Lowry War
Encyclopedia
The Lowry War is considered one of the most important and controversial events in North Carolina history. Led by Henry Berry Lowry (also spelled Henry Berry Lowrie
), a part Tuscarora
or Lumbee
Indian whose father and brother were murdered by the Confederate Home Guard, a band of part Indian and African-American men waged a war against the establishment from 1864 to 1872. Lowry and his wife, Rhoda Strong, became Robin Hood
-like figures to poor families of Robeson County, North Carolina, and are honored by them to this day.
. Native Americans in North Carolina had differing experiences. Many Cherokee
s supported the Confederacy, and Thomas' Legion
, also known as the 69th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of Colonel William Holland Thomas
, had two full companies of Cherokees in it.
However, the "free people of color" in eastern North Carolina were treated differently. In 1861 they were forced to work on Confederate fortifications at Fort Fisher, near Wilmington. Many fled into the forests to resist such imprisonment by the Confederate Army.
Henry Berry Lowry was one of twelve children in the family of Allen and Mary Lowry. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, this population was viewed as a potential danger to the Confederacy, as well as a potential source of forced labor for Confederate military projects. In Robeson County, the Confederate Home Guard
accused some local Lumbee
Indians of harboring escaped Union prisoners and Confederate deserters, hiding guns, and stealing meat from smokehouses. As elsewhere in the South during the Civil War, the Home Guard supported the Confederacy and maintained law and order at home while the war was being fought. Henry Lowry's first crimes occurred when he murdered James P. Barnes on December 21, 1864 and James Brantley “Brant” Harris on January 15, 1865 as a result of ongoing disputes with both men.
With Sherman's army a few miles from Robeson, the Home Guard accused Henry Berry Lowry’s father, Allen, and brother William, of various crimes. After a hastily prepared trial, Allen and William were convicted and executed on March 3, 1865.
For the next decade, Southeastern North Carolina knew terror and bloodshed as Lowry became the most hunted outlaw in the state’s history. During the war, Henry Berry Lowry often flouted the authorities who hunted him for over eight years. He murdered the “presumed head” of the local Ku Klux Klan
, John Taylor, after which Lowry and many others escaped into the surrounding swamps: a tactic that they would use over and over again and which would prove highly successful at helping them avoid capture.
As the war dragged on, food became scarce as more outliers (including escaped slaves, Confederate deserters and Union prison escapees) fled to the sanctuary of the swamps. As such, the rebel band were forced to change tactics and decided to live off the wealthy class of people instead of the poor. The band raided plantations and distributed food to the poor in Pembroke, North Carolina
which was known then as "Scuffletown" or "The Settlement".
In 1872, Henry Berry Lowry disappeared without a trace. The reward on his head was never collected, and the legend of his actions grew and grew to mythic proportions. In 1874, after the death of Steve Lowry at the hands of bounty hunters, The Lowry War ended. For present day North Carolinians, Lowry is a controversial figure. He was thought by his defenders to be a hero, and by his critics to be a common criminal.
During the Lowry War, some Southern newspapers portrayed the Lowrys as “Radical Ku Klux,” sometimes in cahoots with the Union League, also known as the “Loyal League,” a Republican organization these papers attempt to portray as the Republican counterpart of the Klan. In an article about the Lowrys, the Wilmington Journal writes, “the perpetrators of these crimes are Radicals-members of the League—mostly black” An article appearing in Georgia Weekly Telegraph claims, “Lowery, the great chief of the African Ku Klux is the most Loyal man in the South." The Daily Arkansas Gazette describes the gang’s activities in July, 1871: "In portions of North Carolina, band of negro outlaws—real ku-klux—are murdering the people, robbing stores and houses, and openly defying the authorities. Lowry, their leader, is a well-known radical politician. He can be arrested by the Federal officers at any time they please, and yet he is suffered to go at large, and murder white men at his pleasure." In spite of these newspaper reports, the Lowrys had no official affiliations with the Republican Party, and did not function as a Ku Klux organization. These articles on the Lowry War published in Southern papers could stem from a specific political agenda aimed at attacking the credibility of the Republican Party as the party of "law and order," as well as taking attention away from Klan violence in the South.
Other articles on the Lowry Wars attempt to sensationalize the outlaws in an effort to sell papers. An article appeared in the New York Times entitled "Robin Come Again," comparing the Lowry gang to the robber barons of the Middle Ages. The sensationalized articles written for the New York Herald were collected into a book called The Swamp Outlaws: or, the North Carolina Bandits, Being a Complete History of the Modern Rob Roys and Robin Hoods, published in 1872. Extremely popular national papers like the New York Times and the New York Herald embraced the stories on the Lowry War because they sold papers; telling the “true,” sensationalized story of the Lowry War was financially lucrative for papers that could afford to send investigative reporters to Robeson County.
Henry Berry Lowrie
Henry Berry Lowrie or "Lowry" led an outlaw gang in North Carolina during and after the American Civil War. He is sometimes viewed as a Robin Hood type figure, especially by the Lumbee and Tuscarora people, who consider him one of their tribe and a pioneer in the fight for their civil rights and...
), a part Tuscarora
Tuscarora (tribe)
The Tuscarora are a Native American people of the Iroquoian-language family, with members in New York, Canada, and North Carolina...
or Lumbee
Lumbee
The Lumbee belong to a state recognized Native American tribe in North Carolina. The Lumbee are concentrated in Robeson County and named for the primary waterway traversing the county...
