Mikel Low
Mikel “Grand Mikey” Low (1771-1852) is thought to be the first permanent white settler in the area that would later become Scott County, Tenn., and is the paternal ancestor of all the Lowes in Scott County today.
See Also: The Scott County Lineage Project
Early Life
Mikey Low was born in Tulpehocken Township, Penn. in 1771, the son of Johan Philip Law and Maria Magdalene Gentzler Lau.
The spelling of Low’s parents should be noted. Today, the Lowes in Scott County pronounce their surname “Lau.” In most of the rest of the U.S., the surname is pronounced “Loh.” That isn’t always the case; for example, Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays have a player named Brandon Lowe who pronounces his last name as “Lau.” When asked why by sports reporters, he said that is the way his family has always pronounced it — which is what Lowes in Scott County would also say when asked why their name is pronounced like it is.
The spelling of Mikey Low’s parents’ last name suggests that the line of Lowes who settled Scott County always pronounced their name the way it is pronounced here today, since before they came to Tennessee.
That isn’t surprising, because unlike most of the families who would settle Scott County, Mikey Low was of French descent. Lau was a French name, and the name was pronounced there as it is spelled. Later, Lowes in England began to pronounce it “Loh” to differentiate from the French.
Family History
Mikel Low’s grandfather, Johann Philip Lau (1726-1781) was born in Alsace, France, and migrated to the American colonies with his father, Johann Christian Lau (1696-1772) in 1732. They settled in York County, Penn.
According to an inscription on the headstone of Mikel Low’s great-grandfather, they traveled to Philadelphia aboard a pinke called the “John and William,” landing on Oct. 17, 1732. The family established a grist mill on Codorus Creek near present-day Blair, Penn. They became significant landowners, and Johann Christian Lau helped establish the St. Paul’s Wolf’s Union Church, which mixed the Reformed and Lutheran faiths. That church continues today as Wolf’s Covenant Church (of the United Church of Christ denomination), and is over 250 years old.
Mikel Low’s second great-grandfather, Hans Theobald Lau, was born in Switzerland in 1664 and moved to Alsace, France, where he died in 1739, shortly after his son and grandson sailed to America.
Marriage and move to Tennessee
Mikey Low married Maria Elizabeth Bortner in 1794, when he was 23 and she was 20. She was also born in Tulpehocken Township, Penn.
At some point after that — the exact date isn’t clear — Mikel Low moved to present-day Scott County with his wife and family.
In her book, County Scott and Its Mountain Folk, historian Esther Sharp Sanderson wrote that Low moved to Smokey Creek in 1776. That’s almost certainly inaccurate; there’s nothing to suggest that Low was born prior to 1771, which would have made him only five years old in 1776. Additionally, records reveal that he married his wife, Maria, in Pennsylvania in 1794.
The earliest records placing Low on Smokey Creek aren’t found until 1830, when the U.S. census was taken. Smokey Creek was at that time a part of Anderson County; Scott County was not formed until 1849. However, it’s likely that the Low family’s move to Tennessee was well before 1830. In fact, there are records showing that Low served in the 5th Regiment of the East Tennessee Militia during the War of 1812, making it almost certain that he had moved to Smokey Creek by that time.
It is commonly accepted that Low received a land grant on Smokey Creek from the North Carolina government. That information appears to originate in Sanderson’s book, in which she writes, “It included the land which borders on each side of Upper Smoky, to the top of the mountains on both sides. The fertile creek bottoms were planted in corn and vegetables, and the vast tracts of virgin timber remained uncut for many years as a haven for the wild animals which were plentiful at that time.”
If Low did receive a land grant from the North Carolina government, that would have been prior to 1796, the year that Tennessee was granted statehood.
While there is apparently no copy of the original land grant in existence, it should be noted that land in what is now East Tennessee was commonly deeded to pioneering settlers by North Carolina in the late 1770s and 1780s, but typically only in far northeastern Tennessee. Land was sold by North Carolina at a cost of 40 shillings per 100 acres, with a limit of 140 acres for each head of household and an additional 100 acres for his wife and each of his children. Above that, the cost of land was 5 pounds per 100 acres.
Land on the Cumberland Plateau did not officially open until settlement until the Third Treaty of Tellico was signed between the U.S. government and the Cherokee Indians in 1805. One year later, a deal was struck between Tennessee, North Carolina, and the U.S. government that allowed Tennessee to begin issuing land grants so long as the original grants offered by North Carolina were honored.
Most of the land grants in present-day Scott County were received from the government of North Carolina by Revolutionary War veterans, who were awarded property for their service in the war. However, Mikel Low was not old enough to have served in the Revolutionary War.
In any event, it seems likely that Mikel Low moved with his family to Smokey Creek at some point between 1794 and 1812.
Encounter with Indians
There are no records of large Indian settlements on the northern Cumberland Plateau in the late 1700s or early 1800s. However, the territory was used by multiple tribes — mostly the Cherokee — as hunting land, and there were a few Indians who lived in the region permanently.
In her book, Sanderson writes of an encounter between Low and a Cherokee Indian, which she cites as oral history handed down by old residents of the Smokey Creek community.
“The Indian had been banished from the tribe in North Carolina before coming to Smoky,” Sanderson wrote. “Shortly afterward he accused Grand Mickey (name by which he is familiarly referred to) of casting amorous glances at the pretty, young squaw. Soon after when Lowe went to fish in a deep hole in Smoky Creek, he spied the Indian lurking in the bushes nearby, evidently waiting for him to cast his line and become quietly engaged in fishing, when he could, unnoticed, aim a death-dealing shot with his bow and arrow. Apparently undisturbed, Grand Mickey nonchalantly picked up his hog rifle and killed the Cherokee on the spot. Since that time the deep hole of water has been known as the Indian Hole.
“According to stories by relatives of Grand Mickey, the squaw remained in the Smoky settlement and was cared for by the white settlers. She left some half-breeds whose blood can be traced through several generations of Lowes. However, intermarriage and illegitimate mixture of the races was relatively small in Scott County in comparison with some of the other counties in East Tennessee where the tribes had settlements.”
A master hunter
Low was well known for his hunting prowess. Black bears, which were plentiful in the Cumberland Mountains at the time, were said to be his favorite game. Sanderson also relates a story about Low fighting a bear in a cave with a stick, as well as a story about Low’s wife being attacked by a bear as she went to a spring to retrieve water.
Children
Mikel and Maria Low had several children, including Mikel Low Jr. (1795-1879), Jacob William Low (1800-1860), Phillip Low (1801-1885), Elizabeth Low Shoopman (1805-1884), Joseph Josiah Low (1810-1880), Mary Ann Low (1813-1885), and likely at least one more.
Death and burial
Mikel Lowe died on Oct. 11, 1852, at the age of 81. He was buried in the Lowe Cemetery on Smokey Creek. His wife, Maria, died in 1879 and is also buried at the Lowe Cemetery.