Sons Of Mayor Dowell

John and Nehemiah Dowell-sons of first mayor of El Paso, Texas. DOWELL, BENJAMIN SHACKLETT (1818–1880). Benjamin Shacklett (Uncle Ben) Dowell, pioneer settler and first mayor of El Paso, son of James Board and Barbara (Shacklett) Dowell, was born in Meade County, Kentucky, on November 30, 1818. He served with Company G, First Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry, in the Mexican War (1846–47), during which he was taken prisoner at La Encarnación. About 1850 he moved from Kentucky to Texas and was employed by Juan María Ponce De León, whose ranch occupied the site of present downtown El Paso. After a brief sojourn in Los Angeles (1854) he returned to El Paso, where his business interests came to include a saloon, general store, post office, stagecoach stand, billiard parlor, and hotel in the downtown area, plus an extensive ranch on the Rio Grande above the town. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fdo33

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History