[2][3] His father was a well-established merchant and shipper who built the Cornelius Low House, an extant 1741 Georgian mansion, and brought prominence to the community of Raritan Landing.

[2] Low served as a tax commissioner for the New York provincial government during the French and Indian War.

[5] He had large real estate holdings, built up sizable trade, and had interests in a slitting mill.

[2] Although he accumulated a fortune that placed him in the upper ranks of colonial New York's merchant leaders, he was "nowhere near its absolute pinnacle.

Another brother, General Cornelius Cuyler, was a British Army officer during the French Revolutionary Wars, who served as Lt. Gov.