FIFTH GENERATION

327. James Robert Dupuy was born on 4 Aug 1831 in Oldham County, Kentucky. He appeared on the census on 29 Aug 1850 in District No. 1, Woodford County, Kentucky.⁽⁴⁷⁹⁾ He appeared on the census in 1880 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky. ⁽⁴⁸⁰⁾ He appeared on the census on 7 Jun 1900 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. ⁽⁴⁸¹⁾ He died on 17 May 1912 in Los Angeles County, California. ⁽⁴⁸²⁾ Metropolitan News-Enterprise

Monday, November 4, 2006

Page 7

PERSPECTIVES (Column)

J.R. Dupuy: Most Obscure DA in Los Angeles County’s History

By ROGER M. GRACE

Sixteenth in a Series

JAMES R. DUPUY is probably the most obscure of the three dozen men who have headed the county’s prosecutorial agency. The various chronicles of Los Angeles history to which I’ve made repeated reference—those by Graves, Newmark, Bell, Robbins, and others—just don’t mention him. The thumbnail biography on the Los Angeles DA’s Office website relating to Dupuy reads, in its entirety:

“J. R. Dupuy (1887-1888). Scant historical sources are available for J. R. Dupuy. What records do remain indicate Dupuy followed Patton as district attorney in 1887 and served one year.”

It takes some digging, but what is found is that Dupuy was an able trial lawyer who could not hold onto the post he fortuitously acquired because he was a Democrat who ran for election in a year that belonged to the GOP. If you’ve been following this series, you might recall that the Democratic nomination for Los Angeles County offices at one time virtually assured victory, even after the Republican Party had sufficient strength nationally to gain election of presidential nominees. But now, the Democratic Party here—then referred to as “The Democracy”—was no longer in a domineering position; Los Angeles County, like the state, now had two solid parties which took turns at garnering the public’s favor.

And when Dupuy ran in 1888, partisan politics was, as never before, a major factor in the race for district attorney.

But let’s back up, and see who Dupuy was. On Aug. 2, 1831, he was born in Kentucky. The 1870 and 1880 censuses show he was a lawyer in Kentucky living with his wife and three children.

A book reciting the history of the Dupuys indicates that the subject of our inquiry graduated from the Law School of Lexington, Ky. in June, 1857; practiced in St. Joseph, Mo., then in Shelbyville, Ky.; was elected in 1862 as prosecuting attorney for Kentucky’s Fifth Judicial Circuit, moving to Louisville; served as a member of the Louisville City Council for two years; and was elected as a judge of the Louisville City Court in 1878.

He journeyed to Los Angeles in 1884, and in January, 1887, became assistant district attorney here, under District Attorney George S. Patton, father of the World War II general with the same name. (The DA had been born in 1856 as “George William Patton” but, to honor his father, a Confederate colonel killed in battle, he adopted his name, “George Smith Patton,” in 1868, giving that same name to his son, born in 1885. Both the district attorney and the Army general have been referred to as “George S. Patton Jr.”)

He was married to Florence Mary Low (daughter of Andrew Low and Susan Hikes) on 23 Feb 1863. Florence Mary Low was born in Jun 1840 in Kentucky. She died on 22 Nov 1915 in Los Angeles County, California.⁽⁴⁸³⁾ James Robert Dupuy and Florence Mary Low had the following children:

+725 i. Andrew Low Dupuy.
+726 ii. Robert Gay Dupuy.
+727 iii. Florence Lucinda Dupuy.