The Claud and Lowe families.

One of the greatest discoveries that I have found dealt with the Lowe family. Months ago, I heard of the Lowe family. Yet, I didn’t find out more intensive research until recently. My fifth great grandmother Zilphy Claud lived in Southampton County. She was born in the year of 1820. Zilphy lived to see the end of the Civil War and the period of Reconstruction in the United States of America. Zilphy Claud had a daughter named Lydia Claud. She was born in 1842. Lydia’s sister was my fourth great grandmother named Sarah Claud. In the year of 1867, Lydia Claud (or my 5th great aunt) married a man named Willis Sykes. Lydia and Willis had the following sons: Philip Sykes (1861-?), James Sykes (1865-?), and Percy H. Sykes (1872-1948). Lydia and Willis had the following daughters: Mattie Sykes (1874-1942), Louisa Anna Sykes (1876-1955), Willie Corean Rose, and Nattie Sue Sykes. Lydia Claud’s daughter Louisa Anna Sykes was born in Southampton County, Virginia. Her descendants would be members of the Lowe family, and they would travel from Southampton County into Suffolk, Portsmouth, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and beyond. Louisa A. Sykes married Charles Wesley Lowe (1873-1954) on the date of September 23, 1896 at Southampton County, Virginia. Charles Wesley Lowe had a twin brother named Robert Candy Lowe who passed away in the year of 1873.  Later, Louisa and Charlie traveled into Nansemond at Suffolk, Virginia. Louisa A. Sykes and Charlie Wesley Lowe had the following seven children: Howard H. Lowe (1898-1958), Flossie Baylee Lowe (1899-?), Palease Lowe (1900-?), Charlie James Lowe (1901-1967), Elgin Madison Lowe Sr. (1914-2000), Danier Elsie Lowe (1917-2000. She was a well-known woman in the Lowe family history), and Joseph Isaac Lowe (1919-1974).

Charlie James Lowe married Willott White on the date of June 30, 1923 at Suffolk, Virginia. By this time, many members of the Lowe family lived in Suffolk. They had the following children of Theopolis Melton Lowe, Cordy Lowe, Edward McKinley Lowe (1930-2013), and Ester Lowe. Edward McKinley Lowe married Shirley Jones (1932-1995) on September 16, 1949 at Suffolk, Virginia. Edward and Shirley Lowe had the following children: Jacqueline Mildred Lowe, Louis Collie Lowe, Gregory Bertram Lowe, and Edward Lowe Jr. Louis Collie Lowe married Toinette Denise Williams first on July 19, 1980. They had a divorce. Later, Louis Collie Lowe married Alecia Bryant on the date of September 5, 1998. Louis and Alecia had a daughter named Collecia Imani Lowe (or my fifth cousin) on the date of February 17, 1999. The Lowe family are definitely related to the Claud family and other African American families of Virginia.

Howard H. Lowe at first married a woman named Josephine Mayfield on the date of April 8, 1917 at Virginia. They divorced (on May 9, 1921), and Howard married Frankie Knight on February 9, 1924 at Nansemond County, Virginia (or at Suffolk, Virginia). Howard participated in the U.S. Army during World War I at France. 🇫🇷 Both Howard and Frankie would live in Philadelphia until their divorce. Howard was buried in Suffolk, Virginia. Flossie Baylee Lowe married Levi Smith and later divorced him on September 23, 1938. She would later marry James W. Falucon at Philadelphia. Flossie would be very religious before her passing. Danier Elsie Lowe lived from 1917 to 2007. She married three times to Peter Alhert Fortune, Henry Epps, and Paul Theodore Robinson. She had a son named Calvin Lowe Fortune (1934-2000). Danier loved fashion, music, and living life. Elgin Madison Lowe Sr. was my second cousin. Elgin Madison Lowe Sr. lived in the Suffolk area with his family, and he was born on March 15, 1914. He courted a beautiful woman named Lois Elaine Ballard. They married at Norfolk, Virginia on September 23, 1933. They or Elgin and Lois had the following children: Jean Denyce Lowe (1936-present), Elgin Madison Lowe Jr. (1939-present), and Sandra Marilyn Lowe (1943-present). Jean Denyce Lowe is my third cousin and she met a man in Indianapolis named Hubert Lathen Teague (1928-2004). The couple married and had many children which are the following: Marsha L. Teague (1957-present), Brad Teague (1970-present), Ryan Teague, and Lance Teague. The Teague family moved into Southern California. One of the most important parts of the Lowe family story is about how Elgin Madison Lowe Sr. wrote an autobiography about his family’s life back in 1999. Elgin Madison Lowe Sr. was an outstanding Suffolk educator. He retired from Suffolk Public Schools in 1976.

By Timothy