James K. Lowe
“The Korean Penman”
*This
bio was taken from taken from The Business Educator, November 1916 and written
by WE Dennis.
Mr. Lowe
is a native of Korea, having been born in that country in 1880. At the early
age of seven years he lost his parents. For the next three years he followed
the life of a cabin boy on a steamship, then became assistant oiler, and after
seeing many different parts of the world landed in San Francisco in 1900. In
that vicinity he worked on a fruit farm with the Japanese. While engaged in
this occupation he fell in with a missionary by the name of Dr. Drew, and
another Korean, who advised him to become a Christian and go to school, so he
embraced the Christian religion and attended public school for six years, when
the terrible earthquake happened in San Francisco, and not being -fond of
earthquakes young Lowe then went to Los Angeles, where he continued school for
another year and a half.
After
his schooling Mr. Lowe wandered from city to city until he reached Boston,
Mass., and remained there until 1910 About this time Mr. Lowe's artistic nature
became aroused in the subject of pen work which naturally took him back west
again as' far as Columbus, where he attended the Zanerian College of Penmanship
and graduated in 1912. His next move was back to Boston, where he was engaged
by Frank W. Martin as assistant in diploma work. Then he came to Brooklyn and
was engaged by Dennis & Baird to assist in diploma filling and other work,
where he is now employed.
Since he
was a small boy of only seven years, Mr. Lowe has been self-supporting, and has
seen much of the world. His success in carving out his own way, attending
school, and acquiring so much skill as an all-round penman and engrosser should
be an incentive to our boys, born in this country, with far less obstacles in
their path. It simply shows the result of well-directed industry.
But Mr.
Lowe is not only well up' in pen work; he possesses great mechanical skill and
seems to have the knack of making with tools, anything he chooses. He showed us
a folding table of his own manufacture, not only adjustable and very useful,
but, ornamental as well, and a spacing T square of big own make is equal to any
we ever saw.
