Mathew B. Lowrie served as the Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1830 to 1831.

Early life

Lowrie was born in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, from where he emigrated with his parents the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of to Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. As a young man he came to Pittsburgh and started a thriving grocery business. Lowrie was also active in religion, serving many years as a Sunday school teacher at the First Presbyterian Church. His brother, Walter Lowrie

Walter Lowrie

Walter Lowrie was a teacher, farmer, and politician from Butler County, Pennsylvania. He served in both houses in the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate...

, served in the United States Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, and his son, Walter H. Lowrie

Walter H. Lowrie

Water Hoge Lowrie was a Pennsylvania jurist.He was born in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, son of Walter Lowrie, and nephew of Senator Walter Lowrie. He became a lawyer, serving as a district judge in Pennsylvania from 1846 to 1851...

, went on to become Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Pittsburgh politics

Mathew Lowrie was elected mayor in 1830 and is credited with "modernizing" the fire department

Pittsburgh Fire Bureau

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire is the 630-strong fire department of the City of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The Bureau dates its history back to September 12, 1793, with the initial purchase of a fire engine and the opening of a fire station at the corner of First Avenue and Market Street in...

.

The city bought its very first steam powered fire engine and named it the "citizen". Lowrie was also instrumental in managing the city's rapid growth by adopting the "ward" system of governance for the first time in western Pennsylvania.

Later life

Lowrie died in 1850 after a bout with cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

, he is buried in Allegheny Cemetery

Allegheny Cemetery

Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.It is a nonsectarian, wooded hillside park located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood and bounded by Bloomfield, Garfield, and Stanton Heights...

 and the site is marked by an obelisk

Obelisk

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...

.