Neal S. Dow 392871 225078460 2008-07-11T19:47:40Z Bearcat 24902 {{Infobox Officeholder | name = Neal Dow | image = NSDow2.jpg | caption = | order = 9th [[List of mayors of Portland, Maine|Mayor of Portland]] | term_start = [[1851]] | term_end = [[1851]] | predecessor = [[J. B. Cahoon]] | successor = [[Albion K. Parris]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1804|3|20}} | birth_place = [[Portland, Maine]], [[United States|USA]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1897|10|2|1804|3|20}} | death_place = [[Portland, Maine]], [[United States|USA]] | constituency = | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]], [[Prohibition Party|Prohibitionist]] | spouse = Maria Cornelia Durant Maynard Dow | profession = [[Politician]] | religion = | signature = | footnotes = }} '''Neal S. Dow''' nicknamed the '''"Napoleon of Temperance"''' ([[March 20]], [[1804]] &ndash; [[October 2]], [[1897]]) was a [[prohibition]]ist [[mayor]] of [[Portland, Maine]], known as the "Father of Prohibition". He sponsored the "[[Maine law]] of [[1851]]", which prohibited the manufacture and sale of [[liquor]]. Dow was widely criticized for his heavy handed tactics during the [[Portland rum riot]] of 1855. ==Early life and career== Dow was born in Portland, the son of [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker parents]]. He entered his father's tanning business and became a very successful businessman. He volunteered as a firefighter to gain exemption from militia duty because of the reputation of militia musters to be drunken bashes. He gained local notice when he persuaded his company to forego the customary liquor at their annual celebration. In 1827 he was a founding member of the Maine Temperance Society. Before 1837 he was a leader of the splitting off of the Maine Temperance Union over the issue of whether wine should still be allowed&mdash;the Union was for total abstinence. ==Temperance movement== ===Mayor of Portland=== The first legislative attempt to impose prohibition was in 1837. A bill made it out of committee but was tabled. In 1849 the bill passed the Maine Legislature but was not signed by Governor [[John W. Dana|John Dana]]. In April 1851, Dow was elected mayor of Portland. A bill was submitted in May. The bill was quickly passed by the legislature, and many legislators expected it to be vetoed. Dow met with the new Governor, [[John Hubbard]], who signed the law on [[June 2]]. This propelled Dow to national fame. He was called the "Napoleon of Temperance", and was the featured speaker in August at a National Temperance Convention. ===Portland Rum Riot=== After losing reelection as Portland's mayor and leading prohibitionist, Dow traveled the U.S. and Canada campaigning for prohibition laws. He ran again to be mayor in 1854 and lost, but in 1855 won reelection with a 47 vote margin, supported openly by the new Republican party and secretly by the [[Know Nothing]] party. He then appeared to commit a technical violation of the Maine law, and a judge was compelled to issue a search warrant. A mob scene ensued, and Dow gave the militia the order to fire. One man was killed and seven wounded. This incident has become known as the [[Portland Rum Riot]]. Dow was tried for the original charge of illegal liquor sales. The prosecutor was former U.S. Attorney General [[Nathan Clifford]] and the defense attorney was a fellow founder of the Maine Temperance Society, [[William P. Fessenden]]. Although Dow was acquitted, his image had suffered badly, his candidate for Maine Governor was defeated, and in 1856 the Maine law was repealed.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rolde |first=Neal |title=Maine: A Narrative History |year=1990 |publisher=Harpswell Press |location=Gardiner, ME |id=ISBN 0-88448-069-0 |pages=175-178}}</ref> [[Image:GenNSDow.jpg|thumb|right|200px|General Neal S. Dow]] ==Civil War== ===Early role=== After the start of the [[American Civil War]], Dow was appointed [[Colonel]] of the 13th Maine Infantry on [[November 23]], [[1861]], and his regiment participated in the capture of [[New Orleans]] under the command of [[Union Army]] [[Major General]] [[Benjamin Franklin Butler (politician)|Benjamin Butler]]. He was promoted to [[brigadier general]] on [[April 28]], [[1862]], and was assigned to command two [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] forts captured south of New Orleans, Jackson and St. Philip, followed by command of the District of Florida. ===Capture and exchange=== His Civil War service is best remembered for his wounding and capture by the Confederates during the [[Siege of Port Hudson]] ([[May 21]] &ndash; [[July 9]], [[1863]]) in [[Louisiana]], and he was imprisoned for eight months in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] and [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]]. He was released back to the Union Army in exchange for captive Confederate General [[William Henry Fitzhugh Lee]] (son of General [[Robert E. Lee]]) on [[February 25]], [[1864]]. His health was degraded by his prison experience and he resigned from the Army in November 1864. ==After the war== [[Image:NSDow.jpg|thumb|left|205px|Neal S. Dow]] ===Postwar politics=== Back in Portland, Dow soon became a leader in the [[temperance movement]]. He co-founded the [[National Temperance Society and Publishing House]] with [[James Black (prohibitionist)|James Black]] in [[1865]]. The Society owned a publishing house that promoted [[teetotalism]]. Dow was the [[Prohibition Party]]'s candidate for [[President of the United States]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1880|election of 1880]] and came in fourth place, receiving 10,305 votes. The election was won by [[James A. Garfield]] of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] and Dow was surpassed by two other unsuccessful candidates: [[Winfield Scott Hancock]] of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] and [[James Baird Weaver]] of the [[United States Greenback Party|Greenback Party]]. He wrote ''Reminiscences'' (Portland, 1898). ===Illness and death=== He was eventually seen as an irreverent or comical figure on the national political scene. He did, however, leave a lasting impression on Maine politics by helping engineer the Republican parties rise to dominance that lasted for most of a century, from 1855 to 1955. Dow died in Portland and is buried there in [[Evergreen Cemetery (Portland, Maine)|Evergreen Cemetery]]. Neal Dow Avenue in the Westerleigh section of New York City's borough of Staten Island and Neal Dow Elementary School in [[Chico, California]] are named after him. ==Neal S. Dow House== [[Image:DowHouse.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Dow House on Congress St. in Portland, Maine]] {{main|Neal S. Dow House}} Built in 1829, '''Neal S. Dow House''' is an historic house in [[Portland, Maine]] built for noted politician and prohibitionist Neal S. Dow. ==See also== *[[Temperance movement]] ==References== <div class="references-small"> *Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., ''Civil War High Commands'', Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. *{{cite book |last=Rolde |first=Neal |title=Maine: A Narrative History |year=1990 |publisher=Harpswell Press |location=Gardiner, ME |id=ISBN 0-88448-069-0 |pages=175-178}} *Warner, Ezra J., ''Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders'', Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. *{{NIE}} </div> ==Footnotes== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{findagrave|20375}} Retrieved on [[2008-02-12]] {{start box}} {{succession box | title=[[List of mayors of Portland, Maine|Mayor of Portland, Maine]] | before=[[J. B. Cahoon]] | after=[[Albion K. Parris]] | years=[[1851]] }} {{succession box | title=[[Prohibition Party presidential election results|Prohibition Party presidential nominee]] | before=[[Green Clay Smith]] | after=[[John St. John]] | years=[[U.S. presidential election, 1880|1880]] (lost) }} {{end box}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Dow, Neal S.}} [[Category:1804 births]] [[Category:1897 deaths]] [[Category:American Civil War prisoners of war]] [[Category:American temperance activists]] [[Category:American autobiographers]] [[Category:Mayors of Portland, Maine]] [[Category:People of Maine in the American Civil War]] [[Category:Prohibition Party (United States) presidential nominees]] [[Category:United States presidential candidates, 1880]] [[Category:Union Army generals]]