Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/240

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218
DOUVILLE
DOW

and missed him. Regarding this as a divine inter- position in his favor, he wrapped up the sacred ves- sels and ran for the canoe. His two companions, believing him dead, had put off ; but he waded and swam out to them, and as he was climbing into the boat, turning to see if he was pursued, he received a charge of duek-shot in the mouth. They now began their flight down the river. Father Doutre- leau steering. The Indians pursued them for more than an hour, and kept up an incessant fire, but without effect. At last, frightened by an old mus- ket, which he kept pointing at them, they gave up the chase. As they drew near Natchez, several volleys were fired at them. The same occurred at the Tensas, where a canoe pursued them unsuccess- fully. While they were passing the Tonicas, a boat put out after them, manned by their own covmtry- men. They were then brought to the little French army that was marching against the Natchez, which had halted among the Tonicas. Here they were attended to, and after a night's rest they proceeded to New Orleans. Father Doutreleau accomplished a journey of over a thousand miles through a hos- tile country. The officers of the French army admired his bravery, asked him to remain as their chaplain, and he accompanied them in this capaci- ty on an expedition ; but on their return he begged to go back among the Illinois Indians. He left New Orleans on 16 April, 1730.


DOUYILLE, Jean Baptiste, French natural- ist, b. in Hanbie, France, 15 Feb., 1794; disap- peared in South America about 1883. He travelled in Europe, South America, and Asia, landnig at Genoa on his return in 1824. In 1826 he went to Paris, where he was made a member of the geo- graphical society, and then sailed for Buenos Ayres. The river La Plata was at that time under blockade by the Brazilians, and the French vessel was capt- ured while endeavoring to break the blockade ; but Douville was befriended by the Brazilian ad- miral, and sent to Buenos Ayres, where, finding his resources nearly exhausted, he attempted to replen- ish them by mercantile operations. Accused of some fraudulent transactions of which he was ac- quitted, he left Buenos Ayres in disgust, and went to Rio Janeiro in August, 1827. A few weeks later he embarked for Congo, whence he returned to France in 1831. The stories of his discoveries in several kingdoms hitherto almost unknown to Eu- ropeans, and of his exploration of the Congo, or Zaire, and other rivers, aroused great enthusiasm among the Parisians. He received a medal from the geographical society ; his researches were pub- lished under the title of "Voyage au Congo et dans l'Afrique equinoxiale " (4 vols., with a map, Paris, 1832), and his book and chart were used as the basis of subsequent maps of Africa. But the evident ex- aggerations of some of his statements soon awak- ened suspicion. The " Foreign Quarterly Review " assailed him as an impostor, and a few weeks later his deceptions were more fully exposed in the " Revue des deux mondes." To cover his shame by real discoveries, he sailed for Brazil in 1833, and penetrated to the interior of South America by the Amazon, where, according to an uncertain report, he was killed. Recent discoveries in Africa prove the truth of the accusation against him, although it is supposed that he reached the interior of that country, or at least that he obtained his informa- tion from Portuguese documents before unpub- lished ; and some geographers of repute still credit a portion of his narrative.


DOW, Daniel, clergyman, b. in Ashford, Conn., 19 Feb., 1772; d. in Thompson, Conn., 19 July, 1849. He was graduated with honor at Yale in 1793, studied theology while teaching psalmody for a livelihood, and on 20 April, 1796, was ordained pastor of the Congregational church in Thompson, Conn. His discourses were never written, but were remarkable for their logical arrangement and clear and forcible style. He published " Familiar Letters to the Rev. John Sherman " (1806) ; " The Pedobap- tist Catechism " (1807) ; a " Dissertation on the Si- naitic and Abrahamic Covenants" (1811); and '• Free Inquiry Recommended on the Subject of Free Masonry " (1829). — His son, Jesse Erskine, b. in Thompson, Conn., 21 Jan., 1809, went to sea with Commodore Elliott in 1835, as professor of mathematics, and later became clerk in the United States patent office in Washington, D. C. He has been a correspondent of various periodicals, and written frequently in prose and verse. His literary productions have not been collected.


DOW, Lorenzo, clergyman, b. in Coventry, Conn., 16 Oct., 1777; d. in Georgetown, D. C. 2 Feb., 1834. In his youth he was disturbed by re- ligious speculations until he accepted Methodist doctrines, and determined, in opposition to the wishes of his family, to become a preacher of that denomination, though his education was very lim- ited. In 1796 he made an unsuccessful ai)j)lication for admission into the Connecticut conference ; but two years later he was received, and in 1799 was appointed to the Cambridge circuit, N. Y. Dur- ing the year he was transferred to Pittsfield, Mass., and afterward to Essex, Vt., but remained there only a brief time, as he believed he had a divine call to preach to the Catholics of Ireland. He made two visits to Ireland and England, in 1799 and 1805, and by his eccentric manners and attract- ive eloquence drew after him immense crowds, who sometimes indulged in a spirit of bitter perse- cution. He introduced cainp-meetings into Eng- land, and the controversy about them resulted in the organization of the Primitive Methodists. In 1802 he preached in the Albany district, N. Y., " against atheism, deism, Calvinism, and Universal- ism." He passed the years 1803 and 1804 in Ala- bama, delivering the first Protestant sermon within the bounds of that state. In 1807 he extended his labors into Louisiana, and followed the settlers to the extreme borders of civilization. After 1799 he had no official relation to the ministry of the Metho- dist church, but continued to adhere to and to preach the prominent doctrines of that communion till his death. During his later years his efforts were more specially directed against the Jesuits, whom he regarded as dangerous enemies to pure religion and to republican government. His sin- gularities of manner and of dress excited prejudices against him, causing him to be called " Crazy Dow," and counteracted the effect of his eloquence. Nev- ertheless he is said to have preached to more per- sons than any man of his time. Among his nu- merous writings are " Polemical Works " (New York, 1814) ; " The Stranger in Charleston, or the Trial and Confession of Lorenzo Dow" (Philadel- phia, 1822) ; " A Short Account of a Long Travel, with Beauties of Wesley" (Philadelphia, 1823); " Journal and Miscellaneous Writings," edited by John Dowling (New York, 1836) ; and " History of a Cosmopolite, or the Writings of the Rev. Lorenzo Dow, containing his Experience and Travels in Eu- rope and America up to near his Fiftieth Year ; also his Polemic Writings " (Cincinnati, 1851 ; often re- printed). — His wife, Pea:g"y, whom he married in 1804, accompanied him in all his travels.


DOW, Moses A., publisher, b. in Littleton, N. H., in 1810; d. in Charlestown, Mass., 22 June, 1886. He learned the printer's trade in Haverhill,