Hillis Addis, a young woman who wrote for The Argonaut. Their relationship ended when the ex-governor proposed marriage to Addis. When Downey's sisters discovered the betrothal, they shanghaied the older gentleman to his native Ireland. In 1882 Governor George Clement Perkins appointed Pixley founder and editor of The Argonaut to the board of commissioners of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 1888, Governor Robert Waterman appointed Pixley a trustee of the state Mining Bureau. In 1889 he was appointed to the board of the Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove Commission. He died at age 70 in 1895 in San Francisco. Pixley, California The town of Pixley, in Tulare County, California, is named after Frank Pixley. The town began as a real estate speculation in 1884. The investors, Darwin C. Allen and William B. Bradbury, knew their project would succeed only if the town was connected to the mainline of the Southern Pacific. They contacted Frank Pixley, a man whom they knew was a friend of Leland Stanford, president of the Southern Pacific. In 1886, Pixley joined with the original investors as a partner in the Pixley Townsite Company. The company purchased additional land in the vicinity. When The Southern Pacific extended its tracks to the Townsite, the town prospered. The terms of sale for the land was 25% down, the rest to be carried back for three years by the owners at 8 percent interest. The partners made a handsome profit. Special railroad fares were offered to people in other areas of California and as far away as Boston in order to bring potential customers to see the new lands and the investment possibilities near Pixley. The first house built in Pixley was for Emma Pixley, the widow of Frank Pixley's brother William. Her three sons and daughter lived in the home. Emma bought a quarter section of an adjoining piece of land where she farmed until they moved back to San Francisco. Frank Pixley advertised the town named after him in his biweekly journal The Argonaut. References External links Obituary California Attorneys General California Republicans American magazine founders American magazine publishers (people) People of California in the American Civil War Hamilton College (New York) alumni 1825 births 1895 deaths People from Westmoreland, New York 19th-century American politicians United States Attorneys for the District of California 19th-century American businesspeople