Multnomah-Jackson County OR Archives Biographies.....Dowell, Benjamin Franklin March 22, 1870 - April 26, 1928
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Source: History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. III, Published 1928, Pages 674  - 676
Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DOWELL.  Many fields of activity contribute to the 
development, upbuilding and prosperity of a community. A city government has 
its various departments, but none is more essential to the well-being of a 
community than the fire department, which furnishes adequate protection to the 
homes and business enterprises which go to make up a municipality. In this 
connection there has been no more prominent figure than Benjamin Franklin 
Dowell, who was familiarly and affectionately termed "Biddy" by his associates 
in the fire department and by his countless friends throughout the city. He 
was of the stuff of which heroes are mad. Fearlessness and courage were among 
his dominant qualities and he never considered a personal risk if he could 
protect or save his fellow members of the fire department. His qualities were 
such as won for him the love of all who were connected with him in this branch 
of city service and his memory will be enshrined for years to come in the 
hearts of those who knew him.

     Mr. Dowell was born in Jacksonville, Oregon, March 22, 1870, and was a 
son of Benjamin Franklin and Nancy A. (Campbell) Dowell. The father crossed 
the plains in 1850, with San Francisco as his destination, but after a short 
time there passed went to Jacksonville, Oregon, making the trip by steamer to 
Astoria. The boat was an unseaworthy vessel and in severe storms which they 
encountered was nearly lost. So great was the delay occasioned in reaching 
port that passengers and crew lived for days on hard tack, but at length 
Astoria was reached and from that point Mr. Dowell walked the entire distance 
to Portland through the wilderness, enduring many hardships because of the 
unsettled condition of the country. From Portland he walked to Waldo Hills, 
where he taught school for a year, after which he became owner of a mule pack 
train and packed goods from the valley to Jacksonville. In the Cow Creek 
canyon he was once attacked by Indians and had, a narrow escape. He was a man 
of liberal culture who had graduated in law from the University of Virginia. 
In Jacksonville he engaged in the practice of law, becoming one of the leading 
attorneys of his day. He had much to do with framing many of the early laws of 
the commonwealth and he gained notable distinction as a successful criminal 
lawyer. He erected the second brick house in Jacksonville and it is still 
standing. In the community he exerted a widely felt influence that resulted in 
substantial progress and development there. On the 24th of October, 1862, he 
wedded Nancy A., a daughter of Joseph and Rachel Campbell, whose people were 
from Ohio, and her father served as a colonel under William Henry Harrison in 
the War of 1812. Abraham Ten Brook, an uncle of Mrs. Dowell, lived in 
Jacksonville, Oregon, and she came to the west to join him, but her parents 
never settled in this section of the country. A year later she became the wife 
of Benjamin F. Dowell, Sr., and for many years they figured prominently in the 
social life of their community. Mr. Dowell was made prosecuting attorney of 
Jackson county and later he became collector in connection with Indian 
depredations. This required that he spend much of his time in Washington, D. 
C. Later he settled in Portland, where he devoted much of his time to 
government work. At an earlier period he owned and edited the Oregon Sentinel 
at Jacksonville, continuing in the journalistic field for thirteen years. He 
contributed in large measure to the upbuilding advancement and development of 
the state and passed away March 12, 1897, honored and respected by all who 
knew him.

     Benjamin F. Dowell, whose name introduces this review, was the youngest 
of a family of three children. He pursued his education in the public schools 
of Jacksonville, where he won the well merited reputation of being the most 
honest and truthful boy in the school. He had reached the age of thirteen when 
his parents removed to Portland, after which he attended the old Couch school. 
In early life he. became a professional ball player, associated with the 
Portland team in the early '80s. He learned the carpenter's trade in young 
manhood and assisted in building the Taylor Street Methodist Episcopal church 
and also engaged in boat building. Much of his life, however, was devoted to 
service in the fire department and during the Lewis and Clark exposition of 
1905 he was in charge of fire details and equipment at the fair grounds. He 
was recognized as the originator of the present method of fire prevention 
enforced by the bureau of Portland. When he entered the department its 
equipment was horse-drawn and very crude as compared to that of the present 
day. He lived to see the motorization of the apparatus, with the introduction 
of every modern appliance used in fighting fire. He always gave careful 
consideration to the welfare of his men and introduced the system of 
calisthenics practiced now by firemen to keep them in physical trim. Many 
times he narrowly escaped with his life when burning floors fell beneath him 
and walls collapsed about him. Having worked his way steadily upward from the 
ranks of fire-fighters, it was his supervision of the rescue of twenty-five or 
more of his comrades who had been buried by a falling wall at the Union Oil 
Company fire of June 26, 1911, that led to his appointment as chief, 
succeeding David Campbell, who was killed in that fire. He was also the hero 
of numerous other spectacular rescues and following the death of Chief 
Campbell was made temporary chief, while on the 31st of October, 1911, he 
received the appointment of chief and served in that capacity until August 1, 
1920, when he retired on a pension. No man of the department has ever received 
in greater degree the confidence, friendship and love of fellow members, and 
not long before his demise he was called upon by a large delegation of his 
former associates in the fire bureau, many of whom owed their lives to his 
work in directing rescues and who presented him with a memento of their esteem 
and affection on the 22d of March, 1928, in honor of his fifty-eighth 
birthday. He presented to the Bungalow fire station an interesting fountain 
which was from his old home at Jacksonville.

     Mr. Dowell was united in marriage to Anna (Hedermann) Lauder, a daughter 
of David and Johanna Hedermann, who came from Germany to the new world and 
settled in Portland in the early '70s. The father is still living at Boring, 
Oregon, where he early took up the occupation of farming but is now retired. 
Mrs. Hedermann passed away September 22, 1923. By a former marriage Mrs. 
Dowell had two children, Clifford Lauder and Mrs. Ellen Leeding, both 
residents of Portland.

     Mr. Dowell was a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second 
degree of the Scottish Rite, and was a past master of his lodge. He was 
accorded the jewel of the fraternity and he belonged to the Mystic Shrine. He 
was also very prominent in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and for 
sixteen years was a member of the Portland lodge, which attended his funeral 
services in a body. Because of the extensive circle of his friends his funeral 
services, following his demise in Portland on the 26th of April, 1928, were 
held in the auditorium. On all hands men paid tribute to his worth and 
ability, and Captain W. R. Kerrigan, fire bureau veteran, said of him: "I had 
known him for thirty-five years and had worked with him much of that time. 
Portland owes much to Biddy Dowell, as he was affectionately called. He was 
one of the finest men and fellow workers I have ever known." This sentiment 
was expressed by all who were associated with him in the department and many 
who knew him in social and fraternal connections. Perhaps the outstanding 
feature of his career was his fidelity to duty, as expressed in a loyalty to 
his men that led him to display unfaltering courage in the face of danger. The 
history of Portland's fire bureau contains no more illustrious name than that 
of Benjamin Franklin Dowell.

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