John Marshall Dowe (September 1, 1896 – May 15, 1946) was an American politician who served as

Connecticut State Comptroller The State Comptroller is the chief fiscal guardian of the State of Connecticut. The duties and responsibilities of the state comptroller include, among other things, overseeing state accounting, preparing state financial reports, paying and administ ...

(1941–1943, 1945–1946). A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

from

Killingly Killingly is a New England town, town in Windham County, Connecticut, Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 17,752 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It consists of the borough of Danielson, Connecticut, Dani ...

, he also served in the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

Political career

Dowe served in the

in 1931 and 1933 and as deputy state comptroller from 1935 to 1939. A former chair of the Democratic State Central Committee, Dowe was the Democratic nominee for an open seat representing

Connecticut's 2nd congressional district Connecticut's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in the eastern part of the state, the district includes all of New London County, Tolland County, and Windham County, along with par ...

in 1932. Dowe narrowly lost the election to Republican nominee

William L. Higgins William Lincoln Higgins (March 8, 1867 – November 19, 1951) was an American politician, physician, and US Representative from Connecticut from 1933 to 1937. A Republican from Coventry, Higgins also served four years as Secretary of the Sta ...

. Dowe was elected to the office of Connecticut State Comptroller in 1940 and again in 1944. When he died in office in May 1946, the

appointed Raymond S. Thatcher to fill the vacancy.

Personal life

Dowe was born on September 1, 1896, and was raised in Killingly, Connecticut. Dowe attended the town's public schools as well as Brown University. In 1917, he left Brown without a degree to enlist in the United States Army and saw active duty overseas in World War I with the

103rd Field Artillery Regiment The 103rd Field Artillery Regiment (103rd FAR) is a regiment of the United States Army. The only currently existing component is the 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Regiment (1-103rd FAR), a unit of the Rhode Island National Guard. The regim ...

, 26th Infantry Division,

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

. Returning to Killingly in May 1919, Dowe took over the running of the family business, which his grandfather had established in 1860. He dedicated ten years to running his business before entering public service in the 1930s. He had two sons, Marshall and David, with his first wife, Muriel Clark, who died in 1934. Dowe later married Doris Perry of Danvers,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. At the age of 49, Dowe suffered a heart attack and died at Saint Francis Hospital in

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

on May 15, 1946. Doris Dowe died by suicide on October 22, 1946. She had been in poor health and been "despondent" at her husband's death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowe, John M. 1896 births 1946 deaths People from Killingly, Connecticut 20th-century American politicians Connecticut Comptrollers Democratic Party members of the Connecticut House of Representatives United States Army personnel of World War I