal life

Low married Margarita Cuyler (1738–1802) in 1760, a scion of the powerful Schuyler and Van Cortlandt families. Both her father, Cornelis Cuyler, and brother, Abraham Cuyler, were mayors of Albany. Another brother, General Cornelius Cuyler, was a

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officer during the

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, who served as Lt. Gov. of Portsmouth and was created a Baronet of St John's Lodge. Together, Isaac and Margarita were the parents of one child, Isaac Low Jr., who was educated in French and became a British army commissary-general. Low died in Cowes on the

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, on July 25, 1791. Although a family tradition holds that his wife joined him, probate records hold that she died in Albany in 1802.

References

Notes

Sources

External links

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LOW, Isaac (1735–1791) Guide to Research Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Isaac 1735 births 1791 deaths Members of the New York Provincial Congress Continental Congressmen from New York (state) People from Piscataway, New Jersey Tax commissioners of New York (state) Cuyler family Signers of the Continental Association Merchants from colonial New York 18th-century American merchants