The Sun (Baltimore, Maryland)
30 March 1843


Obituary—Died suddenly in Washington city March 5th, John Dowling, of Galena Illinois.

In recording the death of this generous, noble-hearted man, I am at a loss for language sufficiently strong to delineate his virtues. He removed to this country from his native city, Dublin, and by his industry and gentlemanly deportment he amassed considerable property, and rendered himself beloved by all who knew him. He was an honorable member of the Irish Repeal Association, and also of the Hibernian Society, and at the time of his death he was on his way from Galena, his place of residence, to Baltimore, with the intention of joining in the late interesting ceremonies of the Hibernian Society of this city.

His beloved sister, in Baltimore, surrounded by her children, awaited with open arms his arrival; but alas that sister, whose heart beat with joy at the prospect of soon seeing so good, so generous a brother, was destined never to behold him again. His very visit to Baltimore was prompted by a generous action, which it was his intention to have performed so soon as he arrived. There never lived a man, perhaps, whose heart was more susceptible of the finer feelings of our nature, or in which there was more of the milk of human kindness. He could not look upon a suffering fellow creature without the simultaneous effort to relieve him, and the tear of sorrow at the tidings of his death will dim the eye of many a fellow creature whose sufferings has been alleviated by his sympathy, and relieved by his liberality. The blessings of the orphans he has educated will embalm his memory, and the prayers of the poor who have fed upon his bounty will ascend to heaven for the happiness of his immortal spirit.

Oh! what a bright and blissful world this would be, if all hearts like his could feel for the woes and wants of others. He has left one son at Galena, and a beloved sister in this city, to mourn over the mementos of one of the best of fathers and brothers that ever breathed. That son has, perhaps, ere this, received through the public prints, the melancholy intelligence that his best friend on earth is no more. Heaven grant that he may tread in the footsteps of that generous, high-minded father, and emulate the virtues of him who was emphatically an honest man, the noblest work of God. To those who knew the subject of this obituary, this notice will be useless, for ‘none knew him but to love him, none named him but to praise.’ Alas! that such men, the very salt of the earth, should so soon leave us! But it is gratifying to his son and sister, in whose sorrowing hearts his memory is sacredly enshrined, to be the heirs of his many glorious virtues. May they do honor to the departed, by continuing to practice them. The angels ere this, on their golden harps, have heralded him to his home in heaven; and may they, who so loved him on earth, prepare to meet him in that land of love, where tears are never shed, and where parting is no more.

Farewell, departed friend, a long farewell,
Full many a tear o’er thy lone tomb is shed;
Full many a tongue thy noble deeds shall tell,
And those who loved thee living, mourn thee dead.

Thou shalt not be forgot—sweet memory
Shall oft recall thee to the musing mind;
Affection’s lips shall oftimes speak of thee,
Tough friend of man, and honor to mankind.


Submitted by Tim Doser - tdoser@aol.com