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| We are appreciative to Tommy Markham's website for giving us a better understanding of Lowry beginnings in Bedford County, but also affording us a view of the world of Charles Lowry (born 1683) as seen below. It is almost a certainty that prior to the French and Indian War of 1754-1758, there were few if any White women venturing into and beyond the Virginia lowlands. Charles Lowry was born in Ireland of an Irish mother and Scot father in 1683; and we believe young Charles fathered a son Matthew in 1725 by a non-White woman, likely a Native American of a tribe peaceful toward the English traders and others who came in their midst.
We doubt that Charles Lowry owned any adult female slaves during the period of Matthew Lowry's birth; because if he did the child would have been listed as slave property. Our investigation to-date indicates that Matthew Lowry was likely fathered by Charles Lowry and given birth by a non-White freewoman in 1725. The possibility exists the mother may have been a free mulatto woman but such freedoms were rare in the early 18th century. It was not until 1823 that Virginia passed laws classifying offspring of White men with Native American women as "mulatto" which had for at least a century been the classification of offspring with White fathers and Black, Colored or Mulatto mothers. Indeed, the complexities of sex were especially complex in Virginia where men dared to codify all that mattered to them.
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Email: Editors, More Mary Matters bradyenterpriseassociation@gmail.comwith questions or comments about this web site. |
