Solomon Weathersbee Downs (August 26, 1800August 13, 1854) was an American attorney, politician, and slaveholder from

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. A

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, he served as a

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from 1847 to 1853. The village of

Downsville, Louisiana Downsville is a village in Lincoln and Union parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population as of the 2010 census was 143, an increase from 118 in the 2000 census. The Lincoln Parish portion of Downsville is part of the Ruston Micr ...

is named for him.

Early life

Downs was born in

Montgomery County, Tennessee Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 220,069. The county seat (and only incorporated municipality) is Clarksville. The county was created in 1796. Montgomery Cou ...

, in 1801, the illegitimate son of William Weathersbee and Rebecca Downs. His family later moved to Louisiana, and sent Downs back to Tennessee to study under Thomas B. Craighead. He then attended

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, from which he graduated in 1823. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1826 and commenced practice in

Bayou Sara, Louisiana Bayou Sara was a town in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States until the Mississippi River washed it away in 1927. In the early 1800s it was the most important landing between New Orleans and Natchez, Mississippi. According to the Americ ...

. He later moved to Ouachita, where he practiced law and owned and operated a plantation. Downs enslaved dozens of African Americans on his two Ouachita Parish plantations. In the 1850 slave schedules, he is listed as holding a total of 154 men, women, and children in bondage. Database at

Career

, he became active in politics as a campaign speaker on behalf of Andrew Jackson in 1828. In 1838, he won election to the

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from Catahoula, Ouachita and

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Parishes, and he was reelected in 1842. A longtime member of the Louisiana Militia, in 1842 Downs was appointed brigadier general of the organization's 6th Division. In 1844 he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention. Also in 1844, he agreed to run for presidential elector as a supporter of Martin Van Buren. When Van Buren came out against annexing Texas, Downs resigned, but he agreed to run again after

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy and ...

was nominated. Polk won the election and carried Louisiana, and Downs cast his ballot for the ticket of Polk for president and George M. Dallas for vice president. Downs moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 1845. He served as

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the district of Louisiana from 1845 to 1846 and a member of the State constitutional convention. He was elected as a

to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1847, to March 3, 1853. While in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Thirtieth Congress) and the Committee on Private Land Claims (Thirtieth through Thirty-second Congresses). In the Senate, Downs was an unusually staunch supporter of the institution of slavery, from which he personally profited. "I call upon the opponents of Slavery to prove that the white laborers of the North are as happy, as contented, or as comfortable as the slaves of the South," he said in one speech. "In the South the slaves do not suffer one tenth of the evils endured by the white laborers of the North...This, sir, is one of the excellencies of the system of Slavery, and this the superior condition of the Southern slave over the Northern white laborer." After his term, he was appointed by President

Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804October 8, 1869) was the 14th president of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. A northern Democratic Party (United States), Democrat who believed that the Abolitionism in the United States, abolitio ...

as United States Collector of Customs for the District of Orleans in 1853 and he served until his death.

Death and burial

Downs died in Crab Orchard Springs, Kentucky on August 14, 1854, and was buried on his family's plantation in Kentucky. He was later reburied at Riverview Sanitarium in

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and is the parish seat and largest city of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolitan statistical ...

, and the burial ground there became Riverview Cemetery. Under the terms of his will, Downs freed a slave, Richard Barrington, who had been taught to read and write while living on Downs' plantation. Barrington later became a successful barber in

, and learned that Downs' grave had not been marked, so Barrington paid for a headstone. Downs' grave was later lost, and was uncovered again in 1937. After being moved to a spot near the cemetery entrance, the grave was forgotten about a second time. It was rediscovered in 2000, and is marked by the broken pieces of the headstone originally purchased by Barrington.

Family

In 1830, Downs married Ann Marie McCaleb (d. 1857). They were the parents of two children, Samuel Alfred Downs and Sarah Mary Downs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downs, Solomon W. 1801 births 1854 deaths United States attorneys for the District of Louisiana Louisiana Democrats Louisiana lawyers Farmers from Louisiana Transylvania University alumni 19th-century American planters People from Montgomery County, Tennessee Democratic Party United States senators from Louisiana People from St. Francisville, Louisiana 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century United States senators