Edward Dowse

{{Short description|American politician (1756–1828)}}

{{for|the 17th-century English politician|Edward Dowse (MP)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

File:Fire bucket, leather - Dedham Historical Society - Dedham Massachusetts - DSC04234.jpg

{{Infobox officeholder

| name =Edward Dowse

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| imagesize =250px

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| state =Massachusetts

| district =13th

| term_start =March 4, 1819

| term_end =May 26, 1820

| preceded =Nathaniel Ruggles

| succeeded =William Eustis

| birth_date ={{birth date|1756|10|22}}

| birth_place =Charlestown, Province of Massachusetts Bay, British America

| death_date ={{death date and age|1828|9|3|1756|10|22}}

| death_place =Dedham, Massachusetts, U.S.

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| party =Democratic-Republican

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Edward Dowse (October 22, 1756 – September 3, 1828) was a U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Born in Charlestown in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, Dowse moved to Dedham in March 1798 to escape the yellow fever epidemic in Boston.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=201}} He purchased five acres of land on both sides of the Middle Post Road, today known as High Street.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=201}} He lived in an already existing house at first, and then built a home on the land in 1804.{{efn|The house he built was "the large, yellow house adjoining the Dedham Medical Associates Building" in 1976.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=201}}}} His brother-in-law was Samuel Nicholson, the first captain of {{USS|Constitution}}.

During his 1817 tour of the country, President James Monroe visited Dedham and stayed in Dowse's home.{{sfn|Hanson|1976|p=201}}

After the Revolution, he became a shipmaster and engaged in the East Indian and China carrying trade. Dowse was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Sixteenth Congress and served from March 4, 1819, until May 26, 1820, when he resigned. He also served as a representative to the Great and General Court in 1821. He died in Dedham on September 3, 1828. He is interred in the Old Village Cemetery.{{sfn|Smith|1936|p=146}}