Alice Olin Dows Explained

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 (1847–1925), the acting President of Wesleyan University from 1922 to 1923,^[1] and Alice Wadsworth "Elsie" (Barlow) Olin (1853–1882).^[2]

Her younger sister was author and Baháʼí Julia Lynch Olin who married twice, including to former Lieutenant Governor of New York Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler.^[3]

After her mother's death in 1882 at the age of 29,^[4] her father remarried to Emeline Harriman, the former wife of William Earl Dodge III, in 1903. Emeline was the daughter of Oliver Harriman and the sister of Anne Harriman Vanderbilt, Oliver Harriman, Jr., J. Borden Harriman, and Herbert M. Harriman.^[5]

Her maternal grandparents were Samuel Latham Mitchill Barlow^[6] and Alice Cornell (Townsend) Barlow. Her uncle was New York City Magistrate Peter Townsend Barlow.^[7]

Her paternal grandparents were Julia Matilda Lynch Olin and Rev. Dr. Stephen Olin,^[2] 2nd President of Wesleyan University and the son of Henry Olin, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Vermont.^{[8] [9]}

Career

Alice was known as a prominent Hudson Valley socialite and poet. She was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt,^[10] Gore Vidal,^[11] and Margaret Chanler Aldrich (the sister of her brother-in-law Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler).^[12]

Personal life

In 1903, Alice was married to Harvard graduate Tracy "Pup" Dows (1871–1937) at her parents home in Rhinebeck, New York.^[13] He was a younger son of grain merchant David Dows and Margaret Esther (Worcester) Dows.^[14]

Together, they were the parents of:^[15]

• Stephen Olin Dows (1904–1981),^[16] who studied at the Yale School of Art; he was a close friend of author Thomas Wolfe and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt;^{[17] [18]} in 1950, he married Chilean diplomat Carmen Vial de Senoret, a descendant of Ramón Freire, first president of Chile.^{[16] [19]}
• Margaret "Bargy" Dows (1906–1992), who married Swedish diplomat Knut Richard Thyberg,^{[20] [21]} with whom she had three children.^[22]
• Deborah Dows (1914–1994), who opened a riding school in the late 1930s known as the Southlands Foundation;^[23] in 1935, she married Harvard lawyer John Lancaster Burling, son of Edward B. Burling;^[24] they later divorced.^{[25] [26]}

Her husband died unexpectedly, from an internal ailment, on July 3, 1937, at his apartment in London.^[14]

Dows died on August 31, 1963, and was buried at Rhinebeck Cemetery.^[27]

Her estate was divided equally amongst her three children.^[28]

Foxhollow Farm

Alice inherited the Olin family's sixty-acre homestead, Glenburn, in Rhinebeck, which had been enlarged by Henry Bacon and Harrie T. Lindeberg.^[13]

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.^[29]

Following the death of Tracy Dow in 1937, their children elected to sell the Foxhollow mansion and some of the acreage around it.^[30]

Deborah inherited approximately 200 acres at the southern end of Foxhollow and started a horse-riding school called Southlands.^[31]

Their son inherited the Olin family homestead, Glenburn, where he lived as well as at his wife's family's estate in Chile.^[29]

In 2010, Bill and Hillary Clinton stayed at Glenburn while in Rhinebeck for their daughter Chelsea's wedding.^[32]

External links

• Alice Olin Dows and Stephen Olin Dows by sculptor Henry Hering, 1909
• Papers of OLIN DOWS: 1886-1986 and undated at the FDR Library

