Santa Clara County
Biographies
JAMES DOUGHERTY
From the time of the death of his brother, W. P. Dougherty, up to the time of his own death, which occurred July 27, 1900, James Dougherty acted as president and manager of the Dougherty Lumber Company, giving his time and attention to the management of all the mills with which the company was connected. As a man of enterprise and unusual business ability, of strict business methods and an unswerving integrity, Mr. Dougherty was thoroughly respected and esteemed in Santa Clara county and held in the highest appreciation for the many qualities which distinguished his citizenship. He made and retained many friends. He was generous and was ever willing to aid and assist worthy people and worthy enterprises calculated to benefit the common good and welfare of the people. Born in Donegal, Ireland, in 1842, he was the son of Patrick Dougherty, who was likewise a native of the Emerald Isle.
Patrick Dougherty was a man of unusual enterprise as was proven by the success which he achieved after becoming a resident of the United States in 1849. He located at Edina, Mo., and at the time of his death was the owner of seven hundred acres of land, which is conceded to be a large estate in the middle west. His wife, formerly Mary Bradley, a native of Ireland, also died in their Missouri home. For more complete details concerning the life of Patrick Dougherty the reader is referred to the sketch of W. P. Dougherty, which appears on another page of this volume. The children of this family were reared to ways of usefulness in the practical training received on the paternal farm, interspersing home duties with an attendance of the common school in the vicinity. In 1861 James Dougherty enlisted in the Union army in the Twenty-first Missouri regiment and served four years, after which he returned to Missouri and made his home in that state until 1870. Deciding to locate in the more congenial climate of California, he came in the last named year and settled on Zayante river, in the Santa Cruz mountains, and engaged in the lumber business with his brother. He acted as foreman of the three mills located at Dougherty Mills, and later became interested in the Dougherty Lumber Company, after the death of his brother, W. P. Dougherty, becoming president of the company and general manager of all the mills. He conducted the business in an eminently satisfactory manner and constantly increased the capacity of the mills. He was widely respected for the sound business principles which characterized his management. He took a personal interest in every man in his employ and thus secured to himself and the company the very best service from all who were connected with the business.
In San Jose in 1874 Mr. Dougherty was united in marriage with Catherine Harris, a native of Ireland, whose father, John Harris, was a stock-raiser and dairyman of County Leitrim, Ireland, his native place. He made that his home until his death at the age of forty-three years, after a successful career in his chosen occupation. His wife, formerly Mary Moran, was also born in County Leitrim, where her death occurred. Mrs. Dougherty came to the United States in 1872 and located with a sister and brother in San Jose. To Mr. and Mrs. Dougherty were born two children, Mary E. and William J. J., both of whom are at home with their mother, who resides at No. 389 North Fifth street, San Jose. In his political convictions Mr. Dougherty was a stanch adherent of the principles advocated in the platform of the Democratic party, and religiously belonged to the Roman Catholic church.
Transcribed
4-16-16 Marilyn
R. Pankey.
ญญญญSource:
History of the State of California &
Biographical Record of Coast Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A.
M., Pages 1141-1142. The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marilyn R.
Pankey.