John Gately Downey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 7th Governor of California | |
| In office January 14, 1860 – January 10, 1862 | |
| Lieutenant | Isaac N. Quinn(acting) Pablo de la Guerra(acting) |
| Preceded by | Milton Latham |
| Succeeded by | Leland Stanford |
| 6th Lieutenant Governor of California | |
| In office January 9, 1860 – January 14, 1860 | |
| Governor | Milton Latham |
| Preceded by | John Walkup |
| Succeeded by | Isaac N. Quinn(acting) |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the1st district | |
| In office January 7, 1856 – January 5, 1857 | |
| Preceded by | Multi-member district |
| Succeeded by | Multi-member district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1827-06-24)June 24, 1827 Taghmaconnell,County Roscommon, Ireland |
| Died | March 1, 1894(1894-03-01) (aged 66) |
| Political party | Lecompton Democrat |
| Spouse(s) | Maria Guirado (d. 1883) Rosa V. Kelly |
| Profession | Apothecary |
| Signature |  |
John Gately Downey (June 24, 1827 – March 1, 1894) was anIrish-American politician and the seventhgovernor of California from January 14, 1860, to January 10, 1862. He was the first governor of California born outside the United States and the first to live inSouthern California.
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Downey was born on June 24, 1827, in thetownland of Castlesampson,Taughmaconnell, County Roscommon, Ireland, to Denis Downey and Bridget Gately. Castlesampson is 12 kilometres west of the town ofAthlone. He emigrated with his family at the age of 14 to theUnited States in 1842, beforethe famine years. Settling inCharles County, Maryland, the family joined two stepsisters who had already settled in the U.S. Dwindling family finances forced him to halt his education at age 16 and start working toward independence. He apprenticed at anapothecary inWashington, D.C. until 1846.
Downey relocated toCincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a druggist. Like many who heard about theCalifornia Gold Rush, he went to theWest Coast of the United States. He stopped along the way atVicksburg, Mississippi; thenHavana, Cuba and finallyNew Orleans, Louisiana. By 1849, he had arrived in California, briefly prospecting inGrass Valley before finding a job at a drug store inSan Francisco.[1]
Downey soon moved toLos Angeles and was elected for a one-year term to theLos Angeles Common Council in May 1852 and again in May 1856. He resigned from the council in December 1856.[2]
ALecompton Democrat who favoredslavery in theKansas Territory, Downey was elected as a member of theCalifornia State Assembly, thelower house of theState Legislature, for the 1st District, serving from 1856 to 1857. In the 1859 general elections, he was electedlieutenant governor, overcoming the split within the Democratic Party between Lecompton and Anti-Lecompton Democrats, as well as fending off a challenge from the infantRepublican Party.
Five days after Downey was sworn in as lieutenant governor, GovernorMilton Latham resigned after being elected (by the Legislature) to fill theU.S. Senate vacancy left by the death ofDavid C. Broderick, killed in aduel in 1859.[3] He assumed the governorship on January 14, 1860.
During Downey's governorship, theAssembly andSenate passed the "Bulkhead Bill," a highly controversial bill heavily supported by San Francisco capitalists. It would have placed the city's waterfront in the hands of private companies within monopolies. Despite support for the bill among San Francisco's wealthy, local merchants and the public alike were in staunch opposition. In a move that stunned many wealthy former supporters, Downeyvetoed the Bulkhead Bill, writing:
[I]ts provisions are not only in conflict with theconstitution and the principles of natural justice, but that the measure as a whole is calculated to work irreparable injury to our commerce, internal and external, of which San Francisco is and must forever remain a metropolis.[4]
Downey's veto was widely popular in San Francisco and throughout California, and it marked the peak of his popularity. Visiting the city shortly afterward, he was greeted as a hero.[4] But supporters of the Bulkhead Bill never forgave the governor. During a later visit to San Francisco, he described a protester as a "bulkheader". The man responded with a fist fight, broken up only when his supporters physically restrained his opponent.[1]
At the1860 presidential election, theDemocratic Party again splintered. Anti-Lecomptons favoredStephen A. Douglas, while Lecomptons supportedJohn C. Breckinridge. Previously part of the Lecompton faction, Downey sided with Anti-Lecomptons, supporting Douglas in his failed bid againstAbraham Lincoln.[4]
By the outbreak of theAmerican Civil War, Downey pledged support to the Union, responding to requests byU.S. Secretary of WarSimon Cameron for California troop assistance. What support he gave remains vague. According toVictorian historian Theodore H. Hittell:
