over slavery and the Union. Despite turning away from the Lecompton "Breckinridge" faction, Downey failed to gain the nomination of the Anti-Lecompton "Unionist" Democrats during the state Democratic convention. This effectively ended his political career. During the election, the Republican Party capitalized on the Democratic split and won the elections. Californians voted for Leland Stanford over Breckinridge Democrat John R. McConnell and Unionist Democrat John Conness. Post governorship After his term as governor expired in 1862, Downey returned to Southern California. In 1871, he helped co-found Farmers and Merchants Bank, the first successful bank in Los Angeles, with Isaias W. Hellman, a banker, philanthropist and future president of Wells Fargo. In 1879, Downey joined some public-spirited citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney, in laying the groundwork for the University of Southern California, the first university in the region. When Widney formed a board of trustees, he secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community: Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; Hellman, a German-Jew; and Downey. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution. Downey Street on the USC campus is named after him. Later years In 1883, Downey, along with his wife, Maria Jesus Guirado, the daughter of a prominent Mexican gentleman of Sonora, were involved in a train accident at Tehachapi Pass, when their train plunged into a ravine. A porter pulled Governor Downey out of the burning wreckage, but Mrs. Downey's body was never found. The event plagued Downey for the remainder of his life, as he suffered from what was described as "nervous shock." Today it would likely be called Post-traumatic stress disorder. Following the accident and the death of Downey's wife, his friend Frank M. Pixley introduced him to the twenty-year-old Yda Hillis Addis, a new writer at Pixley's San Francisco journal The Argonaut. Downey was 32 years older than Addis, and they became engaged to marry. When Downey's two sisters discovered the betrothal, they were not pleased. Downey was a wealthy man; if he should pass away, his wealth would shift to Addis. The sisters took Downey and put him on a boat to Ireland. Addis sued for breach of promise, but left San Francisco before the trial. Some time after returning to the U.S., Downey married Rosa V. Kelly, of Los