Santa
Clara County
Biographies
JUDGE
PERRY DOWDY
JUDGE PERRY DOWDY. In the annals of Santa Clara county no more worthy name is to be found than that of the
late Judge Perry Dowdy, who came here full fifty years ago, and from that time
until his death was an important factor in developing and advancing the
agricultural, industrial and business prosperity of this part of the
state. By the exercise of his native
industry and excellent business ability and tact, he improved a valuable farm
near Gilroy, placing the rich land under good cultivation, thus rendering his
estate one of the best in the neighborhood.
His manly qualities were recognized by his large circle of friends and
associates, and he was held in high esteem as an honest man and a valuable
member of the community, his death being regretted as a public loss. A son of John and Ellen (Staley) Dowdy, he
was born in Surry, N.C., in 1826, and died March 14, 1899, in a San
Francisco hospital, where he went for medical care and advice.
John Dowdy was born in North Carolina
and lived there for a number of years after his marriage with Ellen Staley,
whose birthplace was in Germany. About
1830 he migrated westward to Missouri, where he took up land that was in its
primitive condition, and from the dense forest cleared and improved a
homestead, on which he reared a large family of children. In 1854 eight of the children crossed the
plains to California, and all settled in Santa Clara county, their names being
as follows: Mrs. Hoover, and
Richard, both deceased; Perry, the subject of this biographical sketch; John,
whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, and contains further ancestral and
parental history, resides near Gilroy, on the Bodfish
road; Hanson and Hayden, both deceased; Mrs. Bannister, living on the Bodfish road, near Gilroy; and Meriday,
usually called Major, deceased.
Brought up in Gallatin, Daviess county,
Mo., Perry Dowdy assisted his father in the pioneer labor of clearing a farm,
and while thus employed acquired a practical knowledge of the various branches
of agriculture. In 1854, accompanied by
his family, which consisted of his wife and two children, he came to
California, locating first at Volcano, then near Mount Madonna, about six miles
from the village (now city) of Gilroy.
Subsequently settling on the Day road, three and one-half miles north of
Gilroy, he bought three hundred and forty-seven acres of the Solis grant, and
in its improvement was very successful.
He afterward purchased eighty-six acres of adjoining land, enlarging his
ranch to four hundred and thirty-three acres, and was there prosperously and
profitably engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death. Judge Dowdy was an excellent manager, and
accumulated considerable property, in addition to his home estate becoming
owner of a valuable ranch of six thousand acres in the Pacheco mountains.
Intelligent, well informed, and possessing good judgment and sound
common sense, he took an active part in the management of public affairs, and
for nearly a quarter of a century served as justice of the peace, afterward
practicing in the justice court at Gilroy.
He was a firm supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.
In Gallatin, Mo., Judge Dowdy married
Icy Ann Frost, a native of that place.
She died on the home farm in 1873.
Ten children were born of their union, namely: Mrs. Ellen Martin, living near Gilroy on a
farm; Frank, superintendent of the ranch in the Pacheco mountains, residing at
Bell Station; Jane, wife of A. A. Smith, died in Kingsburg, Cal.;
Cordelia; George and John, both living on the home farm; Melissa;
William P., one of the managers of the homestead property; Leonard, also
residing on the home ranch; and Ernest, engaged in farming as one of the firm
of Dowdy Brothers. The six sons are in
partnership, and are carrying on an extensive business in general farming,
raising large crops of grain and keeping fine graded stock, having about five
hundred head of cattle, sheep and hogs.
The ranch, located on the Day road, about four miles from town, has two
sets of farm buildings, and is finely improved.
Two hundred and fifty acres are devoted to grain, and a large tract to
raising hay.
William P. Dowdy was born
October 11, 1868, on the homestead where he now resides, and was educated
in the public schools of Gilroy. He
married Nellie Dexter, of Gilroy, a daughter of Wheeler D. Dexter, of whom
a brief sketch may be found on another page of this volume, and they have two
children, Nellie and Evelyn. True to the
political faith in which he was reared, he is a stanch[sic]
Democrat.
Ernest Dowdy, the youngest child of the
parental household, was born on the home farm in April, 1872, and, like his
brothers and sisters, acquired his knowledge in the Gilroy schools. He married Sarah Manley, a native of San
Benito county, and they have two children, Perry and
Naomi.
Transcribed by Donna Toole.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 642-643. The Chapman Publishing
Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2015 Donna Toole.