Dows, David

Dows, David

(1885–1961) businessman; born in Irvington, N.Y. From a wealthy family, he graduated from Yale (1908) and became a four-goal polo player at the Meadow Brook club. He worked at Naylor & Co., where he perfected two processing techniques for iron ore and supervised building plants in England, Italy, France, and Russia. During World War I he was captain of the 60th Field Artillery in France. For W. R. Grace Co., in 1918, he studied various industries in Paraguay, Chile, and Argentina. In 1931 he left business for politics and horse and cattle raising. He was elected sheriff of Nassau County, Long Island, and was a member of the New York State Racing Commission (1945–49).

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.