John Alanson Dowst
John Alanson Dowst was born around 1845 in Maine to Henry and Mary Dowst. His father was a farmer who owned $1,500 of real estate and $956 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Vienna, Maine, and by 1860, he was working as a farmer.
 
He enlisted in the Union army on December 21, 1863, and he mustered in as a private in Battery I of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. The regiment took part in the Overland Campaign and the siege of Petersburg. He was wounded in the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 19, 1864, but he eventually recovered. He mustered out on May 22, 1865.
 
He returned to Maine after the war and attended the Maine Wesleyan Seminary. He married a woman named Ella, and their son Arthur was born around 1873. They moved to Brooklyn, New York, in the 1870s, and Dowst worked as a cider dispenser. According to one local writer, he became “one of the largest producers and dispensers of cider in the country and amassed considerable wealth.” He applied for a federal pension in November 1879 and eventually secured one. He died in Brooklyn on November 30, 1893.
4064
DATABASE CONTENT
(4064)Dowst, John Alanson18451893-11-30
  • Conflict Side: Union
  • Role: Soldier
  • Rank in: Private
  • Rank out: Private
  • Rank highest: Private
  • Gender: Male
  • Race: White

Documents - Records: 13

  • (11425) [recipient] ~ Henry F. Dowst to John A. Dowst, 6 March 1865
  • (11439) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Henry F. Dowst, 20 February 1863
  • (11440) [recipient] ~ Llewellyn Tozer to John A. Dowst, 24 April 1863
  • (11441) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Unknown, 31 December 1864
  • (11442) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Unknown, 22 January 1865
  • (11443) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Unknown, 11 February 1865
  • (11444) [recipient] ~ Laforest Dowst to John A. Dowst, 25 February 1865
  • (11448) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Friends, 8 April 1865
  • (11451) [recipient] ~ Ephraim L. Brown to John A. Dowst, 6 May 18XX
  • (11452) [writer] ~ John A. Dowst to Henry Dowst, 10 May 1865
  • (11455) [associated with] ~ Henry F. Dowst to Unknown, 16 May 1865
  • (11457) [recipient] ~ Lewellyn Tozer to John A. Dowst, 22 August 186X
  • (15392) [recipient] ~ L. C. Davis to John A. Dowst, 9 March 1865

People - Records: 8

  • (4064) Dowst, John Alanson is the [sibling of] (4060) Dowst, Henry Ferdinand
  • (4056) Dowst, Dana M. is the [sibling of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (4062) Dowst, Selden M. is the [sibling of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (4075) Dowst, Henry is the [parent of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (4090) Smart, Josiah T. is the [aunt/uncle of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (5589) Tozer, Lewellyn is the [friend of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (5590) Dowst, Laforest is the [sibling of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson
  • (5591) Davis, L. C. is the [friend of] (4064) Dowst, John Alanson

Places - Records: 2

  • (387) [birth] ~ Maine
  • (360) [death] ~ Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

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Regiments - Records: 1

  • (469) [enlisted] [I] ~ 1st Maine Heavy Artillery
SOURCES

1850, 1860, and 1880 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; School Catalogs, 1765-1935, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865, available from Ancestry.com; General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934, available from Ancestry.com