William Matthew Lowe | |
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Mayor of Minden, Louisiana | |
In office June 1916 – June 1920 |
|
Preceded by | Abner Drake Turner |
Succeeded by | J. Berry Sandefur |
Member of Webster Parish, Louisiana, Police Jury (County Commission) | |
In office 1940–1954 |
|
Preceded by | J. Frank Colbert |
Succeeded by | Floyd Kennon, Sr. |
Personal details | |
Born |
Louisiana, USA |
January 1, 1872
Died | March 4, 1955 Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, USA |
(aged 83)
Nationality | US |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Clara Hodges Lowe (married 1899-1954, her death) |
Relations |
Leland G. Mims (son-in-law) |
Children |
Thelma Lowe Spencer |
Occupation | Merchant |
Religion | Methodist Church |
Leland G. Mims (son-in-law)
Thelma Lowe Spencer
Rubye Lowe Mims
William Matthew Lowe, known as W. Matt Lowe (January 1, 1872 – March 4, 1955), was a merchant and public official in the city of Minden, the seat of government of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana.
During World War I and its aftermath, Lowe served two terms from 1916 to 1920 as mayor of Minden. A Democrat, Lowe was from 1940 to 1954 a member of the Webster Parish Police Jury, the parish governing commission equivalent to the county commission in other states.
Lowe was born in Louisiana, parish not available, but his father was a native of North Carolina; his mother, from Georgia. In June 1916, Lowe succeeded the three-term Abner Drake Turner (March 16, 1877 – December 25, 1953). Though he had held the office for only six years from 1910 to 1916, Turner was at the time the longest serving mayor since 1868 and possibly since the founding of Minden in 1837. Turner graduated in 1889 from the Louisiana Industrial Institute, the forerunner of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. A major civic figure from a prominent family, Turner was a president of the former Bank of Webster and the Minden Building and Loan Association and served on the Webster Parish School Board and the Webster Parish Democratic Executive Committee, the ruling political force in the city. Turner died of a heart attack on Christmas Day 1953.
During Mayor Lowe's first term of two years, the city in 1917 acquired its municipal generating station after a fire swept through the former Minden Lumber Company, the previous owner of the facility. Minden is one of twenty municipalities in Louisiana in which residences and businesses still purchase their electricity from the city, with profits diverted to finance the costs of government.