Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOHN DOWDY
JOHN DOWDY. Fifty years of
general farming in the vicinity of Gilroy has established a reputation for
John Dowdy as one of the substantial and progressive farmers of Santa
Clara county. Like the majority of the pioneers of the
early 50s, this now venerable agriculturist brought with him little in the way
of worldly possessions, depending solely upon a spirit of independence and
thrift, which had been fostered in a modest home, the benefits and good will of
which were shared by twelve other children. Although born in Surry county, N. C., April 4, 1827, Mr. Dowdy
had the common school advantages of several states, for his family was a
migratory one, continually searching for improved conditions. On the paternal
side he is of Irish-French descent, his father, John Dowdy, having been
born in South Carolina. His mother, Ellen (Staley) Dowdy, was born in Germany,
and when three years old came with her parents to a farm in South Carolina.
Shortly after her marriage she removed with her husband to North Carolina, and
in 1833 to Indiana, afterward living for a time in Kentucky, Indiana, North
Carolina and Tennessee, finally locating in Davis county,
Mo., to which the family journeyed overland with teams and wagons. Here the
father died in 1837, at the age of forty-five, having devoted his life to
farming and blacksmithing with varied success. Nine of the large family of
children attained maturity, and of these, John and Mrs. Francis Bannister
only are living.
After the death of the elder Dowdy his wife and children
continued to live in Davis county until 1854, in the
spring of which year the younger members of the family discontinued attending
the log school house of the neighborhood, and made preparation to cross the
plains to California. Arriving in San Jose October 4, the same year,
John Dowdy left the rest in the little town and came to Gilroy, where he
was joined by the family in 1855, and where he temporarily resorted to gathering
redwood as a means of livelihood. For some years he was the chief support of
his mother, who lived to be seventy-five years old, and died in 1875.
March 4, 1864, he established a home of his own, and married
Mary McKay, who came from Ireland as a child, and with her parents located
near Gilroy in 1857. The year after his marriage Mr. Dowdy purchased his
present farm of one hundred and sixty acres, four and a half miles west of
Gilroy, and has since engaged in general farming and stock-raising, making many
fine improvements on his property. Practical and methodical, and availing
himself of modern appliances and methods, Mr. Dowdy has made a model home
for his family, and in so doing has won the esteem of neighbors and friends, as
well as a reputation for integrity and public spirit. For many years his
political preferences have been with the Democratic party,
and in the interests of the community he has served as road master and school
director, holding the latter office for eleven years. His wife is a member of
the Catholic Church. To an unusual extent Mr. Dowdy retains his energy and
abilities, and the happy faculty of looking on the bright side of life.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard 03 July 2016.
ญญญญSource: History
of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast Counties,
California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages
1237-1238. The Chapman Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1904.
ฉ 2016 Marie Hassard.