[1] On the recommendation of John Fox Jr. and Campbell Slemp,[2] McDowell received a recess appointment from President Theodore Roosevelt on November 12, 1901, to a seat vacated by the death of Judge John Paul on the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia.
Judge McDowell bent over to tie his shoe, and the bench, at that time being elevated some two feet above the floor of the courtroom, screened him from the sight of everyone in the room.
[7] McDowell assumed senior status on September 1, 1931, and was succeeded by John Paul Jr., son of his predecessor.
[8] His former house in Lynchburg (1314 Clay Street) survives and is a contributing property to the Diamond Hill Historic District.
[9] The New York Times reported in 1901 that the author John Fox Jr., also from Big Stone Gap, based a character in his book Blue-grass and Rhododendron: Outdoors in Old Kentucky on McDowell.