Santa
Clara County
Biographies
THOMAS BENTON DOWNING
In the life of Thomas Benton Downing, a
well-known capitalist and real estate man of Palo Alto, Cal. we have a fine
example of what any one with the right sort of push, endeavor and energy may
accomplish. His parents were in good circumstances and gave their children an
adequate education, but after this had been accomplished and they had left
home, they were obliged to depend upon themselves to achieve what they might
through their own ability and energy. Mr. Downing was not denied many
advantages that gave him a good foundation for the business career upon which
he afterward entered, and he has risen unaided to the position he now occupies
as one of the most successful men and substantial citizens of Santa Clara
county.
The origin of the Downing family in
America dates back to three brothers, who came from Scotland and settled in the
United States some time prior to the Revolutionary war. One of these brothers
bore the relationship of great-grandfather to Mr. Downing, and the paternal
grandparents of the latter were both natives of Virginia, but at some period of
their lives removed to Kentucky. It was in the latter state that Absalom
Downing, the father of Thomas B., was born and reared. About 1821, while still
a young man, he went west to Missouri and took up government land adjoining the
city of Newark, in Knox county, being a pioneer
settler in that vicinity. His farm consisted of three hundred and twenty acres,
partly timber and the balance prairie land, and upon this place he followed
general farm pursuits and stock raising, passing the entire after part of his
life upon this farm, where he also died at the advanced age of sixty-six years.
Being fairly successful from a financial standpoint, his accumulations were the
result of his own efforts. He was a strong Union man and three of his sons
served in the Union army, one of them losing his life during a skirmish which
occurred near his home. Both parents of Mr. Downing were for many years active members of the Presbyterian Church. His mother, whose maiden name was Miss Susan Fresh, was born in
Baltimore, Md., where she was also reared. In 1836 she went to Missouri,
and survived her husband many years, reaching the advanced age of eighty-three.
Her death occurred in California, the last ten years of her life having been
spent in this state.
Thomas B. Downing was born on the
old home place in Missouri near Newark, July 7, 1846, and it was near the scene
of his birth that Price made his last raid in Missouri in 1864. His boyhood
days were spent at home and he attended school in Newark. After completing the
common school course he entered the high school in the same city and pursued
his studies for several years. At eighteen he enlisted in the state militia and
spent two months in the service. During this time he was on active duty in the
central and southern parts of the state, but participated in but one skirmish.
When of age he began teaching in the district school and two years later became
a teacher in his home school in Newark, where he taught for four years. Having in the meantime purchased a farm
nearby, he discontinued teaching and devoted his time to farm pursuits in that
vicinity until 1879. Selling out, he went to Nevada and for six months had entire
charge of a cattle ranch for his brother, William F. Downing, near Humboldt
Wells. This ranch was an extensive one, being forty-five
miles square, and upon it from four to five thousand head of cattle were
herded.
Upon leaving this ranch Mr. Downing
pushed on to California and settled in the vicinity of Warm Springs, in Alameda
county, renting land there for a couple of years and following farm pursuits.
Shortly afterward, in 1881, in partnership with Henry Curtner,
he purchased two thousand one hundred and fifty acres of land in Alameda and
Contra Costa counties and upon this land they followed farm pursuits together,
raising grain and hay. In 1899 Mr. Curtner conveyed
this land to his son, and Mr. Downing then rented his partner’s share of the
land, paying him cash rent, and continuing farming until he bought his
partner’s share. In 1894 he became a resident of Palo Alto and his interests
have been identified with this section ever since. Discontinuing farm pursuits,
Mr. Downing took the contract for laying water pipes, excavating and making the
ditches for all the water pipes in this locality, there being twelve miles of
ditches. Subsequently he and his son, Claude S. Downing, opened a feed, fuel
and implement establishment in Palo Alto and carried on a successful business
in that line until February 1, 1904. In the meantime, Mr. Downing has continued
to fill contract for construction sewers, paving streets, etc., a business he
still follows, and he ranks among the most successful contractors of this locality.
He has built the large business building occupied by himself and son, and they
own twelve lots in partnership. In addition, Mr. Downing has built his
beautiful residence and two modern cottages, renting the latter, and also owns
valuable real estate and property in Palo Alto and other places.
By his marriage he was united with
Miss Margaret Sanford, a native of Missouri, and six children were born to
them. Of these, one died at the age of seven years and the others are as
follows: Claude, the efficient cashier of the Palo Alto Bank; Paul, an
electrical engineer of the bay counties; Jessie, who lives at home; and Mary
and Martha, twins, who are also at home. Politically a Republican, Mr. Downing
has ever been an active politician, but not a party aspirant, and he has also
been an active worker in the cause of prohibition. In his religious views he is
a member of the Presbyterian Church, with which he untied at the age of
twenty-one, and at present he officiates as both elder and trustee of the local
church of that denomination. He is public-spirited and progressive, aiding by
his influence any movement calculated to benefit his section. He is one of the
organizers of the First National Bank of Palo Alto, and was one of its first
directors, and as a citizen he is a valuable acquisition to Palo Alto.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: History of the State of California & Biographical Record of Coast
Counties, California by Prof. J. M. Guinn, A. M., Pages 1290-1291. The
Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago, 1904.
© 2016 Cecelia M. Setty.