Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/244

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222
DOWNING
DOYLE

and " Dixie." She has written under the pen- names of " Viola " and " Frank Dashniore."


DOWNING, Sir George, British statesman, b. in Dublin, Ireland, in 1024; d. in East Hatley, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1684. His father emigrated to Salem, Mass., in 1638, and represented that place in the general court in 1688-'48. His wife was Lucy, a sister of Gov. Winthrop. The son was graduated at Harvard in 1642, returned to England in 1645, and became a preacher among the Independents ; chaplain to Col. Okey's regi- ment in Cromwell's army, and in 1658 commissary- general and scoutmaster-general to the army in Scotland ; member of parliament for a Scottish bor- ough in 1654 and 1656, and agent in Holland in lG58-'60. Turning royalist, he was knighted by Charles II.. 21 May, 1660. He was elected member of Parliament for Morpeth in 1661, and was again made envoy-extraordinary to Holland. Here he caused the arrest of Cols. Okey and Barksted, and Miles Corbet, three of the judges of Charles I., who were sent to England and executed. Principally through his agency the New Netherlands were wrested from the Dutch and annexed to the Eng- lish possessions as New York. He was afterward secretary of the treasury and a commissioner of the customs. He was created a baronet, 1 July, 1668. In 1671 he was sent on a commission to Holland, but returned before completing his errand to the satisfaction of the king, and was imprisoned in the Tower, but was again received into favor. Gov. Bradstreet was his brother-in-law. Downing street, London, perpetuates his name. He was a man of ability and natural fitness for politics, and was author of " Political Tracts " (1664-72).— His grand- son. Sir (Jeorg'e, d. in 1747, founded Downing col- lege, Cambridge, England, in 1717.


DOWNING, Samuel, soldier, b. near Exeter, N. H., in 1766 : d. near Amsterdam, N. Y., 18 Feb., 1867. He enlisted in the Continental army in 1780, and served for three years. He received a pension in 1818 of eight dollars a month, but this was taken from him in 1820 on account of his pos- session of property, and in 1828 was made $80 per annum, increased in 1864 by the addition of $100 per annum, and in 1865 by the further addition of $800 per annum. By act of 18 Feb., 1867, Con- gress directed that he be paid a pension of $500 per annum. He died the same day.


DOWSE, Thomas, book-collector, b. in Charles- town, Mass., 28 Dec, 1772; d. in Cambridgeport, 4 Nov., 1856. He was called "the literary leather- dresser." His father, Eleazer Dowse, was a leather- dresser, and was driven with his family from Charles- town on 17 June, 1775, his house being one of those burned by the British forces. He settled at Sher- burne, Middlesex co., where Thomas spent his youth, receiving no other education than that of the town school. On attaining his majority he entered the service of a leather-dresser at Roxbury, Mass., and remained in that employment for ten yeai's. He once informed a friend that, at the age of twenty-eight, his highest income had been twenty- five dollars a month ; that he had never paid five dollars for conveyance from one place to another ; had never owned a pair of boots, but possessed sev- eral hundred volumes of good books well bound. In 1803 he set up in business as a leather-dresser at Cambridgeport, and pursued the occupation suc- cessfully till he was far advanced in life. From the earliest period he devoted a large part of his incojne to the purchase of books. Standing at his bench, he would buy books, speculate on philo- sophical truths, and discuss the great problems of existence. By diligent search, great knowledge of bibliography, shrewdness, and strict economy in his purchases, he amassed a remarkable library. It consisted of about 5,000 volumes in good, often ele- gant, binding, and of the best editions. It was mostly English, though containing translations of the principal authors in the ancient languages and the cultivated languages of modern Europe. The library was estimated to have cost $40,000. Mr. Dowse had a golden lamb in front of his store as a sign ; and, when some Harvard students broke off its head, he was so irritated that he changed his will, by which he had intended to give property valued at $100,000 to Harvard, and bequeathed it instead to the Massachusetts historical society. His library was deposited in a special room in their building in Boston, and he left $10,000 as a perma- nent fund for its preservation and care. He was an admirer of Benjamin Franklin, and erected a monument to his memory in Mount Auburn ceme- tery. A collection of engravings and water-colors, which he drew in a lottery about 1820, was given to tlie Boston athen;eum. A jocose society gave him the degree of LL. I)., which was interpreted as "Literary Leather- Dresser."


DOX, Peter Myndert, lawyer, b. in Geneva, N. Y., 11 Sept., 1813 ; d. in Huntsville, Ala., 3 April, 1891. His grandfather was John Nicholas, a mem- ber of congress during the administrations of Wash- ington and Adams. Peter was graduated at Hobart in 1883, studied law, and was admitted to practice. He was elected to the New York legislature in 1841, and was afterward chosen judge of the On- tario county courts. In 1855 he removed to Ala- bama, where he became a planter. He was elected to the convention that revised the state constitu- tion in 1865, and took an active interest in restor- ing Alabama to its place in the Union. From 1869 till 1873 he was a member of congress, having been elected as a Union democrat, and served on the committee on banking and currency. He has held many minor offices, such as commissioner of schools, justice of the peace, etc. He is the author of numerous speeches in congress, including one delivered 6 June, 1870, on the admission of Georgia to the Union, the true condition of the south, and in favor of universal amnesty.


DOYLE, Sir John, British soldier, b. in Dublin, Ireland, in 1756; d. 8 Aug., 1884. He was gradu- ated at Trinity college, Dublin, entered the array, and was a lieutenant of light infantry at Boston in 1775. He served as adjutant at the battles of Long Island and Germantown, captain of the vol- unteers of Ireland, then a major of brigade at the capture of Charleston, and in the battles of Cam- den and Hobkirk's Hill. In command of a corps of light cavalry, he operated against Gen. Marion in the spring of 1781, and destroyed his camp at Snow Island, but, being pursued by Marion, escaped with the loss of his baggage. He served in Holland in 1794, in 1796 was made a colonel, and was soon afterward appointed secretary of war in Ireland. He served as a brigadier-general with Abercrombie in Egypt in 1800, distinguished himself, and was made a baronet in 1805, and a full general in 1819. — His nephew. Sir Charles Hasting-s, British officer, b. about 1804. He entered the British army as an ensign in 1819, became captain in 1825, and colonel in 1854, serving in both the East and West Indies. He was on the staff as assistant adjutant-general and assistant quartermaster-general in 1847-'56, and served in the army of the Crimea. He was inspector-general of the militia of Ireland, 1856-'61, and was assigned to the command of the troops in Nova Scotia in the latter year. In 1867 he was made lieutenant-