In 1865, the great American Civil War was winding down in the South. Confederate money was worthless. Fat-back sold for $6 a pound, corn was $40 a bushel and ham — well, you could just about forget it. This was a time of true suffering and famine for most of the civilian population of the South.
Sherman’s army was moving through South Carolina, burning and looting everything in its path. It would be only a matter of weeks before they would enter North Carolina through Richmond and Robeson counties.
Most of the young men of Richmond (Scotland) and Robeson counties were either fighting in other places; conscripted to Fort Fisher, or hiding out in the swamps; all the while, the Home Guard was very active in the area.
The Home Guard was made up of older men or men who had paid their way out of the regular army. Their job was to look for deserters, enforce the local law and punish anyone who they thought was a danger to the Southern cause.
It so happened a man by the name of James Bradley (Brad) Harris headed up the Home Guard around Robeson County. Harris was a hated man especially among the Lumbee. He and his men would beat and rob people, violate women and even go so far as to murder folks — all in the name of their cause.
The story goes that three of Henry Berry Lowry’s cousins were on leave from building fortifications at Fort Fisher. Each had a signed piece of paper saying they had authorized leave. The Home Guard under Harris took the three cousins by force from their homes (even though each man showed their papers), and started marching them to Lumberton as deserters.
According to Harris, all three tried to escape and all three were shot and killed before they reached Lumberton.
These murders did not go unnoticed by the Lumbee and especially the Lowry clan. On Jan. 15, 1865, young Henry Berry Lowry shot and killed Brad Harris as a result of the murders of his cousins and other longstanding issues between the two.
Within the next weeks, Sherman’s Union army was just a few miles from Robeson County. The Home Guard was desperately doing anything and by any means to stop Union supporters or anyone they thought might be bearing arms to help the Union.
In February of 1965, the Confederate Home Guard accused Henry Berry Lowry’s father (Allen) and Henry’s brother (William) of stealing guns, food and harboring outlaws such as the so-called Lowry Gang of which Henry Berry Lowry was chief.
The Home Guard arrested everyone in the Lowry household including the women. They locked the women in the smokehouse at their farm and held a kangaroo court for Allen and William Lowry right there in the yard. While the court was going on, William tried to make a run for it but was shot, wounded and dragged back into his yard to face trial.
Even though Allen Lowry was in his 70s, he and his son William were found guilty of all charges. The elder Lowry was force to dig a trench for their own graves. After the shots rang out, both men fell into the trench dead and were covered with a small amount of dirt.
Legend goes that Henry Berry Lowry lay in the swamp just yards away from where the murders took place. Heartache and revenge were deeply placed in Henry’s mind. After that day, the young Lumbee and his gang rained down terror and bloodshed in and around Robeson County.
One of Henry’s next victims was John Taylor, who supposedly headed up the local Ku Klux Klan. Taylor had killed Meg Sanders, the sister of Calvin Oxendine. Oxendine was a member of the Lowry Gang and a cousin of Henry. Taylor was shot from less than 15 feet away and while he lay dying, the Lowrys took Taylor’s pistol and $55 from his coat pocket.
After this, the Lowry Gang became the most wanted criminals in North Carolina. With their sudden appearances and disappearances from the swamps, they were hard to track down. Bounties as much as $1,000 were placed on each Lowry Gang head and as much as $10,000 for Henry Berry Lowry — dead or alive.
The local and national newspapers had a field day writing about the events surrounding the Lowry Gang. They wrote of Henry Berry and his gang and likened them to Robin Hood and his band of merry men. Some newspapers said Henry was like a modern version of Rob Roy.
Next time, we will continue with these historical events and legends that took place during the Civil War and during Reconstruction. Were Lowry and his gang heroes or just plain murderous outlaws?
J.A. Bolton is a member of the N.C. Storytelling Guild, the Anson County Writers’ Club, the Richmond County Historical Society and the Story Spinners in Laurinburg.