Josiah Downen 1780 - 1845
Josiah Downen is believed to have been born in Pendleton, Anderson County, South Carolina on 1 March 1780. He was the son of Josiah Downen (1740-1802) and Mary Elizabeth Smith (1747-1835).
He married Ann Barton (1792-1845) on 2 March 1815 in Posey County, Indiana. They had the following children:
Ruth Downen (1816-1845)
Martha Polly Downen (1817-1822)
Elizabeth Downen (1820-ca. 1840)
William Downen (1822-1897)
Job Downen (1825-After 1860)
Martha Downen (1830-1852)
Jane Downen (1832-1913)
Samuel Downen (1832-1848)
I have found Josiah's father Josiah Sr. in the 1800 taxpayer list for Kentucky. The original census records were lost and the taxpayer list is pretty rudimentary, it only lists the head of household's name, the county of residence, and the tax list date.
There is no way of proving that Josiah Jr. was with his father in Christian County, Kentucky as of the tax list date, but it seems rather likely that he was there. (tax list image here)
Josiah showed up under his own name in 1810 in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. The only two people in the household appear to be Josiah and his mother Mary. (census image here)
Josiah must have moved to Posey County by 1815, since that's where he married Ann Barton. That's also where they were found in the 1820 census, Josiah by name and Ann as part of a statistical grouping (gotta love those old census records!). The township name listed on the census itself was Smith Township of Posey County, although Ancestry.com's records indicate it was actually Marrs Township; I am assuming Ancestry was privy to some knowledge I don't have in making that determination. It's interesting picking apart the census data. The two daughters Ruth and Polly Martha are straightforward enough, as is Josiah and his mother Mary. There is an unknown white girl between 10 and 15 in the household, and either the records we have on his wife Ann's age are wrong or her age was given incorrectly to the census taker, because she is not listed as being older than 25 when she should be 27 or 28 years old. (census image here)
The 1830 census listed Josiah in Robinson Township, Posey County. The groupings by age and gender add up correctly and everyone is there who should be there. It looks as if Job's mother Mary was not living there at that point, although she was believed to still be alive (she is thought to have died in 1835). (census image here)
Josiah was listed in the census for the last time in 1840, still in Robinson Township. Analyzing the census, once again Ann's age is off, this time they have made her at least two years older than she was. Since they erred on the side of recording her too young before, most likely the incorrect age was given to the census takers again, this time erring on the side of making her too old. There are three people I can't identify, possibly nieces, nephews or grandchildren. There is an unidentified male under five, an unidentified male between the ages of 10 and 14, and an unidentified girl between the ages of 5 and 9. (census image here)
Josiah died on 9 June 1845 in Posey County. His burial place is unknown, although it was quite common then for people to be buried on a small section of their farm or a neighbor's property that was set aside as a graveyard. Given the extent of his holdings I would imagine Josiah was buried on his own land.
Josiah's third great-grandnephew was Glen Miner, who was a local historian of Gallatin County, Illinois. He mentioned Josiah 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:
"Josiah Downen, Jr. had entered this 160 acres (of land in Posey County) in 1814, sold the south half in 1820 to his elder brother, Timothy, who built a log house on the northwest side of the tract.
George T., son of Timothy, purchased the other 80 acres including Josiah Jr's old home in 1831."
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