Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/321

 DOWNS

DOYLE

editor of the Horticulturist, 1846-52. In the summer of 1850 he made a careful study of the parks, gardens and country houses of England. In April, 1851, he was invited by President Filhnore to superintend the work of converting the public grounds in Wasliington, near the Capitol, White House and Smithsonian institution, into public gardens and promenades, and continued in that work tmtil his death. His published M^orks in- clude : Treatise and Practice of Landscape garden- ing (1841) ; Cottage Besidences (1842) ; Fruit and Fruit trees of America (1845) ; Additional Notes and Hints to Persons About Building in the Country (1849) ; Architecture of Country Houses, Including Designs for Cottages, Farmhouses and Villas (1850) ; Mrs. Loudon's Landscape gardening for Ladies (ed- ited, 1851) ; and Bural Essays, with a memoir of the author by George WiUiam Curtis (1853). He was a passenger on the steamer Henry Clay when that vessel was destroyed by fire, and in his efforts to save other passengers he was drownel near Yonkers, N.Y., July 28, 1852.

DOWNS, Solomon W., senator, was born in Tennessee in 1801. He was gradiiated at Tran- sylvania university and was admitted to the bar in 1826, practising at New Orleans, La. He was a Presidential elector in 1844, United States dis- trict attorney, 1845-47, collector of the port of New Orleans, and a U.S. senator from Dec. 6, 1847, to March 3, 1853. He died at Orchard Springs, Ky., Aug. 14, 1854.

DOWSE, Thomas, book collector, was born in Cliarlestown, Mass., Dec. 28, 1772; son of Eleazer Dowse, a leather-dresser. When he was three years old his father's house was burned by the British soldiers and he was taken to Sher- burne, Mass. He served an apprenticeship to his father and in 1793 removed to Roxbury, Mass., where he obtained employment with a leather- dresser. He was an ardent bibliophile and every spare dollar was laid aside for the purchase of some rare or beautiful book. He entered into the leather-dressing business for himself in Cam- bridgeport in 1803, had financial success, and con- tinued to invest a large proportion of his income in books. He accumulated a library of 5000 vol- umes, which was estimated to have cost about §40,000. In 1820 he drew as a prize in a lottery a valuable set of engravings and water-color paint- ings which he gave to the Boston Athenaemn. By his -svill he bequeathed property to the value of $100,000 to Harvard university. The will was changed because of a prank of some Harvard stu- dents who destroyed a sign of a golden lamb in front of Mr. Dowse's shop, and the i^roperty was diverted to the Massachusetts historical society. A permanent fund of §10, 000 was set aside for the preservation and care of his library. He died in Cambridgeport, Mass., Nov. 4, 1856.

DOX, Peter Myndert, representative, was born in Geneva, N.Y., Sept. 11, 1813; son of Abraham and (Nicholas) Dox, and grand- son of John Nicholas, representative in congress from Virginia, 1793-1801. His father (born in Albany, N.Y., July 7, 1780, died in Geneva, N.Y., Aug. 19, 1862) was a captain in the war of 1812, a member of the state legislature, 1813, and trus- tee of Hobart college, 1825-50. Peter was gradu- ated from Hobart in 1833, and remained there as tutor, 1833-34. He received his master's degree in 1837 and was admitted to the bar. He repre- sented his district in the New York assembly in 1841, and was elected judge of Ontario coimty. He removed to Alabama in 1855 ; in 1865 was a member of the state constitutional convention ; was a representative in the 41st and 42d con- gresses, 1869-71; and a trustee of Hobart, 1847- 56. He died at Huntsville, Ala., April 3, 1891.

DOYLE, Alexander, sculptor, was born at Steubenville, Ohio, Jan. 28, 1857; son of George and Alice (Butler) Doyle ; and grandson of Alex- ander Doyle of Steubenville, Ohio. When ten years old he accompanied his father to Italy and was educated under the private tutorship of the English chaplain at Leghorn. The nature of his father's business — the importation of marble — brought him in contact with marble carvers, and led to his frequently visiting the studios of the prominent sculptors in Carrara. In 1871 he re- turned to America, was graduated at the Louis- ville, Ky., high school in 1874, and went back to Italy to pursue a regular course of instruction in the art of sculpture. Dur- ing the four years following he studied in the government academies at Florence, Car- rara, Paris, Rome and Milan and in 1878 re- turned to his native country and began in New York the active practice of his profes- sion. His more important works include: Marble portrait and pedestal at the grave of John Howard Payne, Washington, D.C. ; statue of the Rt. Rev. Wil- liam Pinkney, Washington, D.C. ; bronze eques- trian statue of Gen. Albei't Sidney Johnston, New Orleans. La. ; monument to Francis Scott Key

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FRANCIS SCOTT KEY MONUMENT.