}
Isaac Low (April 13, 1735 – July 25, 1791) was an American merchant in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
who served as a member of the
Continental Congress
The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
, where he signed the
Continental Association
The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against ...
. He later served as a delegate to the
New York Provincial Congress
The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...
. Though originally a
Patriot
A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism.
Patriot may also refer to:
Political and military groups United States
* Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution
* Patriot m ...
, he later joined the
Loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
cause in 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 ...
.
Early life
Low was born on April 13, 1735, at
Raritan Landing
Raritan Landing is a historical unincorporated community located within Piscataway Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, which was once an inland port, the farthest upstream point ocean-going ships could reach along the Raritan ...
in
Piscataway Piscataway may refer to:
*Piscataway people, a Native American ethnic group native to the southern Mid-Atlantic States
*Piscataway language
*Piscataway, Maryland, an unincorporated community
*Piscataway, New Jersey, a township
*Piscataway Creek, Ma ...
,
Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...
.
He was the son of Cornelius Low Jr. and Johanna (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Gouverneur) Low and the brother of
Nicholas Low
Nicholas Low (March 30, 1739 – November 15, 1826) was an American merchant and developer from New York City. He developed properties in upstate New York, including Lowville (in Lewis County) which was named for him.
Early life
Nicholas ...
.
His father was a well-established merchant and shipper who built the
Cornelius Low House
The Cornelius Low House (also called Ivy Hall) is a Georgian manor in Piscataway, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, built in 1741 at Raritan Landing. The Cornelius Low House is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places a ...
, an extant 1741 Georgian mansion, and brought prominence to the community of Raritan Landing.
Low's family was descended from German, Dutch and French
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
settlers.
Career
Low served as a tax commissioner for the New York provincial government during the
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
. Low was a prominent merchant in New York City, with various firms including Lott & Low.
He had large real estate holdings, built up sizable trade, and had interests in a
slitting mill
The slitting mill was a watermill for slitting bars of iron into rods. The rods then were passed to nailers who made the rods into nails, by giving them a point and head.
The slitting mill was probably invented near Liège in what is now Belg ...
.
Low was chosen as a delegate to the
Stamp Act Congress
The Stamp Act Congress (October 7 – 25, 1765), also known as the Continental Congress of 1765, was a meeting held in New York, New York, consisting of representatives from some of the British colonies in North America. It was the first gath ...
in 1763.
Although he accumulated a fortune that placed him in the upper ranks of colonial New York's merchant leaders, he was "nowhere near its absolute pinnacle."
He was an active speaker against
taxation without representation
"No taxation without representation" is a political slogan that originated in the American Revolution, and which expressed one of the primary grievances of the Thirteen Colonies, American colonists for Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain. In ...
and the chairman of New York City's
Committee of Correspondence
The committees of correspondence were, prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, a collection of American political organizations that sought to coordinate opposition to British Parliament and, later, support for American independe ...
in 1765. He became chairman of New York City's
Committee of Sixty The Committee of Sixty or Committee of Observation was a committee of inspection formed in the City and County of New York (Manhattan, New York City), in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by t ...
in 1774. Low was named one of nine delegates from New York to the
First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies that became the United States. It met from September 5 to October 26, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after the British Navy ...
in 1774 and to
New York Provincial Congress
The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists in 1775, during the American Revolution, as a pro-American alternative to the more conservative New York General Assembly, and as a repla ...
the following year where he pursued a moderate approach towards the British.
In 1775, he was a founder and the first president of the
New York Chamber of Commerce
The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...
.
[''Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography,'' edited by James Grant Wilson, John Fiske and Stanley L. Klos. Six volumes, New York: D. Appleton and Company (1887–1889); published on the Web by StanKlos.com (1999).]
American Revolutionary War
Opposed to armed conflict with the British Crown, Low quit the Patriot cause after the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
was announced in 1776 and relocated to New Jersey, where he was imprisoned on suspicion of
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...
by the New Jersey Convention. He was eventually released after
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
intervened, but after collaboration with the British occupation forces in New York, his property was confiscated after the New York assembly passed a motion of attainder in 1779. Four years later, Low emigrated to England where he died in 1791.
Personal life
Low married Margarita Cuyler (1738–1802) in 1760, a scion of the powerful
Schuyler Schuyler may refer to:
Places United States
* Schuyler County, Illinois
* Schuyler County, Missouri
* Schuyler, Nebraska, a city
* Schuyler County, New York
* Schuyler, New York, a town
* Schuyler Island, Lake Champlain, New York
* Schuyler C ...
and
Van Cortlandt families.
Both her father,
Cornelis Cuyler
Cornelis Cuyler or Cornelius Cuyler (baptized February 14, 1697 – March 14, 1765) was a prominent American of Dutch ancestry who served as the Mayor of Albany, New York, from 1742 to 1746.
Early life and family
Cuyler was born in 1697 and ba ...
, and brother,
Abraham Cuyler
Abraham Cornelius Cuyler (April 11, 1742 – February 5, 1810) was a businessman and the last mayor of colonial Albany, New York, the third generation in a row to serve in that office.
Early life
Abraham was born in 1742 to Mayor Cornelis Cuyler ...
, were mayors of
Albany. Another brother, General
Cornelius Cuyler
General Sir Cornelius Cuyler, 1st Baronet (31 October 1740 – 8 March 1819) was a British Army officer who became Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth.
Early life
Cuyler was born in Albany, New York on 31 October 1740, the son of Cornelis Cuyle ...
, was a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
officer during the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...
, who served as
Lt. Gov. of Portsmouth and was created a
Baronet of St John's Lodge. Together, Isaac and Margarita were the parents of one child,
Isaac Low Jr., who was educated in French and became a British army commissary-general.
Low died in
Cowes
Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...
on the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
,
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
, on July 25, 1791. Although a family tradition holds that his wife joined him, probate records hold that she died in Albany in 1802.
References
Notes
Sources
External links
*
LOW, Isaac (1735-1791) Guide to Research Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Isaac
1735 births
1791 deaths
Members of the New York Provincial Congress
Continental Congressmen from New York (state)
18th-century American politicians
People from Piscataway, New Jersey
Tax Commissioners of New York (state)
Cuyler family
Signers of the Continental Association