Before entering politics, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

[4] Later, Lowry commanded a brigade of Mississippi regiments in the Third Corps, Army of Tennessee; in February 1865, he was finally promoted to brigadier-general.

The Farmers' Alliance movement continued to show local action in Yazoo County and most areas of the state.

[6] In September 1889, Lowry ordered the state militia to Leflore County, where organizing by the Colored Farmers' National Alliance and Cooperative Union sparked false rumors of an impending Black "uprising."

[7] Political activity related to peonage and racial discrimination in the Mississippi delta and other areas of the state led to violence during his term of office.