[3] He attended Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

At the end of the century, however, Lowndes ran for governor in 1896, was supported by a strong Republican biracial coalition, and won the election.

[4] In addition, Maryland was one of several "border states" that had voted for Republican candidate William McKinley in a major sweep that showed a realignment nationally;[5] Lowndes and some Republican state legislators and congressmen, such as Sydney Emanuel Mudd, were likely also elected on McKinley's coattails.

McKinley's win ended free silver as an issue and American society embraced its industrial present.

[5] Lowndes died in 1905 of heart failure, in Cumberland, Maryland, and is buried at the Rose Hill Cemetery there.