Dowell, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin)

Yreka, Calif. miner (1855). Collection includes his 1855 diary describing battles with Indians, work with pack animals and activities at mining camps in northern California. Later, Dowell was a Portland, Oregon attorney (1860s-1890).

From the description of B.F. Dowell papers, 1855-1885. (University of the Pacific). WorldCat record id: 34941023

An attorney in Jacksonville, Oregon, Benjamin Franklin Dowell was born in Virginia in 1826. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in law in 1847. Dowell came overland to California in 1850, but migrated to Oregon almost immediately. With little legal business in Oregon, Dowell taught school and then ran a pack train from various points to the gold regions of Southern Oregon and Northern California in the 1850s. He resumed practicing law after his pack train was captured by a group of Native Americans. Dowell practiced law in Jacksonville, and specialized in pressing "Indian depredation" and military expense claims for Oregonians who suffered genuine or fancied losses. Many of these claims were against the Federal government, so Dowell spent much of his time in Washington, D.C. Similar to most attorneys of the time, Dowell had political ambitions and in an attempt to gain a political career he purchased Jacksonville's Oregon sentinel in 1864. With the aid of his wife and eight editors he ran the paper for fourteen years. However, his political ambitions were never realized and he remained a claims agent and attorney. He died in 1897.

From the description of Benjamin Franklin Dowell papers, 1847-1882. (University of Oregon Libraries). WorldCat record id: 53475325

Benjamin Franklin Dowell was born in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1821. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1847. He practiced law briefly in Tennessee before heading to the California gold fields in 1850. After a few months he moved north to Oregon, becoming a packer and trader in Jacksonville in 1852. In 1857 he returned to the practice of law, opening an office in Jacksonville. He married Anna Campbell in 1861. They had three children: Fannie, Annie, and Benjamin Franklin Jr. In 1885 they moved to Portland, and B.F. began to divide his time between Portland and Washington, D.C., where he prosecuted Indian war claims before Congress. Also in 1885 he purchased the Oregon Sentinel newspaper, which he published until his death in 1897.

From the description of B.F. Dowell papers, 1850-1896. (Oregon Historical Society Research Library). WorldCat record id: 62784791

From the guide to the B. F. Dowell papers, 1850-1896, (Oregon Historical Society)