John Witherspoon "Owen" Breckinridge (December 22, 1850 – May 9, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the California State Assembly.
"Mr. Breckinridge was one of the most talented men in California gifted with all that goes to make up a brilliant lawyer and gentleman. Although still a young man, he had climbed high in his profession and was known in many cities and towns of California as a lawyer of unquestioned ability and of unquestioned integrity in business matters."[8]
Personal life
In 1877, Breckinridge was married to Florence Louise Tevis, a daughter of Lloyd Tevis, the President of Wells Fargo Bank. Together, they were the parents of:
Lloyd Tevis Breckinridge (1878–1901), who attended Harvard and later killed himself at the family home in San Francisco, where he lived with his grandmother and uncle, Dr. Harry Tevis.[9][10]
John Cabell Breckinridge Sr. (1879–1914), who married Adelaide Murphy, a daughter of Samuel Green Murphy, president of the First National Bank of San Francisco, in 1902.[11][12] He later became ill and was confined to a mental asylum outside of Paris.[13]
Owen and Louise divorced and she remarried to Frederick William Sharon (a son of U.S. SenatorWilliam Sharon)[16] in 1883 with whom she had four more children. Owen remarried to Harriett Dudley.[3]
Breckinridge died on May 9, 1892, in Merced, California.[1]
