Nicholas Low

Nicholas Low (March 30, 1739 – November 15, 1826) was an American merchant and developer from New York City. He developed properties in upstate New York, including Lowville (in Lewis County) which was named for him.^[1]

Nicholas Low
Member of the New York State Assembly
In office July 1, 1787 – June 30, 1789
Personal details
Born	(1739-03-30)30 March 1739 Piscataway, Province of New Jersey, British America
Died	15 November 1826(1826-11-15) (aged 87) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Federalist
Spouse	Alice Halliburton ​ ​ (died 1818)​
Parent(s)	Cornelius Low Jr. Johanna Gouverneur
Relatives	Issac Low (brother) Charles King (son-in-law) Mary Alsop King (granddaughter)
Occupation	Merchant

Early life

Nicholas Low was born in the Raritan Landing section of Piscataway Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey and was the younger brother of Isaac Low.^[2] Low's family was descended from German, Dutch and French Huguenot settlers.^[3][4] Their father, Cornelius Low Jr., was a well-established merchant and shipper who had brought prominence to the community of Raritan Landing. The elder Low also had built the Cornelius Low House, a magnificent 1741 Georgian mansion.^[5]

Career

Like his brother, Nicholas became a prominent merchant (Low & Wallace) in New York before the revolution. Unlike Isaac, he remained a supporter of the rebel cause during the American Revolution.

Low became active in civic and state affairs for a decade. A power vacuum was created in the city when the Loyalist population, including his brother Isaac, left with the British Army evacuated in 1783.

Nicholas served in the New York State Assembly from 1787 to 1789 as part of the 11th^[a] and 11th New York State Legislatures.^[b] He attended the state's 1788 convention that ratified the United States Constitution.^[6]

In the turmoil that followed the revolution, Low acquired several large tracts of land in upstate New York. At first these were purchased as speculations, but Low turned his attention to their development. He laid out townsites and divided his holdings to sell both land and lots. He is particularly tied with the early development of the City of Watertown and the Town of Lowville.

Later life

In later years, Low turned his attention to developing his own properties. He built the Sans Souci hotel and factories in the Town of Ballston (Saratoga County). Low Street in Ballston Spa is named after him.^[7]

Personal life

Late in life, Nicholas married Alice Halliburton (d. 1818). Together, the couple had three children:^[8]

• Ann Low (1779–1823), who married John Johnstone, descendant of New York mayor John Johnstone.^[9]
• Cornelius Low (1786–1849), who served as a Federalist in the 26th New York State Legislature.^[10]
• Nicholas Low Jr. (1797–1859)
• Henrietta Liston Low (1799–1882), who married Charles King (1789–1867), son of U.S. Senator Rufus King.^[11]

Low died in 1826 at his home in New York City.^[12]

Descendants

Through his daughter Henrietta,^[13] he was the grandfather of Anne Johnstone King (1827–1891); Cornelius Low King (1829–1893), who married Julia Ellen Lawrence (1832–1862), and later, Janet De Kay (1839–1896); Henrietta Low King (b. 1833); Gertrude Wallace King (b. 1836); Mary Alsop King (1839–1894), who became a writer and who married William Henry Waddington (1826–1894); and Augustus Fleming King (1841–1862), who died during the Civil War.^[14]