What is consistent in the stories of Lowe are accounts of his insatiable appetite for learning. He could not read enough material, and he had questions beyond the answering of his father or teachers. Lowe was also limited in the amount of time he had for school. His farm chores only allowed him the three winter months to attend Common School at Jefferson Mills, two miles away. The school had no books, but like Abraham Lincoln Thad would spend his evenings in front of the fireplace reading books loaned from his teacher's personal library.