San Francisco County

Biographies


 

 

 

THOMAS BONE DOZIER

 

 

DOZIER, THOMAS BONE, of the firm of Reid & Dozier, Attorneys, San Francisco, Cal., was born at Charleston, South Carolina, March 12, 1866, the son of Leonard Franklin Dozier and Agnes (Bone) Dozier.  Descending from a line of distinguished lawyers and physicians of South Carolina, among them his grandfather and the latter’s brother, Richard Dozier, Dr. J. Marion Sims, one of whose ancestors was General Marion of the Revolution, to say nothing of others almost equally well known, Thomas Dozier is and expression of many of the characteristics that made his forbears famous.  His father’s family was originally French and partly English, while his mother came of a race of Huguenots that settled in Louisiana.  His parents took him to California on March 12, 1868, the second anniversary of his birth, as an excellent way, perhaps, of celebrating the event.  On April 22, 1889, Mr. Dozier was married in San Francisco to Miss Maud Watson, and is the father of four sons, Franklin Watson, Thomas Bone, Irwin Yount and Paul Cuttino Dozier.

     Mr. Dozier is one of the best known lawyers in the State, and his name has not been infrequently connected with affairs that have attracted the attention of the entire United States.  His is known as both a criminal and corporation lawyer.  In his younger days he achieved distinction as a criminal lawyer and was successful because of his eloquence and the care with which he mapped out his cases.  He made himself feared by criminals as a state prosecutor.

     From the age of five years he attended the public schools of Napa and of San Francisco, until his graduation from the Oak Mound School in 1881.  When he was but sixteen years old he entered the University of California, but left there in 1883 to take a private course in the classics, under Professors Mower and Walker.  In 1888 he was graduated from the Hastings Law College an LL. B., and a few months later he began to practice on his own account, at Redding, Shasta County.

     His natural leanings toward the forensic side of the law carried him at first chiefly into the criminal courts, and there his ability early attracted attention.  His reputation in this branch of his profession was subsequently increased by his appointment as District Attorney of Shasta County in January, 1899.  In the same month of 1905 Governor Pardee offered him the judgeship of Shasta, but this honor he refused, chiefly because he did not wish a judicial career.  His tastes were for private practice in the courts, especially before juries. To this he returned, and soon established a brilliant record for acquittals and skill in the conduct of his cases.  On his return to San Francisco in May, 1908, he began to drift away from criminal law into corporation practice.  In this he has prospered, chiefly as an adviser of smelting interests and electrical power companies.

     He has also been a prominent figure in several important criminal cases, among them as counsel for James Treadwell, whom he acquitted of the charge of embezzlement, and also as associate with Henry Ach in the defense of Abe Reef.  Politically Mr. Dozier has been active and equally versatile.  For twenty years he was a delegate to every state convention, and until 1896, when he was one of those who aided in the nomination of Bryan, he was a Democrat.  He then transferred his allegiance to the Republicans, in whose ranks he has since been conspicuous, notably as one of the three drafters of the platform of the Santa Cruz convention that nominated James N. Gillett for Governor.

     But he has played the game chiefly as a pastime, and largely because of his interest in civic betterment.  His energies however have not been confined even to these varied fields of endeavor.  They have sought an outlet in military achievements and brought him into the street car strike of 1886, wherein he was a corporal, and also into the railroad strike of 1894, during which he was in command of the troops operating between Red Bluff and Ashland.  In that city he distinguished himself as a disciplinarian and executive and at the end of the trouble was praised for the soldierly manner in which he had acquitted himself.

     Mr. Dozier’s technical knowledge of anatomy, surgery, etc., though acquired only as an amateur, has been very useful to him in his practice of law, especially in suits for damages.  Promoted by his keen interest in the marvel of our creation, in the correction of deformities, and in the improvement of the race, it has won for him a reputation among surgeons that leads them to invite him to witness their most scientific operations.  They think it a hobby well worth even a busy lawyer’s while to ride.

     The family home is at 2401 Jackson street, San Francisco.  He is not much of a club-man, limiting that phase of his active life to the Union League, the Army and Navy and the Southern clubs of San Francisco.

 

 

 

Transcribed by Pat Seabolt.

Source: Press Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I,  Page 884, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.  1913.


© 2007 Pat Seabolt.

 

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