Some may recall that I mentioned Henry “Dad” Brown in Harry’s Bull Runnings Blog, but I cannot emphasize enough that Brown’s story is actually a reflection of but one element of the “many Souths,” and in fact, the many perspectives of Southern free blacks during the Civil War (again, a part of the reason why I cringe when I hear or read about those who want to sell a narrow-focused “Confederate perspective” as THE “Southern perspective” of the war). As readers may also recall, I’ve also mentioned John M. “Jack” Dogans/Dougans in the past (I just posted the story again in Too Long Forgotten), which reveals an attitude quite to the contrary of that exhibited by Henry Brown.
In this post, I’m taking the actions and attitudes of free blacks/free people of color to yet another level with a story about Henry Berry Lowry/Lowrie of Robeson County, North Carolina (many thanks to reader Noel G. Harrison for bringing a link to my attention that made me aware of this story). Some folks may be familiar with the Lowrie story courtesy of the drama “Strike at the Wind.”
First, however, I think we need a little background information. The Lowry family was not free black, but was likely Lumbee, while those who followed them may have been a collection of Whites, Blacks, and Lumbee. Nonetheless, I think the Wikipedia entry for Robeson County’s involvement in the Civil War helps to set the stage:
By the beginning of the American Civil War, most Native Americans attempted to eke out an impoverished existence. Their status had continued to decline. Since 1790, Native Americans in the southern states were enumerated as “free persons of color” on the local and federal census. By 1835, and in the wake of the convergence of three historical events, Nat Turner’s ‘s Rebellion, the ratification of the North Carolina Constitutional Convention, and Indian removal, they were summarily stripped of their previously held right to vote, serve on juries, own and use firearms, and to learn to read and write. The gradual dispossession of tribal lands accelerated, and Robeson County’s Native Americans regarded the local white slave-owning elite as robbers and oppressors.
As the Wikipedia entry further explains, upon the opening of the Civil War, there were some circumstances that further impacted this population of “free persons of color:”
After a major yellow fever epidemic the following year wherein 10 percent of the Cape Fear region’s population succumbed to the disease, and free labor either joined the war effort or fled the region, Indians, along with African-American slaves, were forcibly conscripted to build a system of forts intended to defend the Gibraltar of the South, Fort Fisher, near Wilmington, North Carolina. North Carolina’s ‘s adjutant general, John C. Gorman noted in his reports that Robeson County’s conscription of several years duration especially impacted, “Scuffletown [which] was included in the impressment and almost ever able-bodied male in the [Indian] settlements was dragged from home and railroaded to the coast.”
Note: This image is commonly used as one of Henry Berry Lowry, but it's not. See the comments below for more details.
Enter the story of Henry Berry Lowry, who along with several Lowry cousins, resisted the Confederate Home Guard’s efforts to round them up to help with the construction of works at Ft. Fisher. However, the Lowry family didn’t simply hide from the Confederate authorities, but as a band of, more or less, refugees in their own homeland, became an annoyance in other ways to the local authority of the Confederacy. As one of the documents now up for sale reveals, as early as November 1863, the Lowry band began stealing items from various people in the county (were these efforts taken to ensure survival, to undermine Confederate authorities, or both?). Incidentally, the document for sale is a “partly-printed document signed by the solicitor for the State, a decision of the Superior Court of Law, attesting that ‘Seely Dial, Allen Lowrie, Martha Lowrie (free negroes)’ did on the 10 November 1863 “with force and arms” steal ‘eight sides of leather of the value of one dollar each, one set of carpenter tools comprising chisels, files, rasps, brace and bracebits, gimblets, squares and trisquares, augers, compasses [etc]’ from Dugald McDugald.” As the war continued to make living conditions unbearable and food items scarce, the Lowry band apparently continued to live off the wealthy of Robeson County, and even redistributed the food to the poor in Scuffletown (also known as “The Settlement”… which is now Pembroke, North Carolina).
Instead of me trying to explain the rest of the Lowry story, I’ve found a rather good source for descriptive information about the matter… take a look at these pages (actually, this set of pages begins on p. 79, so scroll back to begin on p. 78… pages 83-84 are the only pages missing from this more complete description of the Lowry matter) from Between Two Fires: American Indians in the Civil War.
