Felix Downen 1858 - 1900
Felix was the son of Timothy Downen (1830-1927) and Rachel Mills (1831-1866). He was born 28 May 1858 in Posey County, Indiana, USA.
He married Catherine Allyn (1862 - 1916) on 13 February 1880 in Posey County. They had the following children:
Lemuel Downen (1880-1880)
Ora Downen (1882-1945)
Inis Downen (1884-1950)
Mattie Downen (1886-1971)
Mary Downen (1889-1889)
Hattie Olive Downen (1896-1966)
Felix first appeared with his family in the 1860 census, living in Robinson Township in Posey County. (census image here)
Between the 1860 and 1870 censuses, Felix's mother Rachel died and his father remarried Mary E. Keeling, who is found with much of the rest of the family in the 1870 census, still in Robinson Township. Three of Felix's older sisters were gone; Lucretia had married David Wilson in 1867, Harriet married James Edwards (also in 1867), and Angeline married Charles Keeling in 1868. Mary brought along her daughters Julia and Amanda Powell, ages 10 and 8, from her previous marriage. (census image here) (View neighbors in html)
Felix married Catherine Allyn in 1880 and the couple were found in the 1880 census in New Haven Township in Gallatin County, Illinois. (census image here)
By the time Felix and Catherine showed up in the 1900 census in Ridgway Township of Gallatin County, all of their children had been born but their oldest daughter Ora had married Charles Foster the year before and had moved out of the house. (census image here)
Sadly, Felix died a few months after the census was taken, on 27 October 1900. He was buried in Asbury Cemetery in Gallatin County.
Catherine remarried in 1905, to Stephen Smith McReynolds. She died in 1916 and is buried near her parents in Mount Pleasant Cemetery near Mount Vernon, Indiana.
The following information was found in the book Memoirs of the Lower Ohio Valley, Volume II (Federal Publishing Company, Madison, Wisconsin, 1905). It's an interesting book, but I have learned to take some of the information in it with a grain of salt, some of the dates don't seem to be correct and some of the names have gotten garbled:
Felix Downen
FELIX DOWNEN (deceased), late a farmer near Ridgway, Gallatin county, Ill., was born near Mount Vernon, Posey county, Ind., May 28, 1858, and died on the farm now occupied by his widow, Oct. 22, 1900. He was reared to manhood in Posey county, received his education there in the public schools, and upon arriving at man's estate adopted the life of a farmer. On Feb. 13, 1879, he was united in marriage to Miss Kate Allyn, who was born and reared in the same neighborhood, and in September of that year removed to Gallatin county, locating on the farm where he lived the remainder of his life. At the time he took possession of this farm there was but eighty acres, about half of which was cleared. He improved this place and added to it until at the time of his death he was the owner of 200 acres of land, well equipped with improvements, and which is now occupied and owned by his widow and her children. Mr. Downen did a general farming business in his life-time and gave considerable attention to stock raising. He was a member of the Court of Honor, a fraternal organization, and with his wife belonged to the Baptist church. In the ordinary affairs of life he was a consistent practitioner of the tenets of his religious faith, dealing fairly with his fellowmen, sympathizing with the unfortunate and contributing to worthy charities as his means would permit. He and his wife had the following children: Lemuel, born Oct. 6, 1880, now deceased; Ora, born Sept. 15, 1882, now the wife of Charles Foster; Inez, born Nov. 9, 1884, now Mrs. Edward Barnett; Mattie, born Sept. 17, 1886, at home with her mother; Mary, born Sept. 9, 1889, and Hattie Olive, born Aug. 31, 1896.
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Felix Downen page at Find A Grave
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