The Henry Berry Lowrie

Story

The Henry Berry Lowrie Story

By Adolph Dial

Henry Berry Lowrie was born in 1847 in the Hopewell Community. His parents were Allen and Mary (Polly) Lowrie. He was the great-great grandson of Judge James Lowrie of Virginia.

On March 4, 1865, Henry Berry, while hiding in some gallberry bushes, witnessed the execution of his father Allen and brother William. It is said that the Home Guard, a loosely organized arm of the Confederate Army, forced them to dig their own graves. The death of the Lowrie’s brought a decade of conflict to Robeson County.

After the execution of his father and brother, Henry asked his other brothers Tom and Steve to join him in his search for justice. Henry proceeded to bring together what was known as the Lowrie Band.

Henry Berry Lowrie was described by Alfred Townsend, a New York Herald correspondent, as “One of those remarkable executive spirits that arises now and then in a raw community without advantages other than those given by nature.”

On March 19, 1870, the Lowrie Band killed O.C. Norment, the husband of Mary Norment. Five years later, Mary Norment wrote an account of the Lowrie Band. Mrs. Norment’s Lowrie History describes Henry Berry as of “Tuscarora Indian and Cavalier blood of England.” According to Mrs. Norment, “He carried a long bladed knife and a double barreled shotgun, five six-barreled revolvers, his whole equipment not weighing less than eighty pounds. With all his armor on he could run, swim, stand weeks of exposure in the swamps, walk day and night, and take sleep by little snatches, which in a few days would tire out white or negro.” Mrs. Norment continues, “he plays the banjo with juba, beating and dancing with the Indian girls, who on several occasions came very near to betraying him to his pursuers. He is the Don Juan of Scuffletown [Pembroke]. Women have been employed to betray him, but they either repent or he discovers their purpose.  Ever active, ever vigiliant, he is never taken by surprise. Like the rattlensnake, he generally warned before he struck. Two things he has never done—he has never committed arson, nor offered to insult white females.”

On December 7, 1865, Henry Berry married Rhoda Strong, a Scuffletown beauty. She described him as “the handsomest man I ever saw.” When Rev. Hector McLean finished the marriage ceremony at the old Lowrie homestead, Henry was arrested and taken to the Lumberton jail. Later he was transferred to the Whiteville jail for security purposes. According to Mrs. Norment, “he filed his way out of the grated iron window bars, escaped to the woods with handcuffs on and made it back home to his wife in Scuffletown.” Henry made his first successful escape from the Whiteville jail. His escape was a shock to the surrounding community.

The Lowrie Band had extraordinary skill in “jail breaking” beyond both Lumberton and Whiteville. In 1870, Rhoda Lowrie walked 85 miles to Wilmington to aid the band in escaping from the Wilmington jail. William McKee Evans states, “Had she taken the train, for example, she would almost certainly have been recognized, since there were countless males in Robeson County who could identify Rhoda Lowrie without the slightest difficulty and often from a distance. However, once she was in Wilmington, where she was not generally known, she could have moved about freely, readily passing for white.”

Henry Berry was an expert rifleman. His marksmanship was shown on the Lumbee River in 1871 when he engaged 18 militiamen at Wiregrass Landing. Using his boat for a shield he fired at the enemy and they fled through the swamp.

Out of need for food, the Lowrie Band made bold and daring raids. The most “talked about” raid in the Lumbee community occurred on February 16, 1872. The Band went to a livery stable, took a horse and dray, drove to the general store where they loaded $20,000 in goods and took the store safe containing approximately $22,000 in cash. Dial and Eliades state in The Only Land I Know, “to add insult to injury, they stole the iron safe from the Sheriff’s office. The combined weight of the safe proved too great for the cart they were using and so they left the sheriff’s safe in the middle of Lumberton Street.” Mysteriously, Henry Berry disappeared shortly afterwards.

Rhoda Strong Lowrie, like her husband, spent some time in jail. Authorities believed that the arrest of the outlaw’s wives would serve a useful purpose.

On July 14, 1871, Henry dictated a note to John McNair. The note carried the signatures of Henry Berry, his brothers, Steve and Andrew, and his brother-in-law Boss Strong. The note stated: “We make a request that our wives who were arrested a few days ago come home to their families by Monday morning, and if not, the Bloodiest times will be here that ever was before—the life of every man will be in jeopardy.”

During his entire life, Henry Berry never appeared in court, no jail was strong enough to hold the King of Scuffletown. The only member of the Lowrie band to face public execution was Henderson Oxendine. He had aided in the death of Sheriff Reuben King, but was convicted for the murder of Stephen Davis. At 12:30 pm, March 17, 1871, Oxendine walked to the scaffold, opened a Methodist hymn book and sang two songs: “And Shall I Yet Delay” and “Amazing Grace!” Frank Marden, a Northern bounty hunter, ascended the scaffold, pulled a black hood over Oxendine’s face and hit the “treadle.” The crowd from the trees on the Lumbee River and those in and around the Lumberton courtyard watched Henderson Oxendine hang.

Most of the Lowrie activities took place within a 10-mile radius of Pembroke. Moss Neck, two miles east of Pembroke, was the location of the general store for the Indian community. The McNeill Pond offered excellent fishing and provided a grist mill for local grain. Moss Neck is also the location where Henry Berry killed John Saunders, a Bostonian.

The Lowrie gang was localized in its activities but known throughout the United States. Several peace conferences were arranged with Henry Berry, but all were unsuccessful. The late Rev. D.F. Lowry, a nephew of Henry Berry, in describing the Gorman-Lowrie Peace Conference, told the present writer, “Henry Berry helped General John C. Gorman look for himself.” The story goes that General Gorman came to Henry’s house and told his mother to have Henry meet him at Moss Neck at dark. Gorman fitted Henry Berry in a Confederate uniform and they both searched for the outlaws, including Henry. General Gorman was not the only non-Indian with authority who aided the Lowrie Band. Many non-Indians, including Union soldiers, provided protection for the Lumbee Indians in their struggle for freedom and justice.