Job Downen Sr1

#4091, (between 1765 and 1768 - 30 October 1842)
Relationship2nd great-granduncle of William David Lewis
Father*Josiah Downen1,2 (c 1750 - c 1801)
Mother*Mary Elizabeth Smith1,2 (1747 - 1835)

Family

Mary Elizabeth Robinson b. 1769, d. 1856
Children 1.Joseph Downen+4,5 (c 1791 - )
 2.Jane Downen4,5 (1792 - )
 3.Rebecca Downen+4,5 (1794 - )
 4.Margaret Downen17 (1800 - 1844)
 5.Joel Downen4,5 (c 1801 - )
 6.Martha Downen+4,5 (c 1803 - 1877)
 7.Johnson Downen18 (1805 - 1855)
 8.Elizabeth Downen+4,5 (c 1808 - 1895)
 9.Job Downen Jr+4,5 (1809 - 1862)
 10.David Robinson Downen+4,5 (1813 - 1896)
Birth*between 1765 and 1768He was born between 1765 and 1768 at North Carolina or South CarolinaG.3,1,2 
Marriage*circa 1790He married Mary Elizabeth Robinson circa 1790 at South CarolinaG.4,5 
1790He appeared on the census of 1790 at Pendleton Co., South CarolinaG; neis. Pilgrim, Goss, Horton, Martin.6 
circa October 1796He and Mary Elizabeth Robinson removed to Logan (later Christian, now Muhlenberg) Co., KentuckyG, circa October 1796.7 
6 October 1796Job Downen Sr had 200 acres of land Logan (later Christian, now Muhlenberg) Co., KentuckyG, surveyed on 6 October 1796.8,9,10,11 
1811He and Mary Elizabeth Robinson removed in 1811 Knox County (now Posey Co.) Indiana (5 brothers and families). Need to check if Jane, Rebecca, Joel moved at the same time. Bio of David Robinson Downen has him b. in KY, removed to IN ca. 1823.12 
1830He and Mary Elizabeth Robinson appeared on the census of 1830 at Robinson Twp., Posey Co., IndianaG; (neis. Frederick Utley; William Utley; Samuel Oliver.)13 
Death*30 October 1842He died on 30 October 1842 at Posey Co., IndianaG; (or 23 Sep 1842.)14,15,16 

