Horace G. Knowles

Horace Greeley Knowles was an American attorney and diplomat, who served as an ambassador under three U.S. presidents between 1907 and 1913.

Early life

Knowles was born in 1862 in Seaford, Delaware. He attended the University of Delaware and became an attorney in his home state. Knowles became friends with Theodore Roosevelt, who convinced him to enter into the dimplomatic corps.

Public career

Knowles served as ambassador to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia in the final years of Roosevelt's presidency. He was appointed by Roosevelt's successor, William Howard Taft, as ambassador to the Dominican Republic and later as ambassador to Bolivia--a post he held through the early months of the Wilson administration. For a period, Knowles remained active in Republican politics.

After leaving the foreign service, Knowles returned to practicing law, and appeared often before the United States Court of Claims.

Retirement

In the 1920s, Knowles became "a consistent critic of the policy of the United States in Central America, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti." He was also a critic of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, and became treasurer of the "Committee for Ethiopia," conducting a fundraising drive that collected over $1 million for medical aid to the Ethiopians.

Knowles spent his final years in Manhattan, living at 145 East Forty Sixth Street. He died there in his sleep on the night of November 2, 1937, of a heart ailment. He was survived by his son Lewis, an advertising writer in East Orange, New Jersey, and his brother Harry, a postal employee from Philadelphia.

References

• "Horace G. Knowles, A Former Diplomat," The New York Times, November 3, 1937, pg. 23.
• "Attacks Caribbean Policy," The New York Times, March 27, 1922.