Matthew B. Lowrie

Matthew B. Lowrie
Portrait of Matthew B. Lowrie, c. 1830–1831
5th Mayor of Pittsburgh
In office 1830–1831
Preceded by	Magnus Miller Murray
Succeeded by	Magnus Miller Murray
Personal details
Born	May 12, 1773 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	July 28, 1850 (aged 76/77)
Political party	Anti-Masonic
Relations	Walter Lowrie (brother)
Children	Walter H. Lowrie
Religion	Presbyterianism

Mathew B. Lowrie (1773 – July 28, 1850), served as the Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1830 to 1831.

Lowrie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, from where he emigrated with his parents the U.S. state of to Pennsylvania. 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, served in the United States Senate, and his son, Walter H. Lowrie, went on to become Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

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

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.

Lowrie died in 1850 after a bout with cholera, he is buried in Allegheny Cemetery and the site is marked by an obelisk.