Ralph P. Lowe

Ralph P. Lowe

Ralph Phillips Lowe (born November 27, 1805 in Warren County , Ohio , † December 22, 1883 in Washington, DC ) was an American lawyer and politician and from 1858 to 1860 the fourth governor of the state of Iowa .

Early Years and Advancement in Iowa

Ralph Lowe attended Miami University until 1829 and then studied law in Alabama . He then ran a law firm in Dayton with his brother . In 1840 he moved to Muscatine , Iowa, where he embarked on a political career.

In 1844 he was a member of the Iowa Constituent Assembly. Between 1852 and 1857 he was a district judge for the First Judicial District in that state. In 1858, Lowe was elected the Republican candidate for the new governor of Iowa. He was the first in a long line of Republican Party governors in the state. With a single interruption by Horace Boies in the years 1890 to 1894, the Republicans provided governors there until 1933.

Governor and Chief Justice

Lowe took up his new office on January 13, 1858. Due to a constitutional amendment, his term of office was shortened from four to two years. During this time a census was carried out and the establishment of the Agricultural College was prepared. The State Bank of Iowa was founded and a school for the blind was opened.

After his two-year term ended, he became a judge on the Iowa Supreme Court . For four of his eight years at this court, he was its chairman. In 1868 he moved to Washington where he worked for the federal attorney's office. Ralph Lowe died in December 1883. He had nine children with his wife Phoebe Carleton.

Web links

• Ralph Lowe in the National Governors Association (English)