William Dorsheimer was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
,
journalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
Life
He was the son of
Philip DorsheimerPhilip Dorsheimer -Life:...
. He was educated in common schools, then at Phillips Andover Academy, and then studied at
Harvard CollegeHarvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
from 1849 to 1851. He left Harvard without graduating because of a protracted illness, though in 1859 Harvard gave him the degree of
M.A.A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
After leaving Harvard in 1851, he settled in
Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. In 1859, he formed a partnership with
Solomon G. HavenSolomon George Haven was a U.S. Representative from New York and Mayor of the City of Buffalo, New York, serving in 1846–1847.-Biography:He was born in Guilford, New York on November 27, 1810...
. In politics, he began as a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, joined the
Republican PartyThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
in 1856, and in 1860 again supported the Republican ticket.
In 1861, he joined the
Union ArmyThe Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
as an
aide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
with the rank of
majorMajor is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
and served on the staff of General
John C. FrémontJohn Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
, but at the close of the Missouri campaign Dorsheimer returned to civil life, and published a series of articles in the
Atlantic Monthly entitled “Frémont's Hundred Days in Missouri.”
From 1867 to 1871, as a Republican, he was
United States AttorneyUnited States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the
Northern District of New YorkThe United States District Court for the Northern District of New York serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. The U.S. Attorney for the district is Richard S. Hartunian...
.
He was a delegate to the
1872 Liberal-Republican National ConventionThe Liberal Republican Party of the United States was a political party that was organized in Cincinnati in May 1872, to oppose the reelection of President Ulysses S. Grant and his Radical Republican supporters. The party's candidate in that year's presidential election was Horace Greeley, longtime...
at
Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, and afterwards became a Democrat. He was
Lieutenant Governor of New YorkThe Lieutenant Governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of New York State. It is the second highest ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four year term...
from 1875 to 1879. During this time, he helped implement the measures against the Canal Ring, and was a delegate to the
1876 Democratic National ConventionThe 1876 Democratic National Convention assembled in St. Louis just nine days after the conclusion of the Republican National Convention. The convention opened with three contenders, Bourbon Democrat Samuel J. Tilden of New York, Thomas Hendricks of Indiana and Union General Winfield S. Hancock of...
. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law in partnership with David Dudley Field in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
He was elected as a Democrat to the
48th United States CongressThe Forty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1883 to March 4, 1885, during the last two years...
and served from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. In 1884, he published a biography of
Grover ClevelandStephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
, the Democratic candidate for the presidency, and in July 1885, was appointed U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New YorkThe United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
which office he resigned in March 1886.
In 1885, he purchased the
New York Star and began its publication as a daily paper on September 15. He was one of the founders of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the
Buffalo Historical SocietyThe Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society is located on Nottingham Court in the city of Buffalo, just east of Elmwood Avenue, north of the Scajaquada Expressway, in the northwest corner of Delaware Park. It occupies the building constructed in 1901 as the New York State pavilion for that...
.
He died in
Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
, while on a train trip to
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with his wife. His only daughter had died in 1874. Dorsheimer is buried at the
Forest Lawn Cemetery, BuffaloForest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York was founded in 1849 by Charles E. Clark. It covers over 250 acres and over 152,000 are buried there. Notable graves include U.S. President Millard Fillmore, singer Rick James, and inventor Lawrence Dale Bell...
.
H. H. Richardson
Today Dorsheimer is best remembered for hiring American architect
H.H. RichardsonHenry Hobson Richardson was a prominent American architect who designed buildings in Albany, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and other cities. The style he popularized is named for him: Richardsonian Romanesque...
to design a house for him on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, which still stands, and for helping Richardson win the commission to design the New York State Asylum in Buffalo. He is also chiefly responsible for bringing landscape architect
Frederick Law OlmstedFrederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
to Buffalo to design its park system. The
William Dorsheimer HouseWilliam Dorsheimer House is a historic home located at Buffalo in Erie County, New York. It was designed and built in 1868 by Henry Hobson Richardson for William Dorsheimer , prominent local lawyer and Lieutenant Governor of New York...
was listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1980.
Sources
External links