George Tillman Downen 1805 - 1880
George Downen was born on 17 October 1805 in Giles County, Tennesse, the son of Timothy Downen (1777-1828) and Jane (maiden name Brice or Lacey) Downen (1782-1852).
George married Lucretia Culley (1809-1845) in Posey County, Indiana, on 27 October 1825. They had the following children:
Thomas Downen (1827-1904)
Jane Downen (1829-1907)
Timothy Downen (1830-1898)
Elizabeth Downen (1833-1871)
Ester Downen (1835-1920)
Mary Magdalene Downen (1837-1913)
Rachel Downen (1840-1910)
Lucretia Downen (1842-1927)
George Tillman Downen (1844-1911)
George married Ann Owens (1813-1896) on 28 January 1846 in Posey County. They had the following children:
Mary Downen (1846-1882)
Charlotte Downen (1848-1918)
Eletha Downen (1854-1924)
Hannah Downen (1856-1940)
Martha Ann Downen (1859-1914)
The first place I have found George is in the 1830 census for Robinson Township of Posey County. He was listed under his middle name, Tillman. (census image here)
In 1840 he was still going by Tillman, still in Robinson Township. (census image here)
In the 1850 census we get a bit clearer picture as the census finally started listing people other than the head of household. In addition to George and Ann all of his children with Lucretia are there with the exceptions of Jane, who had already married Robert Moye, and Timothy, who had married Rachel Mills. There is something strange, the census lists Elizabeth (Eliza?) with the wrong age, but Elizabeth had already married Joseph Moye (Robert's brother) in 1847. So I'm not sure what's going on there. The oldest two daughters of George and Ann are there, Mary and Charlotte, as well as Thomas, Marian and Jasper Givens, who were between the ages of 17 and 12. Ann's first husband was Michael Givens who died in 1841, these are probably children of Ann's from her first marriage. (census image here)
By 1860 the household was a bit smaller. Of Lucretia's children, only Lucretia and George were still at home. Thomas had married Rachael Duckworth in 1852. Ester married George Grant in 1854. Mary married John Rister in 1857, and Rachel married William Brugger in 1859. All of George and Ann's daughters were still living at home. The Givens children are nowhere to be seen, but by this time they would have all been adults. (census image here)
In 1870 George was still living at home, but he had married Clarissa Allyn and she was living there with him. Lucretia had married James Madison Wilson in 1861. Ann's daughters Mary and Charlotte were both gone, Mary had married William Edwards and Charlotte married Isaac Ramsey in 1867. Eletha, Hannah and Martha were still at home, and yet another generation of Givens showed up, William and Robert (ages 11 and 7, respectively), I am thinking these may be grandchildren of Ann's. (census image here)
By 1880 all of George and Lucretia and Ann's children were finally gone. A 16 year old boy named M.R. Givens is listed as a laborer but I'm guessing he is also another descendant of Ann's. Two of George and Lucretia's grandchildren were also living there, Lucretia Alice Moye and Joseph James Moye. Lucretia and Joseph's parents were both dead, their father Joseph died in 1867 and their mother Elizabeth died in 1871. (census image here)
1880 was the last census that George would show up in. Two months later, on 3 August 1880, he died in Posey County and was buried near his father in the Timothy Downen Cemetery. Ann died in 1896 but if she is buried in the Timothy Downen Cemetery also her stone is unreadable. George's first wife Lucretia is buried there, her stone was still readable as of the 1970s.
One of George's descendants was Glen Miner, who was a local historian of Gallatin County, Illinois. He mentioned George in his book Cemeteries of Gallatin County, Illinois, Book 1, 1973-4 (Here is a link to an online copy of the book). The following is from page xxiv of the introduction:
"Death of my great grand parents, Joseph J., (1828-67), and Elizabeth Downen Moye, (1833-71), left their children, including my grandmother Lucretia Alice Miner, (1863-1927), without a home. They finally ended up with their grandfather, George Tilman Downen, (1805-80), in Section 32 three miles southwest of Blairsville in Posey County, Indiana. George T. had eleven children by his first wife, Lucretia Culley, (1809-45), and seven daughters by his second wife, Ann Owen Givens, a widow with at least three children. Her parents were Thomas and Elizabeth Owen. Most of the children settled northeast of Ridgway."
"As relatives visited, conversation often drifted back to the busy times at the old Downen home place. I remember talk of often having twenty-five at mealtime, the cool water from the never failing spring, the vineyard and the large orchard. The three food items, which they always had plenty of, were cornbread, apple butter and sorghum molasses if my memory is correct. They produced most of what they used or ate on the large farm. They butchered and cured lots of meat, but often it failed to last through the season."
"George T., son of Timothy, purchased the other 80 acres including (his uncle) Josiah Jr's old home in 1831. Later he acquired much of the adjoining land but continued in the old log home near the spring until the 1870s when he built a new two-story frame home about twenty feet north of the old one. They continued to use both homes, and for many years they were assessed separately as the new and old house."
"(In the 1940s) Only a pear tree remained from the orchard, the old house with the big fireplace had been gone for 25 years, the new house now old was filled with hay. The spring had been filled in, but it was found on a later trip. Its cool water had found another outlet much farther down the hill. The cemetery was near to where I expected to find it. It was on the ridge, perhaps 300 yards south of the George T. Downen home, and east of where I have heard the Timothy Downen home was located. The cemetery, almost forgotten, was covered with brush and briers and many of the stones were down, but it still told its story. Timothy's marker, (1777-1828), was the oldest, but there were many others, relatives and neighbors. What I found here, along with the memories encouraged more research."
Other Links
George Downen page at Find A Grave
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