THOMAS BODLEY,
ASSESSOR, San Jose
BIO-Pen Pictures
SURNAMES: McCABE, DOWNEY,
the present City Clerk and Assessor of San Jose, is a native of Santa Clara County, having been born in San Jose, in 1860.
Mr. Bodley's father, Thomas Bodley, Sr., was, at the time of his death, in 1878, one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Santa Clara County. He was born in Kentucky, March 19, 1821; studied law in the office of Sargeant S. Prentice, in Louisville, and after being admitted to the bar there removed to New Orleans, where he attached himself to the Commissary Department of the United States army. He then went to Mexico with the army, under General Taylor, and remained until the conclusion of peace, taking part in one of the battles fought previous to the taking of the City of Mexico, in which engagement he was wounded. After the close of the war he returned to New Orleans, and from thence came to San Jose, in 1849. Upon his arrival here he was appointed Under Sheriff by William McCutchen, the first Sheriff of Santa Clara County, and later filled the same position with P. T. McCabe, during the latter's term of service as Sheriff of the county. After this he entered upon the practice of law, in which he continued to the time of his death. In 1854 he was elected to the State Legislature, representing his district during the term following that election. In 1875 he was elected District Attorney, serving one term; he was also a member of the city government at an early day.
He was married, in 1856, to Miss Julia McCabe, daughter of ex-Sheriff P. T. McCabe, who came to California from Missouri, her native State, with her parents in 1849. Mr. McCabe is still living (1888), aged about eighty-five years. Mr. Bodley, Sr., was a member of San Jose Lodge, No. 10, F. & A. M., also of Howard Chapter, No. 14, Knights Templar. He was well known throughout the county as a public-spirited man, a prominent member of his profession, and a representative of the best American institutions.
Thomas Bodley, Jr., the subject of this sketch, was educated in San Jose, attending the High School until his father's death, when he became Clerk of the police court, under Judge Buckner, and later appointed Deputy County Treasurer under W. A. January. In 1883 he was appointed Deputy County Clerk under County Clerk W. H. Owens, and continued in that position for two years. In April, 1885, he was elected City Assessor and Clerk, and re-elected in 1887, being nominated on the three tickets then in the field.
In 1884 he was married to Miss Grace Downey, of Nevada County, California, a native of this State, whose parents had emigrated to California from Ohio in 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Bodley have one daughter, Grace.
Mr. Bodley is a
member of Friendship Lodge, No. 210, F. & A. M.; of Enterprise Lodge, No. 17, A.
O. U. W., in which he is Past Master; he is also the first President of Palo
Alto Parlor, No. 82, Native Sons of the Golden West. In politics he is a member
of the Democratic party. Mr. Bodley has two sisters and one brother : Julia, now
Deputy County Clerk and Assessor ; Effie and William, now in the real-estate
office of J. E. Rucker & Son, of San Jose.
Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated. - Edited by H. S. Foote.- Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888.
Pg. 634-635