Dr. Joseph W. Lowry was born on January 20, 1865 in Fayette County, West Virginia. His parents were Lee and Mary Patterson Lowry. He had one brother, Andrew Clark, and two sisters, Alice and Sarah “Saide.”
On December 30, 1896, Joseph married his wife Sarah Jane Clark. Sarah was born July 5, 1873 to Dennis and Sarah I. Bowen Clark. The couple lived in a house located at 321 South Fourth Street, where the library currently resides. It was in this house Sarah died on March 18, 1931.
Dr. Joseph Lowry was a physician and a capitalist. He was a city health commissioner and active in the Republican Party. He also reported to have been one of the largest real estate holders in Ironton and Lawrence County.
But it is not his life that made Lowry famous, it was his death. On May 23, 1933, Dr. Joseph W. Lowry met his end at the age of 68 years of age. He was not found until the next evening by E. L. Riley. Riley stopped by the house when he could not answer to his phone calls to Lowry. Lowry was found in his bed still in his night clothes with a towel over his face. Although his death certificate states apoplexy was the cause of death, some people suspected foul play.
Dr. Joseph W. Lowry was laid to rest by his wife in the Lowry Mausoleum in Woodland Cemetery. However, there are some people who believe the good doctor is not truly at rest. In fact, don’t be surprised the next time you come to the library if you hear books fall off the shelves with no one around, footsteps or shadows walking down the hall.
