Solomon Weathersbee Downs (1801 August 14, 1854) was a United States Senator from Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

. Born in Montgomery County, Tennessee

Montgomery County, Tennessee

Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The county seat is Clarksville. The population was 172,331 at the 2010 census. It is one of the four counties included in the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropolitan Statistical Area....

, he pursued classical studies and graduated from the Transylvania University

Transylvania University

Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...

 (in Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

) in 1823. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1826 and commenced practice in Bayou Sara, Louisiana. He moved to Ouachita, Louisiana and then to New Orleans in 1845, where he engaged in the practice of law and was a successful planter.
Downs was United States Attorney

United States Attorney

United 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 district of Louisiana from 1845 to 1847 and a member of the State constitutional convention

Louisiana Constitution

The Constitution of the State of Louisiana is the cornerstone of Louisiana state law ensuring the rights of individuals, describing the distribution and power of state officials and local government, establishes the state and city civil service systems, creates and defines the operation of a state...

. He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1847, to March 3, 1853; while in the Senate he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Thirtieth Congress) and a member of the Committee on Private Land Claims (Thirtieth through Thirty-second Congresses). He was appointed by President Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce was the 14th President of the United States and is the only President from New Hampshire. Pierce was a Democrat and a "doughface" who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. Pierce took part in the Mexican-American War and became a brigadier general in the Army...

 collector of the port of New Orleans

Port of New Orleans

The Port of New Orleans is a port located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the 1st in the United States based on volume of cargo handled, second-largest in the state after the Port of South Louisiana, and 13th largest in the U.S. based on value of cargo...

 in 1853. He died in Lincoln County, Kentucky

Lincoln County, Kentucky

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The population was 24,742 in the 2010 Cesus. Its county seat is Stanford. Lincoln is a prohibition or "dry county" and is part of the Danville Micropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

 and was buried on family plantation (later reinterred in Riverview Cemetery, Monroe, Ouachita.)

External links

• Solomon W. Downs at Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...