Overall, the story of Henry B. Lowry gives us yet another dimension of both the “free black perspective of the Civil War” and the “Southern perspective of the Civil War,” and supports the idea that thinking of the Civil War merely as a sectional conflict fails to convey an understanding of the many issues that were at hand.
Richard Williams
April 30, 2009
(again, a part of the reason why I cringe when I hear or read about those who want to sell a narrow-focused “Confederate perspective” as THE “Southern perspective” of the war).
What would you define as THE “Northern perspective” of the war?
cenantua
April 30, 2009
I can offer some ideas, but I am not as well versed on the Northern perspective as I am with the Southern perspective.
Craig Swain
April 30, 2009
I would submit the “Northern perspective” is also multi-faceted and definitely not just a “Union perspective.” Neither northerners’ or Southerners’ experience can be summarized in one or two simple premises or view points. So to answer your question, there is no simple definition of THE “Northern perspective.”
Now on the other hand, if we advance the point in time 80 years, I could argue there was a definative “American perspecitve” of World War II.
cenantua
April 30, 2009
I agree about a multi-faceted Northern perspective. I’d even offer the thought that there may have been a greater “indifference” factor among many in the North. Yet, I can’t come close to making a North-South comparison because any effort I make in breaking-down the sentiments in the North would be feeble by comparison with my efforts with the South. An in-depth cultural comparison would be an interesting project to see. I guess the problem with the whole thing is that, either with the South or with the North, 1) there should be no THE or 2) we leave “THE” alone and add an “s” to “perspective.”
The thought of that WW2 perspective leaves me wondering if there isn’t an effort among both contemporary Northerners and Southerners to identify with the more distant past through the lense of that American WW2-type perspective.
mojo
May 18, 2009
when was Henry Berry Lowry born???
jeffrey
June 26, 2009
i am a direct desendent of henry berry lowry if u would like to ask any questions e-mail me
cenantua
June 26, 2009
Hi Jeffrey, Thanks for commenting. I’d be curious to hear how the story was passed down through the family, if you would like to share. – Best, Robert
Ernestine Lowry Petcher
January 26, 2010
PLEASE EMAIL ME..MY DAD WAS THE GREAT GRANDSON..OF HENRY LOWRY. HE LOOKS SO MUCH LIKE THE PICTURES I HAVE SEEN OF HENRY LOWRY. HE GREW UP THERE WITH HIS 12 BROTHERS AND SISTERS TOO. THEY ALL CAME UP NORTH LEAVING MY DAD AND LOUISE THERE. MY DAD WENT NORTH WHEN HE WAS 15 YEARS OLD, WHERE HE LIVED WITH HIS OLDEST BROTHER WALLACE AND HIS WIFE NORA LOWRY. HIS BROTHERS WERE NAMED WALLACE,WALTER,JOHN WESTLY,HENRY,WILLIAM,FRANK, SISTERS WERE LILLIAN,BETSEY,…AND THREEMORE I CAN’T NAME RIGHT NOW. HIS MOTHERS NAME WAS FEEBE. YOU CAN CALL ME TOO, AT 540-209-0125
Anna Vondrak
February 9, 2010
Hey. Writing from Iowa. We are researching the Lowery family. My mother is a Lowery. We would apperciate any info you could give us. We are trying to do genealogy on the Lowerys, Austins, Rays, Fergusons, and the Bevins. My granny and before were raised in the Bernice-Union-Farmerville area of Louisiana. Trying to figure out the Lowerys gives me a big headache. Help. It’s a big one. We believe that Henry Berry Lowery is a distant relative. Also, possibly Chief George Lowery and Capt. John Ross. Don’t know if or how they are all connected.
Robert Moore
February 9, 2010
Perhaps you might receive help from one of those folks who is related and has read this. Good luck!
Richard
April 30, 2009
Nice to see an article from my part of the world. I graduated from Pembroke State in 1987 and have lived and worked in Robeson and Scotland Counties every since. Henry Berry Lowry is a Lumbee Indian and folk hero in Robeson and the surrounding counties. I have had Lumbees friends tell me stories about the forced removal to Fort Fisher to work on the earthworks. I have often thought there should be some kind on monument located their to tell their story.
