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John Gately Downey
7th Governor of California
In office 1860 – 1862
Preceded by	Milton Latham
Succeeded by	Leland Stanford
Born	June 24, 1827 County Roscommon, Ireland
Died	March 1, 1894 Los Angeles, California
Political party	Democratic

John Gately Downey (June 24, 1827 – March 1, 1894) was Governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862.

Born in 1827 in County Roscommon, Ireland, his Irish-Catholic family moved to America when he was 14 years old. At first he lived in Charles County, Maryland, but by age 16 finances forced him to halt his education and go out on his own. He apprenticed at an apothecary (a predecessor to the modern pharmacist) in Washington, D.C. until 1846. He then moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he partnered in another drug store. Like many who heard about the California Gold Rush, he decided to start moving west, at first living briefly in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Havana, Cuba and New Orleans, Louisiana. By 1849 he arrived in California, finding a job at a drug store in San Francisco. He soon moved to Los Angeles to form a business venture which prospered, making him financially comfortable.

A Democrat, he was elected a member of the California State Assembly for the 1st District, serving from 1856-57. He was elected as Lieutenant Governor and became governor upon the resignation of Governor Milton Latham, who appointed himself to fill a vacancy in the United States Senate only 5 days after his January 9 inauguration. He was Governor during the first half of the American Civil War, sending troops in support of the Union. Until the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003 Downey was California's only foreign-born governor .

After his term as Governor, he returned to Southern California. In 1871, he helped co-found Farmers and Merchants Bank, the first successful bank in the then-small town of Los Angeles, with Isaias W. Hellman, a banker, philanthropist and future president of Wells Fargo.

In 1879, Downey joined some public-spirited citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney, in laying the groundwork for the University 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, a Protestant horticulturist; Hellman, a German-Jew; and Downey. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution. A street on the USC campus is named after him.

Downey's Los Angeles home, 1888.

In 1883, Downey was despondent over the recent and tragic death of his wife, Maria Jesus Guirado, the daughter of a prominent Spanish gentleman of Sonora. Downey, who had been traveling with his wife, scarcely escaped from the burning railroad car in which they had been trapped at the Tehachapi Pass. A porter pulled Downey to safety, but Mrs. Downey's body was never found. Downey stopped grieving for his wife when his friend Frank M. Pixley introduced him to the twenty year old Yda Hillis Addis, a new writer on Pixley's San Francisco journal The Argonaut. Although Downey was 32 years older than Addis, they became engaged to marry. When Downey's two sisters discovered the betrothal, they were not pleased. Downey was a wealthy man, if he should pass away, his wealth would shift to Addis. The sisters kidnapped Downey and put him on a boat to Ireland. Addis sued for breach of promise, but left San Francisco before the trial. Downey later remarried to Miss Rosa V. Kelly, of Los Angeles.

Downey, California is named after him; Downey's land company owned the land that was subdivided to create the town in the 1870s. He died in 1894 at his home in Los Angeles. He was originally interred at Old Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles; after the cemetery was removed he was reburied at Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma.

• John G. Downey, The American History and Genealogy Project, Accessed Dec. 20, 2006.
• Political Graveyard entry

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