Low, Samuel Donaldson Warren, Jr. (1896–1974)

Samuel Donaldson Warren Low, Jr., lawyer, businessman, civic leader, and collector of customs, was born in Brenham, Texas, on August 31, 1896. He was the son of Texas House member and Washington County judge Sam D. W. Low, Sr., and wife Ruth (Morriss) Low. He attended local public schools in Brenham and graduated from Brenham High School in 1914. He attended college at the University of Texas and in 1920 graduated from the University Law School with an LL.B. He also belonged to the Chi Phi fraternity. He had served as a first lieutenant with the Texas National Guard Cavalry during World War I.

Sam D. W. Low began working for the Continental Mexican Petroleum Company in Mexico in 1920. He learned Spanish and worked for the firm in Chile and Argentina before returning to the United States and establishing his law practice in San Antonio in 1924. Low married Myrtle Margaret Ryan on November 7, 1929, in Austin. The couple had one daughter. They made their home in San Antonio. Low moved his residence and law practice to Houston in 1938.  

In 1942 during World War II Low was appointed as special assistant to the American ambassador in Chile and also served as special representative of the Foreign Economic Administration of the United States. For his service, Low earned the Chilean Order of Merit from the government of Chile in 1945. He returned to private law practice in Houston in 1946.

Low was an active member of the Democrat party and became a trusted confidant of Lyndon B. Johnson. When Johnson first ran for the U.S. Senate in 1941, Low was a staunch supporter and gave campaign speeches on Johnson’s behalf. Johnson lost this election, but when he ran again in 1948, Johnson won with Low’s support. With Senator Johnson’s recommendation, Low was appointed to the patronage position of collector of customs at Galveston by Democrat President Harry S. Truman and then confirmed by the U.S. Senate in April 1949.  Low resigned the position in June 1953 when a Republican administration came to power. He was reappointed to the position of collector by Democrat President John F. Kennedy in 1961 and served until 1966.

In this role, Low oversaw all federal customs operations in the Texas cities of Galveston, Houston, Dallas, Freeport, Corpus Christi, and Fort Worth. He was charged with ensuring the lawful entry of goods, collecting import duties, and preventing smuggling activities that could undermine revenue collection and the introduction of contraband into the United States.

While collector, Low also served on the Texas Maritime Academy Board of Visitors at Galveston and attended their first meeting in 1962. The Texas Maritime Academy eventually became known as the Texas A&M Maritime Academy at Galveston and was one of only six maritime academies in the United States.

In 1966 President Johnson submitted a reorganization plan to Congress for the U.S. Customs Service which abolished the position of collector. The collectors were then replaced by civil servants who were chosen based on their knowledge of U.S. Customs laws, policy, and procedures instead of as a reward for their political loyalty. The reorganization resulted in Low’s reassignment to the position of program advisor for the Houston U.S. Customs Region. Low resigned from the U.S. Customs Service in 1969.

Low’s business interests included his position as chairman of the board and general counsel of the TIFCO Inter-American Corporation, an export management firm; president of Texas International Fund Incorporated; chairman of the board of the First National Bank of Brenham; president of the Brenham Oil Manufacturing Company; director of H. E. Schurig & Company; and director of Blue Bell Creameries, Inc. Low was a member of various chambers of commerce and was elected president of the Texas Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1929. His many club memberships included the Propeller Club of the United States, the American Legion, the Rotary Club of Galveston, Pine Forest Country Club, and the Sons of the Republic of Texas.

Sam D. W. Low was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Houston. He died at the age of seventy-seven in Houston on March 7, 1974, and was buried in a plot at Prairie Lea Cemetery in Brenham, Texas, along with his father, mother, and wife.