Downs, Solomon, W.

Born: 1801-XX-XX Montgomery County, Tennessee

Died: 1854-08-14 Lincoln County, Kentucky

Solomon Downs pursued classical studies and graduated from Transylvania University in 1823. He studied law, earned admittance to the bar in 1826, and started a practice in Bayou Sara, Louisiana. He moved to Ouachita and later to New Orleans in 1845, where he continued to practice law. Downs served as U.S. attorney for the district of Louisiana from 1845 to 1847 and was a member of the State constitutional convention. He won election, as a Democrat, to the U.S. Senate, serving from 1847-53. President Franklin Pierce appointed Downs as collector of the port of New Orleans in 1853.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 961; Gravestone, Riverview Cemetery, Monroe, LA.