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The Life of MATTHEW B LOWRIE

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.

Matthew Lowrie was elected mayor in 1830 and is credited with "modernizing" the fire department. The city bought it's 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. (wikipedia)

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