Downey's unionism, it was very plain, was not of the kind by which the Union could be preserved. It meant continued submission and subserviency to slavery and the slave power, which had hitherto dominated the country while the advance of the age had outgrown it ... It cannot be said that Downey had any special love for slavery or theslave power; on the contrary, he had to a very considerable extent broken loose of the chivalry and what was called an Anti-Lecompton Democrat; but unfortunately for himself, he was still hampered with old-time doctrines when slavery ruled unquestioned ...[4]
With theCivil War in its first stages by the 1861 general elections, Downey's earlier support generated by his veto of the Bulkhead Bill had all but evaporated. The Democratic Party again splintered violently over slavery and the Union. Despite turning away from the Lecompton "Breckinridge" faction, he lost the nomination of the Anti-Lecompton "Unionist" Democrats during the state Democratic convention. During the election, theRepublican Party capitalized on the Democratic split and won the elections. Californians voted forLeland Stanford over Breckinridge DemocratJohn R. McConnell and Unionist DemocratJohn Conness.[5]
In1863, the Democratic factions reunited and Downey won a unified nomination for governor. In the general election, he lost to his Republican opponent, former congressmanFrederick F. Low. This effectively ended Downey's political career.
Downey returned toSouthern California after leaving politics. In 1871, he helped foundFarmers and Merchants Bank, the first successful bank inLos Angeles, withIsaias W. Hellman, a banker, philanthropist and future president ofWells Fargo.
In 1879, Downey joined some public-spirited citizens led by JudgeRobert Maclay Widney, in laying the groundwork for theUniversity of Southern California, the first university in the region. When Widney formed a board of trustees, he secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community:Ozro W. Childs, aProtestanthorticulturist; Hellman, aGerman-Jew; and Downey. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source ofendowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution. Downey Street on the USC campus is named after him.
In 1883, Downey and his wife, Maria Jesus Guirado, the daughter of a prominent Mexican gentleman ofSonora, were involved in a train accident atTehachapi Pass, when their train plunged into aravine. A porter pulled Downey from the burning wreckage, but his wife's charred body was misidentified and taken toSan Francisco for burial. Later her remains were correctly identified and she was re-buried at Old Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. "Nervous shock" (today calledpost-traumatic stress disorder) affected Downey for the rest of his life.[6]
Following the accident, Downey's friendFrank M. Pixley introduced him to the 20-year-oldYda Hillis Addis, a new writer at Pixley's San Francisco journalThe Argonaut. He was 32 years older than her, and they became engaged to marry. When his two sisters discovered the betrothal, they were not pleased. He was a wealthy man and when he would die, his wealth would go to her. The sisters put him on a boat to Ireland. Addis sued for breach of promise, but leftSan Francisco before the trial. In 1888, some time after returning to America, Downey married Rosa V. Kelly, of Los Angeles, who died in 1892.
In 1880, Downey had acquired the nearly 45,000-acre (18,000 ha)Warner's Ranch inSan Diego County, which was being used forcattle ranching. In 1892 he moved to evictCupeño American Indians who occupied some of the land as their traditional historic territory, especially near the hot springs (Agua Caliente.) The Cupeño challenged the eviction in a case that reached theU.S. Supreme Court,[7] but by the time it was decided in 1901, he had died. While the court ruled the Cupeño did have a right to land, it said they had waited too long to press their case, according to a law about the issue when California entered the Union. In 1903 they were relocated to thePala Indian Reservation about 75 miles (121 km) away.[8]
Downey died in 1894 at his home in Los Angeles. He was originally interred at Old Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles, next to his first wife. After the cemetery was removed, their remains were relocated by Downey's sisters toHoly Cross Cemetery inColma.
Downey, California was named after Downey. His land company owned the land that was subdivided to create the town in the 1870s.
During Downey's governorship, construction began on theCalifornia State Capitol inSacramento. Also, during his governorship, thePony Express began service to San Francisco, and theCentral Pacific Railroad was formed.[9]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of California 1863 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of California January 9, 1860 – January 14, 1860 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of California 1860 | Succeeded by |
| Under Spain (1769–1822) |  | |
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| Under Mexico (1822–1846) | ||
| Under U.S. military (1846–1850) | ||
| U.S. state (since 1850) | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
