C. V. DOWDY
The following bio was taken from page 181 of the book entitled “Rusk County History” compiled and edited
And used with permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission.
Transcribed by Shirley Koym
Submitted by Gloria Briley Mayfield, Rusk County TX Coordinator
Carrol Vernard Dowdy, usually called C. V., moved to Henderson in 1928. The Dowdys came to Texas in about 1855 when Thomas Dowdy settled in Cherokee County near the Neches River in the vicinity of Forest. Thomas was born in Currituck County, North Carolina in 1820 and was a member of an “O'Dowdy” family who apparently came to North Carolina before 1750. Thomas and his wife Louisa, from Tennessee, lived in Jackson Parish, Louisiana before moving to Texas. Thomas’ children scattered from Central Texas to Arkansas. C. V.’s father, George Washington, settled in Axtel, near Waco, and developed farming and mercantile interests. He married Minnie Hanes, daughter of John Hanes, first publisher, in 1875, of Waxahachie’s first newspaper, “The Enterprise.” C. V. was their first child, born in 1890. One of C. V.’s duties as a youth was driving his father’s eight-mule team freight wagon along the muddy roads between Axtel and Waco.
In 1911, C. V. married Lula Mae Jameson. They had three children – John Vernard, Julie Ione, and George W. C. V. mastered the Jane’s system of shorthand and in 1921 moved to Cherokee County as court reporter.
When C. V. came to Henderson in 1928 as reporter of the 4th Judicial District, the district included Panola in Shelby Counties as well as Rusk, and he rode circuit with Judge R. T. (Bob) Brown. After the East Texas oil field developed, Panola and Shelby were removed from the district. The “new” courthouse was built and the old red brick courthouse in the middle of the square was replaced with a “circle.”
C. V. reported the numerous landmark cases tried by Judge Brown and observed the many oil-boom characters and events, great and small, such as Dad Joiner and “Bose” Brown, hot oil, the National Guard, and the many depression era jobseekers who slept on newspapers on the courthouse lawn in the summer and in the courthouse corridors in winter. C. V. continued reporting court until Judge Brown retired.
C. V.’s first wife died in 1937. In 1941 he and Virginia Dunklin, daughter of Dan and Pearl Dunklin of Pirtle, were married. After his retirement he and Virginia expanded C. V.’s lifetime woodworking hobby to include restoration of antique furniture. By the time of his death in 1966, their work appeared in many homes throughout the area, including the restored Monte Verdi plantation house. Virginia now lives in C. V.’s home, which is largely furnished with antiques restored by the couple and by other objects built by C. V.
Submitted by Mrs. George Dowdy