Notes and References

1. News: Col. Olin Heads College.; Will Act as President of Wesleyan University for a Year.. 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 4 August 1922.
2. News: S. H. Olin Dies at 78; 50 Years a Lawyer; Specialized on Copyright Law and Represented Foremost Publishing Houses. Acting Head of Wesleyan for 30 Years He Was Trustee of the New York Public Library – A Founder of Players Club.. 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 7 August 1925.
3. News: Deaths: Chanler . 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 12 March 1961.
4. News: Died. Olin . 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 10 November 1882.
5. News: Times. Special to The New York. Mrs. Emeline H. Olin Is Dead at Newport; Daughter of Oliver Harriman Is Stricken after Brief Illness . 25 August 2017. . 14 August 1938.
6. News: Obituary – Olin . 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 9 November 1882.
7. Book: Cutter. William Richard. Clement. E. H. (Edward Henry). Hart. Samuel. Talcott. Mary Kingsbury . Bostwick. Frederick. Stearns. Ezra S. . Genealogical and Family History of the State of Connecticut; A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Maaking of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation . 1911. New York, Lewis historical publishing company. 25 August 2017.
8. Web site: Olin, Henry – Biographical Information. bioguide.congress.gov. . 25 August 2017.
9. Web site: Stephen Olin, Office of the President . Wesleyan University. 25 August 2017. en.
10. Web site: Eleanor Roosevelt, "My Day, March 30, 1953,": Dows, Alice Olin, 1881–1963 . www2.gwu.edu . The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Digital Edition (2017) . 15 August 2022.
11. Book: Vidal . Gore . Palimpsest: A Memoir . 1995 . . 978-0-679-44038-3 . 15 August 2022 . en.
12. Web site: Harris & Ewing . Mrs. Tracy Dows and Mrs. Richard Aldrich . . 15 August 2022 . en . 1928. Harris & Ewing .
13. News: Married: Dows–Olin . 25 August 2017. The New York Times. 12 November 1903.
14. News: Tracy Dows; Succumbs Suddenly in London at Age of 64 – Harvard Graduate. 25 August 2017 . The New York Times. 4 July 1937.
15. Web site: Papers of Olin Dows 1886–1986 and undated . . 15 August 2022.
16. News: Olin Dies, Artist Known for His Murals, Dies at 76 . . 7 June 1981 . 8 January 2017.
17. News: Shannon . Thomas . Thomas Wolfe's Rhinebeck . 15 August 2022 . Hudson River Zeitgeist . August 8, 2016.
18. News: Olin Dows, Prominent Local Artist, Dies . 15 August 2022 . . 7 June 1981 . 5A.
19. News: Carmen Viale Freire Dows, 70, A Former Chilean Ambassador . 15 August 2022 . . 28 January 1978.
20. News: Times . Special to The New York . Miss Dows Is Engaged.; Betrothed to Knut R. Thyberg, Swedish Vice Consul Here. . 15 August 2022 . . 25 February 1925.
21. News: Among the Autumn Weddings; Knut R. Thyberg and Miss Margaret Dows Are Married at Rhinebeck – Other Ceremonies . 15 August 2022 . . 11 October 1925.
22. Book: Harnesk . Paul . 1962 . Vem är vem? 1, Stor-Stockholm . Who's Who? 1, Greater Stockholm . 2nd . Stockholm . Vem är vem . Swedish . . 1,302.
23. Web site: Where Women Made History . contest.savingplaces.org . . 15 August 2022.
24. News: Times . Special to The New York . Deborah Dows Engaged.; Daughter of Mrs. Tracy Dows Will Be Wed to John L. Burling. . 15 August 2022 . . 13 May 1935.
25. News: John L. Burking, Lawyer, Was 47; First Assistant to Halley During Crime Committee Investigation Is Dead . 15 August 2022 . . 10 December 1959.
26. Book: Thompson-Stahr . Jane . The Burling Books: Ancestors and Descendants of Edward and Grace Burling, Quakers (1600–2000) . 2001 . Jane K. Thompson . 978-0-9613104-0-0 . 236 . 15 August 2022 . en.
27. News: Deaths – Dows – Alice Townsend . 15 August 2022 . . 1 September 1963.
28. News: Mrs. Alice Dows. Rhinebeck Woman Left Estate Exceeding $50,000 . 15 August 2022 . . 6 October 1963 . 16B.
29. Book: Eberlein . Harold Donaldson . Hubbard . Cortlandt Van Dyke . Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley . 1 January 1990 . Courier Corporation . 978-0-486-26304-5 . 80 . 15 August 2022 . en.
30. Web site: Our Time at Foxhollow Farm: A Hudson Valley Family Remembered . . 15 August 2022.
31. Web site: Our History . southlands.org . Southlands Foundation . 15 August 2022.
32. News: Dateline . 15 August 2022 . . 20 November 2013 . B2.