Elizabeth Caroline Dowdell ( Thomas; 1829–1909) was an American leader of women's patriotic and religious organizations. She was the first woman to preside over a deliberative body of women in the State of Alabama. She was also the first woman in the U.S. who suggested the organization of the missionary society in connection with the church, and by her efforts, put into operation the Woman's Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (WMS of the MEC,S). Dowdell served as Secretary of the national United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).
Early life Elizabeth Caroline Thomas was born at Lagrange, Georgia, December 3, 1829. When a child, she moved with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Thomas, to Chambers County, Alabama.
Career During Antebellum South days and after, Dowdell was associated with many of the notable men and women of the South, both of Church and State, and established herself as one of the great women in the South. She was the first woman in the nation who suggested the organization of the missionary society in connection with the church, and by her efforts, put into operation the WMS of the MEC,S. She wrote Bishop James Osgood Andrew in 1861, making the suggestion, but failed to sign her name, probably because the suggestion was such an innovation in religious matters, but the idea so impressed the senior bishop of the MEC,S that he advertised to know the author of the letter. This resulted in a correspondence which ultimately eventuated in the organization of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, with which organization Dowdell had since been in close and active connection as one of the board of managers. She organized the society in Alabama, and from its organization to the time of her death (31 years) she was its president.
Dowdell often spoke before large congregations and religious bodies and was known to promote missionary work. Dowdell was a frequent contributor to the religious journals and periodicals of the county. For nearly half a century, the Dowdell home in Auburn, Alabama was visited often.
Dowdell was prominent in Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) circles of Alabama.
In Mrs. Kirkpatrick's introduction of Letitia Dowdell Ross (Mrs. B. B. Ross), President of the Alabama Division, UDC, she pays a tribute to Elizabeth Caroline Dowdell, Mrs. Ross's mother:—
Personal life In June 1847, she married Col. William Crawford Dowdell. Of their eleven children, seven survived to adulthood, Mrs. L D. Merrick, James S. Dowdell, Silas C. Dowdell, Andrew L. Dowdell, Mrs. K. D. Lipscomb, Letitia Dowdell Ross (Mrs. B. B. Ross), and Mrs. C. H. Davis.
W. C. Dowdell, the husband, was one of the foremost men in East Alabama. He was a brother of Col. James F. Dowdell and an uncle of Hon. William J. Samford, Governor of Alabama, and of Judge James R. Dowdell, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
Elizabeth Dowdell died at her home in Auburn, Alabama, on August 16, 1909, after a sudden illness became fatal.
In 1977, she was a nominee to the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
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