Title supplied by cataloger. John Gately Downey, a Lecompton Democrat, was the seventh Governor of California. Downey was born in Ireland and was the first of two California Governors to be born overseas, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the second. He was serving as Lieutenant Governor, under Governor Milton Latham, until Latham resigned and made Downey Governor of California for the remainder of the governorship, 1860 through 1862. Even though the government of California supported the Union during the Civil War, John Gately Downey was the owner of 25 slaves. Downey was the first Governor from Southern California under United States rule. The city of Downey was named after John Gately Downey, when he subdivided his land in the 1870s. He was married to Maria Jesus Guirado, the daughter of a prominent Mexican family. Maria Jesus Guirado tragically died in a train crash in the Tehachapi pass in 1883, and her body was never found. Downey suffered from post traumatic shock, from the accident until his death in 1894. Photograph of a portrait of Governor John Gately Downey, who was in office from January 14, 1860 through January 10, 1862. The painting appears to be a copy of the portrait painted by the artist William F. Cogswell. Photograph circa 1873.
Type
image
Format
1 negative : safety ; 25 x 20 cm. Photographic safety negatives
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