Benjamin S. Dowell
Benjamin S. Dowell
| Benjamin Shacklett Dowell | Born on Nov. 30th, 1818 in Meade County, Kentucky. Dowell served with Co. “G”, First Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry and was involved in the Mexican War. He served as the first mayor of the city of El Paso in 1873. The city government was at its early stages. Dowell also served as alderman. Dowell served as Postmaster and according to the lodge historian wrote to Washington to request assistance from hostile Indians in the region. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army and was largely unsuccessful in attempting to blockade a Union Ship in and around the Galveston area. In El Paso he married Juana Marquez (daughter of tiguan ‘cacique’) Dowell served as a pioneer of masons in far west Texas. He served as Worshipful Master, a derivation from old English meaning ‘worthy of respect’ of El Paso Lodge # 130 A.F. & A.M. *WM is the President of the organization. Dowell School was named in his honor.