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James Matt Lowe
Conductor
Biography
Captain Matt Lowe (May 17, 1893-December 16, 1916), a native of Clarksville, Tennessee, joined the Louisville & Nashville Railroad circa 1857 and worked on the Memphis Branch. Early in his career, he worked with Conductor A.H. Haines.
On July 28, 1869, Lowe was the conductor on a Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad train when it crashed at Budds Creek near Clarksville, Tennessee.
He later lived in Louisville, Kentucky, and retired from the railroad in about 1906. When he died in December 1916, a newspaper called him the oldest living Louisville & Nashville conductor active or retired.
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William MacRae
Superintendent
Biography
William MacRae (September 9, 1834-February 11, 1882), a native of North Carolina, was a brigadier general in the Confederate States Army during the Civil War.
After the Civil War, MacRae began a successful career as a railroad manager. He was the general superintendent of the Wilmington & Manchester, the Macon & Brunswick and the Western & Atlantic railroads.
John P. Mays
Conductor
Biography
John P. Mays joined the Western and Atlantic Railroad before the Civil War. However, there is some debate about the date, with either 1851 or circa 1857 given as possible start dates.
Mays was born on July 11, 1832, in Cobb County, Georgia. He was educated at an old field school for two years. A newspaper account indicates that at the age of 19, around 1851, he moved to Atlanta and began working as a train hand for the Western and Atlantic Railroad.
During the Civil War, Mays was entrusted with overseeing the railroad’s rolling stock, a critical responsibility he fulfilled with great care and competence. After the war, he resumed his work as a conductor.
He continued in that role until he was appointed claim agent for the railroad following the 1897 death of Sanford Bell. At the time of his appointment, Mays was the oldest living conductor on the line, having served in that capacity for more than 40 years.
Despite suffering from a chronic bronchial condition for 25 years, Mays remained active and committed to his work until his health declined in the final months of his life. He died on October 5, 1899.