William Dorsheimer

William Dorsheimer (February 5, 1832, in Lyons, Wayne County, New York – March 26, 1888, in Savannah, Chatham County, Georgia) was an American lawyer, journalist, newspaper publisher, and politician. From 1883 to 1885, he served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Early life Dorsheimer was born on February 5, 1832, in Lyons, New York. He was the son of Sarah Gorgas and Philip Dorsheimer (1797–1868), a New York State Treasurer. He was educated in common schools, then at Phillips Academy, and then studied at Harvard College from 1849 to 1851. He left Harvard without graduating because of a protracted illness. After leaving Harvard, he settled in Buffalo, New York, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1854. During this time, he helped implement the measures against the Canal Ring, and was a delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law in partnership with David Dudley Field in New York City.

Congress He was elected as a Democrat to the 48th United States Congress and served from March 4, 1883, to March 3, 1885. In 1884, he published a biography of Grover Cleveland, the Democratic candidate for the presidency, and in July 1885, was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He resigned from that office later in March 1886.

Later career In 1885, he purchased the New York Star and began its publication as a daily paper on September 15. He was one of the founders of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy and the Buffalo Historical Society.

Personal life Dorsheimer died in Savannah, Georgia, while on a train trip to Florida with his wife. His only daughter had died in 1874. Dorsheimer is buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.

H. H. Richardson

Dorsheimer hired American architect H. H. Richardson to design a house for him on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo, which still stands, and helped Richardson win the commission to design the New York State Asylum in Buffalo.

He is also chiefly responsible for bringing landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to Buffalo to design its park system. The William Dorsheimer House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.