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| Notes for James Downing Jr. | ||||||||
| Jean Burchett's pedigree chart shows as the father of Dennis Downing: James Downing Jr., b. 1765, died Montgomery Co., KY, s/o James Downing Sr., b. 1840 New York. She did not mention her sources, and I doubt she is correct about the birthdate and place of death. It seems to me much more likely that the father of Dennis Downing is the James Downing who lived near him and his brothers in Henry Co., Indiana, as per the following census entry: 1830 Census of Henry Co., IN, lists on page 57, 2nd line from bottom: James Downing, males 1 10-14, 1 15-19, 1 20-29, 1 50-59; females 1 5-9, 1 20-29, 1 40-49. Two lines above is the household of Dennis Downing. There is no entry for Francis Downing in this census. Perhaps he is the male 20-29 in this entry and the female 20-29 is his wife. The male 50-59 would have been born 1770-1780, which does not match with a birthdate of 1765. There is a James Downing who married 31 Aug 1793 in Mason Co., KY, Charity Furr daughter of Edward Furr of Fleming Co., KY, listed in Edward Furr's will dated 10 Apr 1801, probated 10 July 1801, Will Book A, Fleming Co., KY. Referenced in "Pioneer Families of Kentucky and their Descendents", with notation that James Downing and Charity Furr had removed to Fayette Co., KY (date of move not clear.) Hal Prince writes 5 Jan 93 "while going through some old information I came across the following data (don't know where I got it.) Will Book B, page 432 names wife Charity, daughters Keziah Higbee, Synthea Downing, and sons Jeremiah, John, and James. The will was written 21 July 1812 and probated Nov 1812. The executors were wife Charity, son-in-law Joseph Higbee, and David Bryan." I imagine the county is Fayette, and the will is for the James Downing who married Charity Furr in 1793. His son James is likely to be the following listed in the 1850 census of Fayette Co., KY, p. 475, 27 Aug, family #654: James Downing, 42, farmer; Elizabeth, 35; James Jr., 15; Francis, 6; Margaret A., 3; all b. KY. Since Dennis's father apparently moved to Indiana and lived past 1830, and James Jr. is much too young, neither of these would Dennis's father, but the names Cynthea and Francis suggest a relationship. Mason Co., Ky marriage records also list in the period 1789 to 1804: Elias Downing m. Dorcas Downing, 4 Feb 1792 Susannah Downing m. George Edwards, 20 Aug 1794 Anne Downing m. Sylvester Hall, 29 Mar 1797 Joseph Downing m. Sarah Peddicord, 27 Mar 1799 Unless Dorcas is the widow of some other Downing, the marriage of Elias and Dorcas suggests that there were at least two Downing families in Mason Co. with siblings of marriageable age in this period. The James who is Dennis' father may be a first cousin of the one who married Charity Furr. There is also a James Downing in the 1830 census of Franklin Co., KY: 1 m 30-39, 1 f < 5, 1 f 10-14, 1 f 20-29; probably not closely related to ours, and too young to be the one who married Charity Furr. I just like to keep all these notes together in case they turn out to be useful some day. | ||||||||
| Last Modified 19 Feb 2001 | Created 1 Jan 2002 by Reunion for Macintosh |