Federal Legislation might finally recognize the Lumbees as a Federal Indian tribe. NC did this many years ago. They are 50,000+ strong and I wish them the best in their pursuit to recieve the recognition they deserve.
cenantua
April 30, 2009
I have to say, it was quite an educational experience for me learning about forcing the Lumbee to work. It certainly seems like a monument or some commemorative plaque would be in order.
Sherree Tannen
May 1, 2009
Excellent post, Robert.
Last year, a student of Lumbee descent, Corey Bird, was, at first, denied the right to wear his eagle feathers to graduation. The Native American Rights Fund and the ACLU wrote letters to the school board expressing concern that Corey’s rights were being violated. One of my Indigenous friends asked me to participate, with many others, in writing a letter of support. The letter writing campaign and sustained efforts of NARF were successful, and Corey wore his eagle feathers. This issue highlighted for me the lack of understanding between white and Indigenous communities. The school’s policy did not allow students to wear anything attached to cap and gown for a number of reasons. One of the reasons cited was that gang members abused the privilege. That is understandable. Yet, this did not apply to Corey Bird, at all. There was a fundamental lack of understanding of Indigenous culture. The eagle feathers connected Corey to his ancestors. Happily, this instance of inter-cultural misunderstanding ended favorably.
It is a cliche, but it is true. We can’t understand where we are, or where we are going, until we know where we have been. Apparently men of color were forced into service in both the South and the North. While researching another topic, I came upon a reference by reputable scholars indicating that Union construction gangs sometimes surrounded black churches on Sundays and forced men into service. I had quite a different picture of the North. I know that this was not the norm; but I did not know it happened at all. Now, if this was done in the North, what do think happened in the South, in which the institution of slavery was at its height? My problem with the sectional labels is that they are so divisive. It is truly time to open up full dialogue in which all aspects of the Civil War are discussed. Yes, Henry Berry Lowry and the Lumbee should be commemorated and honored, and their descendants should have their full and active rights restored in modern society–as should all of the other forgotten men and women buried by history. Thanks, Robert.
cenantua
May 1, 2009
Thanks for commenting Sherree. I think you make an excellent point. There is a lot to consider and we can’t just pick and choose what makes one argument better than another. We have to consider all the history and lay it out on the table. Only then will we begin to grasp the larger issues at hand. I think this reinforces the need to look at the war from the “bottom up,” or people first.
cenantua
May 1, 2009
Sherree, Incidentally, can you provide the account and source of that situation with Union soldiers and black churches in the South? I’d like to have it here as a reference point.
Sherree Tannen
May 1, 2009
Robert,
Yes. I will email the essay to you. Also, it is important to remember that the essay is contained in a book of essays about racial atrocities committed primarily by Confederate troops. The overall focus of the book is to highlight that racial atrocities did, in fact, occur and were committed by the Confederate army. But, this author cites this information as well, in an attempt to reach a broader understanding of the role race played in the war. It is an excellent essay. (As far as the churches go, I am not sure if they were in the North or the South.) Sherree
Jeremy Long
June 10, 2009
I am related to a murder victim of the Lowery Gang. His story is parallel to that of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, only he was not successful in his efforts bring in HBL or hide the fact that before the civil war he was known to associate with the lowery brothers, Andrew Strong and other local mulattos his age. His name was John Taylor. Accounts of his hunt for the Lowery gang and association with the rich, white effort are described in Mary Norments book and George Alfted Townsends romantic account of the story. There’s alot more in newspapers and random legal documents too. When I was a eight my dad took me to see Strike at the Wind. I had no idea I had relation in this story, but I was easily entertained and remembered it in detail. A couple of years later I was fed some interesting facts by grandpa during one of our local history talks which I constantly initiated with him about Grandmas side of the family being related to a significant character in the story of HBL. A few minutes in the attic and
