James Render Dowdell was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 jurist and the 20th Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Alabama Supreme Court

Alabama Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...

 from 1909 to 1914.

Dowdell was born in Chambers County, Alabama

Chambers County, Alabama

Chambers County is a county of the U.S. state of Alabama. Its name is in honor of Henry H. Chambers, who served as a United States Senator from Alabama. As of 2010 the population was 34,215. Its county seat is Lafayette...

, the son of Congressman James Ferguson Dowdell

James Ferguson Dowdell

James Ferguson Dowdell was the second President of the East Alabama College, now known as Auburn University, from 1868 to 1870, and a U.S. Representative from Alabama.-Biography:...

. He attended grammar school in LaFayette, Alabama and secondary school in Auburn

Auburn, Alabama

Auburn is a city in Lee County, Alabama, United States. It is the largest city in eastern Alabama with a 2010 population of 53,380. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area...

, before attending the University of Alabama

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 for two years. He then attended East Alabama Male College

Auburn University

Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...

, graduating in 1867.

While preparing for the bar exam, Dowdell taught school in LaFayette. Upon his admission to the bar, Dowdell began to practice law in Opelika, Alabama

Opelika, Alabama

Opelika is a city in and the county seat of Lee County in the east central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a principal city of the Auburn-Opelika Metropolitan Area. According to 2010 Census, the population of Opelika was 26,477...

 in 1870 with William J. Samford

William J. Samford

William James Samford was an American Democratic politician who was the 31st Governor of Alabama from 1900 to 1901....

. Dowdell was appointed solicitor of the Ninth Judicial Circuit in 1876, and judge of the Fifth Circuit in 1888. In 1896, Dowdell was named chancellor of the Northeastern Division, and in 1898 was named an associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

Dowdell was named by Governor Braxton Bragg Comer Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 1909. He served in that position until his resignation in 1914. Dowdell returned to LaFayette until his death in 1921.