Alice Townsend Dows ( Alice Townsend Olin) (April 9, 1881 – August 31, 1963) was an American socialite and poet.

Early life

Alice Townsend Olin was born on April 9, 1881. She was the eldest child of

Stephen Henry Olin Stephen Henry Olin (April 22, 1847 – August 6, 1925) was a lawyer and the acting president of Wesleyan University and a member of New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Olin was born on April 22, 1847, in Middletown, Connecticut. ...

(1847–1925), the acting President of

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

from 1922 to 1923, and Alice Wadsworth "Elsie" ( Barlow) Olin (1853–1882). Her younger sister was author and Baháʼí

Julia Lynch Olin Julia Lynch Olin (October 21, 1882 – March 11, 1961) was an American author and Baháʼí who co-founded the New History Society in New York City, and was later expelled from the religion by Shoghi Effendi around 1939. Through marriage, she ...

who married twice, including to former

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler (September 24, 1869, in Newport, Rhode Island – February 28, 1942, in New York City) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the lieutenant governor of New York from 1907 to 1908. Early life He was the ...

. After her mother's death in 1882 at the age of 29, her father remarried to Emeline Harriman, the former wife of William Earl Dodge III, in 1903. Emeline was the daughter of

Oliver Harriman Oliver Harriman (September 16, 1829 – March 12, 1904) was an American businessman and member of the wealthy Harriman family. Early life Oliver Harriman was born on September 16, 1829, in New York City. His parents were Orlando Harriman (179 ...

and the sister of

Anne Harriman Vanderbilt Anne Harriman Sands Rutherfurd Vanderbilt (February 17, 1861 – April 20, 1940) was an American heiress known for her marriages to prominent men and her role in the development of the Sutton Place neighborhood as a fashionable place to live. E ...

, Oliver Harriman, Jr.,

J. Borden Harriman Jefferson Borden Harriman (September 20, 1864 – December 2, 1914) was a New York financier and member of the Gilded Age's "hunting set". He was best known as the supportive husband of Florence Jaffray Harriman, a socialite who became a progr ...

, and Herbert M. Harriman. Her maternal grandparents were Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow and Alice Cornell ( Townsend) Barlow. Her uncle was New York City Magistrate

Peter Townsend Barlow Peter Townsend Barlow (July 21, 1857 – May 9, 1921) was an American jurist who served as a New York City Magistrate for nearly two decades. Early life Peter T. Barlow was born at New York City to Samuel Latham Mitchell Barlow (1826–1889) ...

. Her paternal grandparents were Julia Matilda Lynch Olin and Rev. Dr.

Stephen Olin Stephen Olin (March 2, 1797 – August 15, 1851) was an American educator and minister. Early life Oline was born in Leicester, Vermont, on March 2, 1797. He was one of ten children born to Henry Olin (1768–1837), a member of the U.S. Hous ...

, 2nd President of

and the son of Henry Olin, a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from Vermont.

Career

Alice was known as a prominent

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...

socialite and poet. She was a friend of

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

, and

Margaret Chanler Aldrich Margaret Livingston Aldrich, also known as Angel of Puerto Rico ( Chanler; October 31, 1870 – March 19, 1963), was an American philanthropist, poet, nurse, and woman's suffrage advocate and prominent member of the Astor family. She was primari ...

(the sister of her brother-in-law

Personal life

In 1903, Alice was married to Harvard graduate Tracy "Pup" Dows (1871–1937) at her parents home in

Rhinebeck, New York Rhinebeck is a village (New York), village in the Rhinebeck (town), New York, town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metr ...

. He was a younger son of grain merchant David Dows and Margaret Esther ( Worcester) Dows. Together, they were the parents of: * Stephen Olin Dows (1904–1981), who studied at the

Yale School of Art The Yale School of Art is the art school of Yale University. Founded in 1869 as the first professional fine arts school in the United States, it grants Master of Fine Arts, Masters of Fine Arts degrees to students completing a two-year course in g ...

; he was a close friend of author

Thomas Wolfe Thomas Clayton Wolfe (October 3, 1900 – September 15, 1938) was an American novelist and short story writer. He is known largely for his first novel, '' Look Homeward, Angel'' (1929), and for the short fiction that appeared during the last ye ...

and U.S. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

; in 1950, he married Chilean diplomat Carmen Vial de Senoret, a descendant of

Ramón Freire Ramón Saturnino Andrés Freire y Serrano (; November 29, 1787 – December 9, 1851) was a Chilean political figure. He was head of state on several occasions, and enjoyed a numerous following until the War of the Confederation. Ramón Fr ...

, first president of Chile. * Margaret "Bargy" Dows (1906–1992), who married Swedish diplomat

Knut Richard Thyberg Knut Richard Thyberg (6 November 1896 – 1 April 1980) was a Swedish diplomat. Thyberg held numerous diplomatic posts throughout his career, serving in cities such as Paris, London, New York City, Riga, and Prague during the 1920s and 1930s. He ...

, with whom she had three children. * Deborah Dows (1914–1994), who opened a

riding school An equestrian facility is created and maintained for the purpose of accommodating, training or competing equids, especially horses. Based on their use, they may be known as a barn, stables, or riding hall and may include commercial operations de ...

in the late 1930s known as the Southlands Foundation; in 1935, she married Harvard lawyer John Lancaster Burling, son of Edward B. Burling; they later divorced. Her husband died unexpectedly, from an internal ailment, on July 3, 1937, at his apartment in London. Dows died on August 31, 1963, and was buried at Rhinebeck Cemetery. Her estate was divided equally amongst her three children.

Foxhollow Farm

Alice inherited the Olin family's sixty-acre homestead, Glenburn, in Rhinebeck, which had been enlarged by

Henry Bacon Henry Bacon (November 28, 1866February 16, 1924) was an American Beaux-Arts architect who oversaw the engineering and design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., built between 1915 and 1922, which was his final project before his 1924 ...

and

Harrie T. Lindeberg Harrie Thomas Lindeberg (1879 – January 10, 1959) was an American architect, best known for designing country houses in the United States. Among academic eclectic architects Lindeberg found a niche as "the American Lutyens" by working in a vari ...

. The Dows added to this by purchasing part of the Grasmere estate, where the Dows built a large country home in 1909 on their eventual 700-plus-acres known as Foxhollow Farm. Following the death of Tracy Dow in 1937, their children elected to sell the Foxhollow mansion and some of the acreage around it. Deborah inherited approximately 200 acres at the southern end of Foxhollow and started a horse-riding school called Southlands. Their son inherited the Olin family homestead, Glenburn, where he lived as well as at his wife's family's estate in Chile. In 2010,

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

and

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

stayed at Glenburn while in Rhinebeck for their daughter Chelsea's wedding.

References

External links

Alice Olin Dows and Stephen Olin Dows
by sculptor

Henry Hering Henry Hering (February 15, 1874 – January 15, 1949) was an American sculptor. Early career He was a student of Augustus Saint-Gaudens at Cooper Union and of Philip Martiny at the Art Students League of New York. He then went to Paris where ...

, 1909
Papers of OLIN DOWS: 1886-1986 and undated
at the

FDR Library The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is a presidential library in Hyde Park, New York. Located on the grounds of Springwood, the Roosevelt family estate, it holds the records of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd presiden ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dows, Alice Olin 1881 births 1963 deaths 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers American socialites American women poets People from Rhinebeck, New York Poets from New York (state)