Clement Dowd (August 27, 1832 – April 15, 1898) was a Democratic politician in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

who served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

from 1869 to 1871 and as a U.S. Representative from 1881 to 1885. Dowd was born at Richland Creek, in Moore County, NC, and graduated from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1856. He served in the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. An attorney, bank president and one-time newspaper editor, Dowd was a law partner of North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance. After serving as a city

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

, Dowd was the first mayor of Charlotte elected after the Civil War (his predecessor had been appointed by the state governor). While Dowd was mayor of Charlotte, the city police department was established and a new city charter was adopted. He served two terms in Congress but chose not to run for re-election in 1884. Dowd worked as the federal tax collector for North Carolina in 1886-1887. He then returned to the practice of law and died in

on April 15, 1898.

References

External links

Congressional Biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowd, Clement 19th-century mayors of places in North Carolina University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni 1832 births 1898 deaths People of North Carolina in the American Civil War North Carolina lawyers North Carolina city council members Mayors of Charlotte, North Carolina Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina Editors of North Carolina newspapers 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives