Christian Lower (January 7, 1740 – December 19, 1806) was a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

Christian Lower was born on January 7, 1740, in Klapperthall Junction,

Tulpehocken Township, Pennsylvania Tulpehocken Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,274 at the 2010 census. Tulpehocken is a name derived from the Lenape language, meaning "land of the turtles". Geography According to the Un ...

. He worked as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and was later proprietor of an iron foundry. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, he served as a colonel of associated battalions in 1775 and sublieutenant in 1780. He was county commissioner of

Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County ( Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading. The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware Ri ...

, from 1777 to 1779. He was a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1783-1785, 1793, 1794, and 1796. He served in the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

from 1797 to 1804. Lower was elected as a Republican to the

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

Congress and served until his death at his home in Klapperthall Junction in Tulpehocken Township,

. Interment was initially made at the Tulpehocken Church Burial Ground; his remains were later disinterred and reburied at the

Charles Evans Cemetery Charles Evans Cemetery is an historic, nonsectarian, garden-style cemetery located in the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Charles Evans (1768-1847), a son of Quaker parents and native of Philadelphia who became a prominent attorne ...

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

Family

Christian Lower was the grandson of Michael Lauer, who was among the men and women who emigrated from Germany as part of the 18th century mass emigration of German Palatines to the

American Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centur ...

. His son, Christian Lauer, was Christian Lower's father. The elder Christian Lauer migrated from New York's Schoharie Region to the Tulpehocken settlement in Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1723, and ultimately became the owner of the Moselem Forge. Michael Lauer then followed in 1728. Twelve years later, Christian Lower was born in Klapperthall Junction. Christian Lower's sister, Eva Magdalena Lauer (1744-1815), wed Michael Ley, who built the

Tulpehocken Manor Plantation Tulpehocken Manor Plantation, also known as the Ley Home, is a historic property which is located near Myerstown, Jackson Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. Added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 12, 1975, the building ...

near

Myerstown, Pennsylvania Myerstown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Moyerschteddel'') is a borough located in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Lebanon, Pennsylvania Metropolitan statistical area. The population was 3,103 at the 2020 census. It is home to over 100 b ...

. Their son (and Christian Lower's nephew),

Christian Ley Christian Ley (February 20, 1762 – October 13, 1831) was an American politician who served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving in the 24th Pennsylvania General Assembly from 1799 to 1802. He subsequently filled the ...

, went on to serve in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania State Senate, and later built

Nutting Hall Nutting Hall is a historic home located at 205 South Tulpehocken Street in the Borough of Pine Grove, in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Erected between 1823 and 1825 for Christian Lay who had, as a boy, met and come to know American President ...

, another of Pennsylvania's historic homes.Nutting Hall (photo with brief description)
Pottsville, Pennsylvania: ''Pottsville Republican'', November 14, 1998, p. 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lower, Christian 1740 births 1806 deaths Pennsylvania state senators Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania militiamen in the American Revolution Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania

Biography

Family

See also

References