Ralph Phillips Lowe (November 27, 1805 – December 22, 1883) was an American judge and the 4th Governor of Iowa. He was the first Republican governor of Iowa.

Ralph Phillips Lowe
4th governor of Iowa
In office
January 13, 1858 – January 11, 1860
Preceded byJames W. Grimes
Succeeded bySamuel J. Kirkwood
Personal details
Born(1805-11-27)November 27, 1805
Warren County, Ohio, U.S.
DiedDecember 22, 1883(1883-12-22) (aged 78)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political partyRepublican
ProfessionJudge

Life and career

edit
 
Grave of Ralph P. Lowe.

Lowe was born in Warren County, Ohio. He settled in the town of Muscatine, and was selected as a representative to the Iowa state constitutional convention in 1844. He moved to Lee County at the end of the 1840s, and became the district judge succeeding George Henry Williams. He became an Iowa state court judge in 1852. In 1857 he was nominated as the Republican candidate for Governor of Iowa, with Oran Faville as his lieutenant. He won the election by a narrow margin (38,498 votes to 36,088) and served as governor for two years between 1858 and 1860.

At the end of his term he was appointed as a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court, which he served as between 1860 and 1867. He resumed practicing law, and in 1874 moved to Washington, D.C., where he died on December 22, 1883. He was interred at Glenwood Cemetery.[1]

References

edit

Bibliography

edit
  • Bailey, N. Louise; Morgan, Mary L.; Taylor, Carolyn R. (1986). Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate: 1776-1985. Volume 1. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0872494799.
Party political offices
First Republican nominee Governor of Iowa
1857
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Iowa
1858–1860
Succeeded by