I had in my hands a 1906 copy of Mary C. Norments paperback. Not following his advice and tactfully attempting to question my grandmother and her sister about it, my interest was immediately scorned and questions were responded to with claims of plausible denial. My dad sat me down after I complained to him and then told me of his failed attempts to learn more and that we werent the only ones. He told me that sometime in the first years of the 70′s my grandmother and her sister were contacted by historians interested in details, family rumors, and the gravesite of John Taylor. They were told that whatever they were looking for was not around here and that they were not related to the Taylors they spoke of. Even when presented with accurate connections of their grandmother to John Taylor himself they persuaded the professor that the history of John Taylor was lost and he wasnt going to get any cooperation from them. I dont know for sure if Adolf Dial sat in my grandmothers house in Rieglewood, NC around 1970 something, fishing for details to complete his audio research project. But I have read over the documentation and heard random interviews and I remember seeing a small list of people including J. Taylor and some others were left blank and left to a dead end. What a shame. I was born too late and my dad was on his honeymoon. Once again fear has successfully projected exteme sides to history rather than expose a more intimate, realistic account of human nature. Political history is so easy to write about and debate. Black or white, north or south, rich or poor. Once grew up and out of school and quit studying history just to get an A. My eyes and perception of yesterday seemed to credit and question things that extreme politcal and historical accounts obliviously debate around and above. In a nation that seems to be so one way or another, if you look close enough and beyond pen and paper you might see that most people were to poor and hungry to take a side and when the rest of the aristocrats and fighters of the cause, and rebellious militia, and repressed gangs of vengance were fighting their battles, the rest of the god fearing, hard working families worked together and shared mules, and farm help, and obviously socially, and sexually mixed. I never read or hear about those stories beyond the old timers of my area that I grew up listening to. For some reason their stories are easily discredited in the world of educated historians. It confuses me to read all the debates about the unscathed, pure blood origin of Lumbees. So focused are these debates, and so detailed in different theories, that somewhere in the search for truth, research and speculation is driven by an ego to separate and establish pride in being different. Im still waiting for the genetics hound that acknowledges who Lake Waccamaw was named after and what tribe they were. I realize i wasnt around back then and who am I to judge or credit but im just sayin….or askin…..nobody ever includes the good people of Buckhead, St. James, or Council. And even less, East Arcadia in their theories or debates. These towns have an untapped, less politcally smeared source of information that may not yield what some people are passionately trying to prove. But it just might echo the voices and true stories of good people that were all the same in someways. In a post civil war enviornment the most radical change was unity down here. Hey when youre poor and everybody lived on the same dirt road and harvested food from the same Cape Fear lowland you tend to realize that being poor is your race. Money proves to be the oppressive race in our history. Poor people down here engaged in the most racical, underated movement you could attempt since the country was founded. And the same fear that tried to hide and stop it and keep different blood pure was the same fear that shamed families from telling the truth forces us to embrace easy street, political history. Most of us are mixed, even europeans are mixed. And though I have no cite Im just gonna say with confidence that Tuscaroas, Cheraws, Blacks, Whites, and more were just as mixed then as they are now. Its easy to try to discredit Lumbee as pure blood citizen. Just tilt your head and take a breath and maybe you will see that a Lumbee is more special and unique than any one race could ever hope to claim. Be careful anyone who entertains mockery towards the Lumbee name. You could be mocking the teachings of a certain Jesus Christ who you may or may not worship, or even worse the gene pool of the people that will eventually wipe separatism from the face of the earth….maybe. I guess we just wait and see.
cenantua
June 11, 2009
Mr. Long,
Thank you for taking the time to comment, but I think you missed the point of my post. My objective was to show yet another Southern perspective of the Civil War, atypical of that so frequently remembered.
jeremy long
June 17, 2009
youre right i did…sorry. I do find it confusing sometimes.
Ernestine Lowry Petcher
January 26, 2010
I WORLD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU AND ANY AND ALL OF MY FAMILY MEMBERS.MY DAD WAS THOMAS LOWRY WHO WAS THE GREAT GRANDSON OF HENRY LOWRY. AND YES HE AND HIS 12 BROTHERS AND SISTERS LIVED THERE TOO. MY DAD AND HIS BROTHERS THAT I REMEMBER LOOK JUST LIKE THE PICTURES OF HENRY LOWRY. IT’S UNCANNY.