Indian whose father and brother were murdered by the Confederate Home Guard, a band of part Indian and African-American men waged a war against the establishment from 1864 to 1872. Lowry and his wife, Rhoda Strong, became Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
-like figures to poor families of Robeson County, North Carolina, and are honored by them to this day.
History
Some 42,000 North Carolinians lost their lives in the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Native Americans in North Carolina had differing experiences. Many Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
s supported the Confederacy, and Thomas' Legion
Thomas' Legion
Thomas' Legion, also known as Thomas' Legion of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders, Thomas' Legion of Indians and Highlanders, and the 69th North Carolina Regiment, was a unit of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War...
, also known as the 69th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of Colonel William Holland Thomas
William Holland Thomas
William Holland Thomas was Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....
, had two full companies of Cherokees in it.
However, the "free people of color" in eastern North Carolina were treated differently. In 1861 they were forced to work on Confederate fortifications at Fort Fisher, near Wilmington. Many fled into the forests to resist such imprisonment by the Confederate Army.
Henry Berry Lowry was one of twelve children in the family of Allen and Mary Lowry. At the start of the Civil War in 1861, this population was viewed as a potential danger to the Confederacy, as well as a potential source of forced labor for Confederate military projects. In Robeson County, the Confederate Home Guard
Confederate Home Guard
The Confederate Home Guard was a somewhat loosely organized militia that was under the direction and authority of the Confederate States of America, working in coordination with the Confederate Army, and was tasked with both the defense of the Confederate home front during the American Civil War,...
accused some local Lumbee
Lumbee
The Lumbee belong to a state recognized Native American tribe in North Carolina. The Lumbee are concentrated in Robeson County and named for the primary waterway traversing the county...
Indians of harboring escaped Union prisoners and Confederate deserters, hiding guns, and stealing meat from smokehouses. As elsewhere in the South during the Civil War, the Home Guard supported the Confederacy and maintained law and order at home while the war was being fought. Henry Lowry's first crimes occurred when he murdered James P. Barnes on December 21, 1864 and James Brantley “Brant” Harris on January 15, 1865 as a result of ongoing disputes with both men.
With Sherman's army a few miles from Robeson, the Home Guard accused Henry Berry Lowry’s father, Allen, and brother William, of various crimes. After a hastily prepared trial, Allen and William were convicted and executed on March 3, 1865.
For the next decade, Southeastern North Carolina knew terror and bloodshed as Lowry became the most hunted outlaw in the state’s history. During the war, Henry Berry Lowry often flouted the authorities who hunted him for over eight years. He murdered the “presumed head” of the local Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
, John Taylor, after which Lowry and many others escaped into the surrounding swamps: a tactic that they would use over and over again and which would prove highly successful at helping them avoid capture.
As the war dragged on, food became scarce as more outliers (including escaped slaves, Confederate deserters and Union prison escapees) fled to the sanctuary of the swamps. As such, the rebel band were forced to change tactics and decided to live off the wealthy class of people instead of the poor. The band raided plantations and distributed food to the poor in Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke, North Carolina
Pembroke is a town in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,399, at the 2000 census, 89% of which is Native American...
which was known then as "Scuffletown" or "The Settlement".
In 1872, Henry Berry Lowry disappeared without a trace. The reward on his head was never collected, and the legend of his actions grew and grew to mythic proportions. In 1874, after the death of Steve Lowry at the hands of bounty hunters, The Lowry War ended. For present day North Carolinians, Lowry is a controversial figure. He was thought by his defenders to be a hero, and by his critics to be a common criminal.
During the Lowry War, some Southern newspapers portrayed the Lowrys as “Radical Ku Klux,” sometimes in cahoots with the Union League, also known as the “Loyal League,” a Republican organization these papers attempt to portray as the Republican counterpart of the Klan. In an article about the Lowrys, the Wilmington Journal writes, “the perpetrators of these crimes are Radicals-members of the League—mostly black” An article appearing in Georgia Weekly Telegraph claims, “Lowery, the great chief of the African Ku Klux is the most Loyal man in the South." The Daily Arkansas Gazette describes the gang’s activities in July, 1871: "In portions of North Carolina, band of negro outlaws—real ku-klux—are murdering the people, robbing stores and houses, and openly defying the authorities. Lowry, their leader, is a well-known radical politician. He can be arrested by the Federal officers at any time they please, and yet he is suffered to go at large, and murder white men at his pleasure." In spite of these newspaper reports, the Lowrys had no official affiliations with the Republican Party, and did not function as a Ku Klux organization. These articles on the Lowry War published in Southern papers could stem from a specific political agenda aimed at attacking the credibility of the Republican Party as the party of "law and order," as well as taking attention away from Klan violence in the South.
Other articles on the Lowry Wars attempt to sensationalize the outlaws in an effort to sell papers. An article appeared in the New York Times entitled "Robin Come Again," comparing the Lowry gang to the robber barons of the Middle Ages. The sensationalized articles written for the New York Herald were collected into a book called The Swamp Outlaws: or, the North Carolina Bandits, Being a Complete History of the Modern Rob Roys and Robin Hoods, published in 1872. Extremely popular national papers like the New York Times and the New York Herald embraced the stories on the Lowry War because they sold papers; telling the “true,” sensationalized story of the Lowry War was financially lucrative for papers that could afford to send investigative reporters to Robeson County.