Ralph P. Lowe

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.

Early life

Lowe was born in Warren County, Ohio to Jacob Derrick Lowe and Maria Lowe (nee Perlee). Ralph was one of 5 sons, 3 who became lawyers. He attended and graduated from Miami University in 1829. He married Phoebe Carleton in 1837 and they had 11 children.

Early Legal Career

He studied law in Alabama for a time, before starting a new law practice with his brother, Peter, in Dayton, Ohio.

Judicial career

He later moved to the town of Muscatine, and was selected as a representative to the Iowa state constitutional convention in 1844. He moved to Lee County in 1849, and became the district judge succeeding President Grant's future US Attorney General George Henry Williams, in 1852 until 1857.

Governorship

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. During his tenure, the State Census was authorized and the Iowa State Bank was incorporated. A school for the blind was created in Keokuk. Also, in 1858, the State Agriculture College Act was passed creating the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, now known as Iowa State University.

Later life

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 the District of Columbia. He made attempts to help Iowa's claim against the federal government for the sum of $800,000. This had accrued due to the federal government promising to compensate states for not taxing land purchases until five years after their sale. For the rest of his life he fought with Congress to get the reparations due to Iowa, but failed when they continued to refuse to pay.

He died on December 22, 1883 in DC. He was interred at Glenwood Cemetery. His wife died in 1891 and is buried next to her husband.