Citations

  1. [S2089] "Early Downen History, 2nd Edition", 1972, Elizabeth Myers (Carmi, Illinois), to Mrs. Eben F Pinkham (Exater, California), p. 1; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, Utah.
  2. [S627] Blanche Moye Cook, History of the Downen Family, 1777-1970 (Illinois: Alice Roberta Bradley, typist, 1974), pp. 9-16b.
  3. [S2088] Mrs. James Margedant and others, editors, A Roster of Revolutionary Ancestors of the Indiana Daughters of the American Revolution (Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, 1976), I:180. No. 542819. Josiah Downen military service, q.v.
  4. [S2089] Elizabeth Myers, "Early Downen History", p. 2.
  5. [S627] Blanche Moye Cook, History of the Downen Family, p. 9.
  6. [S268] 1790 U.S. Federal Census, image viewed online Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.com. Joab Downing [sic]; F [Mary].
  7. [S2090] Logan County, Kentucky, Land Surveys 1796-1824, DGS 7838118, FHL Film 2135001, online FamilySearch.org, Real estate survey for Job Downing (1796), q.v.
  8. [S2090] Logan Co. Land Surveys 1796-1824, online FamilySearch.org, Book A, p. 204, img. 127/1085. Survey by Wm. Reading for Jobe Downing [sic] of 200 acres of land "lying on the waters of Pond Creek."
    Where was this land? There is a clue in An act to amend and explain an act, entitled "an act for the division of Christian county" passed by the state Legislature on 4 Dec 1800. This act corrected an error in the original legislation of Dec 1798 that formed Muhlenberg Co. from parts of Logan and Christian Cos. The original act setting the new boundaries had
    Beginning at the mouth of Mud river, running up said river with its meanders within three miles of the mouth of Wolf Lick fork on a straight line; from thence with a straight line to the Christian county line, six miles below Benjamin Hardin’s; from thence on a straight line so as to strike Pond river, two miles below Joel Downing’s; from thence down Pond river with the meanders to the mouth; from thence up Green river to the beginning, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Muhlenberg.
    The act of 1800 makes this correction:
    WHEREAS, it is represented to the present General Assembly that the act passed in December, 1798, for the division of Christian county is imperfect, and wants amending:
    Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, that so much of the act as calls for running the county line from six miles below Benjamin Hardin’s, to strike Pond river two miles below Joel Downing’s, be and the same is hereby repealed; and the line shall run from said six mile tree to Job Downing’s on Pond river, so as to include said Downing’s dwelling house in Muhlenberg.
    These transcripts come from Otto Rothert's A History of Muhlenberg County. The 1798 Act names Joel Downing while the 1800 act has both Joel and Job Downing. Perhaps looking at the original documents would help clear this up. But the land in this survey is almost certainly the same or adjacent to the property mentioned in the legislative Acts, and is immediately on the county border.
    There is more on Benjamin Hardin. On 13 Dec 1796 the legislature had approved an Act creating Christian County from parts of Logan Co. with these boundaries, which include what would become Muhlenberg Co.:
    Beginning on Green River, eight miles below the mouth of Muddy River; thence a straight line to one mile west of Benjamin Hardin's; thence a straight line to the Tennessee State line, where it crosses the Elk Fork; thence along the said line to the Mississippi River; thence up the same to the mouth of the Ohio, and up the same to the mouth of Green River; thence up the same to the beginning. [Perrin's Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky]
    The Kentucky Tax List for 1800 (also known as "the Second Census of Kentucky" since the 1800 Federal Census records were destroyed) has Benjamin Harden Sr. [sic] in Logan Co. with a date of 26 Aug 1800.
  9. [S2092] Otto Arthur Rothert, A History of Muhlenberg County (Louisville: John P. Morton & Co., 1913), pp. 36-40.
  10. [S2091] William Henry Perrin, editor, Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky (Chicago: F. A. Battey, 1884), p. 47.
  11. [S766] Kentucky Tax Lists 1799-1801 [transcription], online Ancestry.com, p. 124, img. 139/348. Original data Clift, G. Glenn. Second Census of Kentucky, 1800. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2005.
  12. [S565] Josiah Downen Family, online Ancestry.com, "In 1811, Timothy accompanied his brothers David, William, Job, and Josiah Jr. to the southwest corner of the Indiana Territory, which was soon to become Posey County. In September, he marched with others to Vincennes, where he served under General William Henry Harrison in the November 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe against Tecumseh's Indians. Timothy was severely wounded. The following year, Timothy's fifth child, James (our ancestor), was born. Over the next eleven years, five remaining children were born here: John, Thomas, William, Jane, and Mary."
  13. [S54] 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Job (60-69); F (50-59) [Mary]; m (15-19) [David].
  14. [S2089] Elizabeth Myers, "Early Downen History", p. 1. Job d. 23 Sep 1842 in Posey Co.
  15. [S627] Blanche Moye Cook, History of the Downen Family, p. 9. Job d. 30 Oct 1842 in Posey Co. IN.
  16. [S478] Ancestors and Relatives of Harmon Victor Mills and Carol Joyce Miller Mills James, hereinafter cited as Mills-Miller FT, online http://mills-sfv.com/Genealogy/Families/Mills-Miller.html. "Job died on 30 October 1842 in Posey County. Mary died in 1856, also in Posey County. I do not know where either of them were buried."
  17. [S627] Blanche Moye Cook, History of the Downen Family, p. 9, given name possible.
  18. [S478] Mills-Miller FT.