Viola Katherine Lowery
(Post No. 16)
Viola Katherine Lowery (this is a real photo of her) was my 1st cousin, 3 times removed — which means "three generations" removed. Her place on the Gorman Tree is as follows: Michael Gorman's sister, Catherine Gorman, is my great-great-grand-aunt (featured in the previous blog post.) Viola Katherine is Catherine's daughter (and Michael’s niece.)
The reason Viola Katherine merits space on this blog is because of who she married in 1883 — James Francis Dunne — and what she did with more than a million dollars when she died in 1930.
Even though Viola Katherine went by the name and spelling of "Catherine," which is how she is referred to in all the newspaper articles, I will call her Viola in this blog post.
Viola was born in San Jose in 1861 to Catherine Gorman and George Washington Lowery, a wealthy family. In 1883 at the age of 22, Viola married James Francis Dunne, a very wealthy horse and cattle rancher with 25,000 acres in the Gilroy hills.
The James Dunne family was well known at the time, and his name lives on today. James had a huge "Colonial Virginian" two-story mansion called Casa del Rancho. A main street through Morgan Hill is named Dunne Avenue, and an unincorporated community six miles north of Hollister is called Dunneville. A city park with tennis courts, softball fields, playground, and more sits in Hollister named "Dunne Park." It is written that James "kept a suite of rooms at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco." In his day, his local reach was far and wide.
James Dunne (also called "Jimmy"), was a partner in the firm of Donnelly, Dunne & Co. in San Francisco, which raised and sold thoroughbred racehorses. So with his vast properties with agricultural tenants, mansions, and race horses, Viola married well, to say the least! They were married for 42 years and traveled around the world several times.
It appears that Viola was generous during her life toward charities and those less fortunate. James died in 1925 and when Viola died five years later, she left more than a million dollars to a minimum of 16 charities such as hospitals, orphanages, Catholic churches, a $200,000 dollar scholarship, the Dunne Park project in Hollister, and many others, plus gifts to 28 people, with some individuals receiving as much as $20,000. One million dollars in 1930 is equivalent to more than $17 million dollars in today's money! No wonder this garnered much attention in the community and in the press back then. Unfortunately, by the time it went through the court system over time, the value was greatly reduced by the Great Depression.
Viola died in 1930 at age 69 of chronic lung problems and pneumonia. Five years earlier James died at age 71. They had no children, which means we have no cousins. Nevertheless, the Dunne family, even without cousins for us today, is an unusual family to be connected to.
See photos HERE.
COMMENTS:
Susie - Mar. 13, 2023
How interesting! Would love to live in that house.
Thank you, Nancy, love hearing about our relatives
Nancy - Mar. 13, 2023
I might try to find that house one of these days. Knock on the door and tell 'em who I am, just like the Lowery house! :-D
Lindy - Mar. 13, 2023
Every time I drive by the Dunne exit on Highway 101 I'll think of Viola and how generous she was. Too bad we didn't get a Gorman exit on 101. Thanks for your research Nancy.
Nancy - Mar. 13, 2023
Thank you for mentioning the Dunne Ave. exit, Lindy. I meant to include that in the story and forgot!
Kendra - Mar. 14, 2023
Cousin Viola!! It's been too long! :-)
Thank you, Mom! These are so fun.
Hugs to everyone! You're all still my favorite cousins for real. :-)
Nancy - Mar. 13, 2023
Thanks, Kendra. And isn't it fun to learn about all the cousins we have or had in this world? There are so many!
Johnny - Mar. 15, 2023
When I grow up I wanna be like Nancy! . . . Great job and these are soooo fun . . . thanks Nanners!
Nancy - Mar. 15, 2023
You, too, can be a genealogy sleuth, Johnny! Thanks for reading my blog. I'm glad everyone likes it :-D