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Abiel Abbot Low, born in Salem, Massachusetts, (February 7, 1811 – January 7, 1893) was an American entrepreneur, businessman, trader and philanthropist who gained most of his fortune from the China trade, importing teas, porcelains, and silk, and building and operating a fleet of reputable clipper ships. The word Salem can have many meanings. ...
This article is about the U.S. State. ...
February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
This article is on the economy of Mainland China. ...
Summary details of famous Clipper Ships (those without a separate Wikipedia Article) Ariel, 1865, 197. ...
Early Life
Abiel Abbot Low was one of twelve sons of Salem, Massachusetts, drug merchant, Seth Low. Abiel grew up attending public schools, and became a clerk in the house of Joseph Howard & Company, a company engaged in the South American trade, and moved to New York with his family in 1829. There, Seth Low’s pharmaceutical business flourished, importing drugs and India goods.
China In 1833, Low sailed to Canton, China, and started working as a clerk for the mercantile house of Russell & Company, the largest American firm in China, founded by Samuel Russell, and of which Low’s uncle, William Henry Low, had been head for some years. In 1837, after four years of learning the intricacies of trading in China, Low became a partner in the firm. In 1840, he launched his own business in a joint venture with Wu Bingjian, also known as Howqua, a mentor for young Americans in China, a very important Hong merchant, head of the Canton Cohong and one of the richest men in China. The company, A. A. Low & Brothers, rapidly became one of the leading China and Japan silks and teas trading company. There are multiple Cantons in China Canton City : Guangzhou Canton Province : Guangdong This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
Hong, Chinese word (transliterated from Cantonese) meaning trading company or store and generally used in the west for the trading companies out of Hong Kong, Macau and Canton, China that did internal trade with southern China during the early 19th to the 20th century. ...
New York Having made his fortune in China and shortly after the launch of his business, Low returned to New York. There, he set up his New York headquarters on Fletcher Street, in a building shared with his father’s business. In 1849-1850, Low erected the A. A. Low building at 167–171 John Street, now part of the historic South Street Seaport historic area. The firm was situated at its Burling Slip building from 1850 to after the turn of the century. A view of the South Street Seaport in New York with the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges. ...
Low launched his own fleet of clippers, among which were the Houqua, the first streamlined ship and named after his Chinese business partner who had died in 1843, and the Samuel Russell, named after the founder of the mercantile company in which Low had worked as a clerk. Two other of Low’s clippers, the Contest and the Jacob Bell, were subsequently destroyed by Confederate privateers during the Civil War.
Low was known for his business astuteness and shrewdness. He is said to have instructed his captains in China to wait and let competitors purchase the first tea pickings, and to purchase the following tea pickings at a lower price. Because of the speed of his clippers, he still managed to reach New York before his competitors.
Later Life Once firmly settled in New York, Low invested in other ventures, participating in the financing of the first Atlantic cable, of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway through West Virginia together with Collis P. Huntington and others, and of Newport News, Virginia, and Huntington, West Virginia. Low was made a member of the New York chamber of commerce in 1846, and was elected as its president in 1863. He held the office until 1866 when he resigned and embarked on a voyage around the world. During his tenure, he spoke out on behalf of New York businessmen against British support to Confederate commerce destroyers. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from many smaller railroads begun in the 19th century. ...
Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area Ranked 41st - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²) - Width 130 miles (210 km) - Length 240 miles (385 km) - % water 0. ...
Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker) who built the Southern Pacific Railroad and other major interstate train lines. ...
Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia from space, July 1996 (Newport News is seen in the lower left quadrant) Newport News is an independent city located in Virginia. ...
Huntington is a city located in the U.S. State of West Virginia along the Ohio River. ...
Chambers of commerce are business advocacy groups which are usually not associated with government. ...
For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9...
Low never pursued an active political career, unlike his father, who had become mayor of the village of Brooklyn, or son, Seth Low, who later became the mayor of Greater New York. However, Low did accept nominations as a consultant and advisor to local trade and governmental authorities regarding trade and commercial interests. During the Civil War, he was active within the Union Defense Committee of New York, a member of the War Fund Committee of Brooklyn, and president of the General Committee of Citizens in Brooklyn, appointed in aid of the sanitary service. Seth Low, born in Brooklyn, New York, (January 18, 1850 - September 17, 1916) was a U.S. educator and political figure. ...
A civil war is a war in which parties within the same culture, society or nationality fight against each other for the control of political power. ...
He is also known for his philanthropy activities. In 1858, he became president of the Brooklyn Female Academy, later the Packer Collegiate Institute, and remained on the Packer board until his death in 1893. He was known to give bonuses to teachers and anonymous scholarships to deserving students. He also contributed to the development of the Brooklyn Library, the City hospital and many other cultural, educational, social and religious enterprises. Packer Collegiate Institute is an independent, private, college preparatory school for students from prekindergarten through grade 12. ...
The Low Memorial Library, administrative center of Columbia University, was built in his memory by his son, Seth, in 1895. Low Library The Low Memorial Library is the administrative centre of Columbia University. ...
Columbia University is a private research university whose main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. ...
He died in Brooklyn on January 7, 1893. January 7 is the seventh day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
Family Abiel Abbot Low was the son of Seth and Mary Porter Low, grandson of David and Hannah Haskell Low, great grandson of David and Abigail Choate Low. Low married Ellen Almira, daughter of Josiah Dow of Brooklyn on March 16, 1841, and had two sons and two daughters from this marriage: Harriette Low (October 24, 1842 – 1884), Abbott Augustus Low (May 12, 1844 – 1912), inventor, businessman and industrialist, Ellen Low (June 30, 1846 -1884), and Seth Low (January 18, 1850 – September 17, 1916) who later became mayor of New York and president of Columbia University. Upon the death of his wife in 1850, Low married Anne Davison Low, widow of Low’s brother William Henry Low. Seth Low, born in Brooklyn, New York, (January 18, 1850 - September 17, 1916) was a U.S. educator and political figure. ...
Further Reading - A. L. Moffat, "Low Geneal.: The Descendants of Seth Low and Mary Porter" (1932), a copy of which is in the Lib. of Cong.; and the New York press of Sept. 18, 1916.
- Sven Beckert, “The Monied Metropolis: New York City and the Consolidation of the American Bourgeoisie, 1850-1896” (2003)
- Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace, “Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898” (1998)
External Links - Packer Collegiate Institute: Portraits on the Wall
- J. L. Cranmer-Byng and Sir Lindsay T. Ride, Notes on Hunter’s Journal, in Journal of Occurences at Canton, pp. 37-41, pdf format
- South Street Seaport A. A. Low Building
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