The Dow Family

William Thomas Kinnersley's third child was:

Aunt Viva's husband Alex Dow was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of William Dow and Jean Keppy. In 1880 following his mother's death, he moved to Liverpool and took a job with the Cunard Lines as a stenographer and later as a ticket seller. He immigrated to the United States in 1882. He worked for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, first as an immigrant agent accompanying steerage passengers to Chicago and then in the railroad's telegraph department. Dow joined the Brush Electric Light Company in Baltimore in 1886 and three years later transferred to the company's Chicago branch as district engineer. His work in designing and supervising the installation of an arc lighting system for Chicago's South Park in preparation for the World's Fair of 1893 earned him a wide reputation.

He and Viva were married at St Luke's in Baltimore City. Dow was called to Detroit in 1893 to design and supervise the construction of a city-owned electric plant. Three years later, after completing the project, Dow became manager of the Edison Illuminating Company, one of several private competing electric companies in Detroit.

At that time, the company's chief engineer was Henry Ford. In 1896, Dow introduced Ford to Thomas Edison, hoping that Edison would discourage him from further work on his horseless carriage. In 1899 Dow offered Ford the position of general superintendent of Detroit Edison, on the condition that he give up work on his gas engine and devote his time to something more useful. Ford declined the offer.

In 1903, the firm was reorganized into the Detroit Edison Company. At first as vice-president and general manager, and from 1912 as president, Dow built the company into one of the largest in America; at the time of his retirement in 1940 its capital exceeded $340 million.

In the 1910 and 1920 Censuses the Dows were living at 50 Garfield in Detroit. We have pictures of them both, including some taken on an interesting vacation on horseback in the desert near Phoenix, Arizona. They are buried in Lorraine Park Cemetery, Lot 193 Section 1, Baltimore.

They left a large number of descendants, listed on the following pages.