jeremy
March 13, 2010
i had teacher in high school that can trace her mothers family to HBL. She has helped me to better understand a connection that is shared between the varitable races of SE NC ancestry. There are traits and bonds that spark tolerance to mixing that stretch across several counties down here. An elderly woman told me during a recent interview that, “This won’t no Alabama,” She was born 30 yrs after the Lowry Wars but she was noting that beyond our romantic signatures in Civil Rights history, the under rated majority cohabitated and set a quality of life that is atypical to most projections of the south and its people. It would be very easy to tell the story of HBL from any biased angle. In fact the pillar literary works thus far on the subject demonstrate the facetted experiences. To Die Game is probably the most PC and detailed account of iit all. The author grew up and has ancestors tied to the story also. But he respects the traditional practice of tact and when its mannerly to stuff the ego and stifle it. He did not tread on things where a citation or reference couldnt balance his work to just historical record. Cant say I blame him. Talk about pinchin a bear in the rearend? *sheesh*
Janet Lowery Palmer
May 11, 2010
Have read that Henry changed his name to Alec, after he disappeared and had a son around 1990 named Brad Lowery. Does anyone have any info concerning this?
Dean Chavers, Ph. D.
June 27, 2010
Your photo of Henry Berry Lowery is actually Quinn Godwin. It got taken from Quinn’s grandson’s house under mysterious circumstances 35 years ago and published as HBL. It is unfortunate that it happened, and that you and many others were duped. Would you take it off your website? Quinn was my great-great-grandfather. See my books “Modern American Indian Leaders” and “Racism in Indian Country.”
Robert Moore
June 30, 2010
Thanks for letting me know, Dean. Instead of deleting the photo, it might be best to provide a caption explaining the image and its misuse.
Dean Chavers
December 31, 2010
that picture you have of Henry Berry is not Henry Berry. It is my great-great-grandfather Quin Godwin. We have many copies of that picture in the family. It got taken out of his son’s house (Uncle John Godwin) to be used in a publication, and got mislabeled as Henry Berry. Now it is on posters all over the place. There is no picture of Henry Berry. Check with Dorothy Godwin on Moss Neck Road to see the original pictures of Quinn, who was her late husband Worth’s grandfather.
Robert Moore
December 31, 2010
Thanks. I’m removing the photo.
Robert Moore
December 31, 2010
Actually, I’m going to leave it, with a note. Since it is commonly misidentified as Berry, it might help in correcting some in their beliefs that it is him.
She Sings
July 31, 2011
I mean no offence to anyone, but most reports of HBL refer to his Indian blood as Tuscarora, why is he now Lumbee?
sam
September 12, 2011
I fear these lowerys probably were actually more negro than Indian the indian has been romanticized and overstated.Enter the story of Henry Berry Lowry, who along with several Lowry cousins, resisted the Confederate Home Guard’s efforts to round them up to help with the construction of works at Ft. Fisher. However, the Lowry family didn’t simply hide from the Confederate authorities, but as a band of, more or less, refugees in their own homeland, became an annoyance in other ways to the local authority of the Confederacy. As one of the documents now up for sale reveals, as early as November 1863, the Lowry band began stealing items from various people in the county (were these efforts taken to ensure survival, to undermine Confederate authorities, or both?). Incidentally, the document for sale is a “partly-printed document signed by the solicitor for the State, a decision of the Superior Court of Law, attesting that ‘Seely Dial, Allen Lowrie, Martha Lowrie (free negroes)’ did on the 10 November 1863 “with force and arms” steal ‘eight sides of leather of the value of one dollar each, one set of carpenter tools comprising chisels, files, rasps, brace and
sam
September 12, 2011
Some documents refer to Henry Berry lowery as part Senegal and Portuguese and only that his grandfathe claimed to be a small part-tuscorora,why is the Indian put before the negro and white blood to romanticize this african american hero he does not appear any indian in pictures but looks pure european.He did come from the largest free negro settlement in the USA ore civil war ,no indian population there just free mulatto slaves white and black mixed.
Heather Lowery Rardin
December 31, 2011
For the person researching the Lowery line in NC, I am a direct descendant of A.C. Lowery, who served in the Confederacy and was wounded. He lived in Columbus County, NC during the time of his enlistment in the Confederacy. I have the line traced back to A.C. but we are trying to trace it back a little further to no avail. We have found the A.C. actually had 2 families, one in NC before his being wounded and another in Tennessee….this is why the research of the line is so cumbersome and confusing. Anyone that wants information can email me a rardinhj@hotmail.com.
jerrica locklear
November 10, 2013
Im sorry my name is jerrica locklear and henry berry was my mother great great grandfather and were definitely no negros so u need to take that offf