John Downey Works (1847-1928) was an American politician and lawyer. He was a U.S. Senator representing California from 1911 to 1917, and an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1888 to 1891.

John Downey Works was born March 29, 1847 on a farm in Ohio County, Indiana. Educated in the common schools of the state until 1861, he then served eighteen months with the U. S. Volunteers in the Civil War. In 1868, he married Alice Banta, was admitted to the bar, and began a law practice in Vevay, Indiana which lasted for fifteen years. In 1879, he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives for one term. Forced to leave Indiana in l883 due to ill health, Works and his family journeyed West and settled in southern California where, from 1886-87, he served as Judge of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Los Angeles. In 1888, he was appointed to fill a vacancy as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of California and shortly thereafter, was elected to fill out the term. Works returned to a private legal partnership in 1891 and remained so engaged until 1910 when he served for a brief time as President of the City Council of Los Angeles. In 1911, he was nominated by the Progressive Republicans of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League for the position of U. S. Senator, was subsequently elected, and served in Congress until 1917 when he returned once again to private life and practice. Works died on June 6, 1928.

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

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