During the 1880s, we see a rise of African Americans settling into Penllyn and Ambler from Westmoreland County, VA and other parts of that state. African Americans came to the Wissahickon Valley Region to seek better opportunities and start new lives. One of the black residents who became a well-known citizen in Ambler was Daniel Dowling.
Daniel W. Dowling, Sr.
Daniel W. Dowling (1844-1922) was born on August 10 in Fairfax County, Virginia. He came to Ambler from Manassas, VA in 1861 where he lived with a farmer named "Smith," who settled on the portion of the Haywood property. It was around that time he served in the Civil War along with other African American veterans in Ambler: Arthur Burnett, Jefferson Carr, John Colbourne, Robert Moore, Jacob Ford, and John Taylor. He was part of the 24th United States Colored Infantry Regiment.
He met his future wife Amanda Davis of Jarrettown, PA. They were married near Fort Washington in 1870, and settled in Ambler on Butler Avenue where they raised their 11 children 20 years later. During that time, he was named street commissioner of the Ambler Borough. He was highly respected for his "honesty and industry."
Two of his children followed his footsteps to serve for the country and contribute to the Ambler community: Charles Ralph and Daniel, Jr.
Fun Fact #1 : The American Legion Post 769 of Ambler was named in his honor.
Charles Ralph Dowling
His son Charles Ralph Dowling was a member of the 368th Infantry Regiment in France during World War I. It was the one of the four regiments of the 92nd Division, and the only regiment under the US command during the Great War.
Fun Fact #2 : The 92nd Division was nicknamed "Buffalo Solider Division" in honor of the four Buffalo solider regiments that fought in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
He arrived in France on June 27, 1919. For there, he share his experience being at training camp and being in the unsanitary trenches.
"We did nothing but train, and one had to have a pair of good feet, legs and a stout heart to stand it. The training was all for the best, as we afterwards came to realize. On August 19 we were moved up to the trenches. It was very quiet at first and we had orders to wait for the Boche to start something. The first two weeks the only fighting we had to do was cooties and fleas and they certainly kept us busy and made life miserable. On September 1st, the Boches tried us out. No doubt they came to see what we were made of and who we were. We gave as good as they sent, but it was a terrible experience for me. Shots were whistling and shells bursting all about us. We held our own, only losing one man killed and four injured, which was considered lucky. It was in these trenches that 'Dot' Gordon, of Ambler, had his hand blown off. After the first greeting from the Boche we had many visits from him, but he could not dislodge us, which he found out to his sorrow. Our relief came September 18 and we moved out of the trenches and made the longest march that I ever made. We started at four in the afternoon and marched all night, and at 8 o'clock the next morning we arrived at our destination and entrained for the western front. After being on the train two days we got off and marched through several towns that had been wrecked by the Hun. We were now in the Verdun sector. We marched to Argonne woods, taking part in the memorable and never-to-be-forgotten battle. It was a 72 hours' drive, starting on September 26 and lasting until October 1st. I thought we had been through something in the trenches we were in first, but it was child's play to this front. It was here we got our first whiff of poisonous gas. In these trenches we had to stand in water and mud to our knees, and it rained most of the time we were here. I will never forget my first experience of going over the top. The boys responded to the orders with a snap. We went through wire entanglements and across no man's land to the great struggle of this war. The Huns had themselves well entrenched and with machine guns and snipers they put up strong resistance. We had an objective to reach and we pushed on and after going through wire, woods and brush and the hardest kind of fighting we not only reached our point, but went a couple of miles further. After this we certainly had the Boche on the run and from then on he got no rest. When we went behind the lines it could be seen that we had been through a great struggle, because our ranks had been thinned out considerably. It was in this fight George Ball, another Ambler boy, was wounded. I had my gun shot out of my hand and I received a slight flesh wound and another bullet went through my gas mask, cutting the hose. We are expecting to leave for home at any time, as we are now waiting for a transport to bring us back to the states."
- Charles Ralph Dowling, January 16, 1919
NOTE: The term "Huns" was used to describe the Germany and Austro-Hungary forces "to conjure up images of a bestial foe." The term "Boche" is a French word used to refer a German.
After the end of World War I, the 92nd Regiment returned to the US and was deactivated in February 1919.
His other son Daniel William Dowling Jr. (1889-1928), also served in World War I, and later became a mail carrier for Ambler. His name was honorably mentioned in the Norton Downs, Jr. American Legion Post 125 of Ambler during Veterans' and Memorial Days every year.
Bibliography
"BROWN--DOWLING." Ambler Gazette. October 28, 1915. Page 1. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_6323.
"DANIEL DOWLIN." Ambler Gazette. May 18, 1922. Page 1. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_9459.
"Justice For The Negro." Ambler Gazette. February 6, 1919. Page 3. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_9757.
Kilson, Martin. A Black Intellectual's Odyssey: From a Pennsylvania Milltown to the Ivy League. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2021): 4, 8.
"Learn the story of your post's namesake." Legion. Accessed August 13, 2023. https://www.legion.org/dispatch/241108/learn-story-your-posts-namesake.
"Local Affairs." Ambler Gazette. January 24, 1895. Page 3. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_12314.
"Town Topics." Ambler Gazette. January 16, 1919. Page 4. https://digitalarchives.powerlibrary.org/papd/islandora/object/papd%3Awivp-gazett_6662.
Yared, Ephrem. "92nd Infantry Division (1917–1919, 1942–1945)." Black Past. Last modified March 9, 2016. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/92nd-infantry-division-1917-1919-1942-1945-0/.