Samuel Downing

DOWNING, BURNS

Posted By: Deborah Barker (email)
Date: 7/6/2026 at 18:45:38

Davis County IA Archives Biographies.....Downing, Samuel B. 1830 -
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Author: Lewis Publishing Co. (1896)

REV. SAMUEL B. DOWNING.-The subject of this review is a man whose life has been
consecrated to all that is good and true, who has been a faithful and zealous
laborer in the vineyard of the Master, and one whose efforts in connection with
temporal affairs have been attended with a full quota of success. He has passed
the greater portion of his life in the State of Iowa, has been prominent as a
clergyman of the Christian Church, and has been intimately identified with the
agricultural interests of Davis county, where he is still the owner of a large
landed estate. He is now living in practical retirement in the attractive little
city of Bloomfield, and here rests secure in the respect and esteem of the
community where he has lived and labored to so goodly ends for so long a period
of years. It is certainly incumbent that in this connection there be
incorporated a review which shall take due cognizance of the salient points in
his life history.

A native of the old Keystone State, Samuel B. Downing was born in Venango
county, on the 4th of February, 1830, being the son of Alexander and Elizabeth
(Burns) Downing, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, the latter being the
daughter of Thomas Burns, a native of Scotland. The paternal grandfather of our
subject was Andrew Downing, who was born on the Emerald Isle. So it will be seen
that the extraction of Rev. Samuel B. Downing is of that dual strain designated
as the Scotch-Irish-one which has furnished to America one of its most alert,
progressive and sterling elements and one which has been invariably a
conservator of good citizenship, through an exemplification of well directed
industry, honesty of purpose and unswerving integrity. In his young manhood
Andrew Downing emigrated from his native land to the United States, and here was
consummated his marriage.

Alexander and Elizabeth Downing became the parents of ten children,-seven
boys and three girls,-of whom our subject was the sixth in order of birth. All
lived to attain mature years and to establish homes of their own, but at the
present time only three of the number survive, these being Samuel and two
brothers: George S., who has been general superintendent of the State
penitentiary at Salem, Oregon, for the past decade; and William, who is a
resident of Linn county, Oregon, and farmer by occupation.

Samuel B. Downing, to whom this sketch is dedicated, passed the first
thirteen years of his life in his native State, and then accompanied his parents
on their removal to Iowa,- this being in the early pioneer days of 1837. The
father took a claim of land in Roscoe township, Davis county, the same
comprising a quarter section which he entered from the Government. He settled on
this tract and devoted his attention to its cultivation for a number of years,
after which he removed to the western part of Davis county, and there continued
his farming operations until the time of his death, which occurred in 1867. In
politics he maintained an independent attitude, not identifying himself with any
organization, and religiously he was a devoted member of the Christian Church.
The mother of our subject entered into eternal rest in the year 1846, having
been a woman of noble, Christian character.

Our subject received his preliminary educational discipline in the district
schools, and supplemented this by a thorough course of study in the high school
at Palmyra, Missouri, and in the high school at West Ely. In 1846 he enlisted
for service in the Mexican war, becoming a member of Company E, Third Missouri
Cavalry, Colonel John Rail commanding, and proceeded with his regiment to Santa
Fe, New Mexico, said Territory having at that time been still under the
domination of old Mexico. He was an active participant in a number of
engagements, among which was the final battle of that war, said contest having
taken place at Santa Cruz. Soon after the war with Mexico, and about ten days
after the battle at Santa Cruz, three brave comrades came to our subject and
informed him that on the next Saturday night they intended to rob a rich mining
town, located about sixteen miles up the river from Santa Cruz, also stating
that he had been elected to assist in the work, as they wanted twelve brave men.
They had arranged with all the other men, and they imparted to our subject the
names of the eleven soldiers who had agreed to aid in doing this most nefarious
crime. Mr. Downing listened to every word as they slowly and minutely explained
all their plans, and when they had finished he told them that not only would he
not assist them, but neither would he allow them to carry out their plans
without him. They ordered our subject to close his lips and added many threats
as to the action they would take in regard to him should he reveal the secret.
Mr. Downing said to them, with great firmness and with tears in his eyes: "Now,
boys, you have all been brave soldiers and can now be honorably discharged and
go home to your families; but if you rob that mining town you will be
dishonored;" and he further added, "If you go I will report the matter to
headquarters before you get five miles away, and you can kill me for it if you
want to." The robbery did not occur, and soon afterward all started home, and
these same men came to Mr. Downing and thanked him repeatedly for what he had
done for them, many of them having been men much older than himself.

After thus showing his patriotic ardor and zeal in this war, Mr. Downing
returned to his home in Iowa, and became concerned in general farming in Davis
county. He laid his land warrants in Fox township, securing 160 acres on the
start, and thereafter adding to his landed estate until its area reached 1,200
acres. The appreciation in the value of this land has brought to him a
competency, and of the fine estate he still retains in his possession 800 acres,
the remainder having been presented by him to his children. His farm is in a
high state of cultivation, and its permanent improvements are of exceptional
excellence, including a substantial dwelling of fourteen rooms. The homestead is
now occupied by his youngest son. In 1893 Mr. Downing removed from his farm to
Bloomfield and here he has since maintained his home in an attractive residence,
enjoying that repose which is the due recompense of a well spent life. He is
still frequently called upon to preach, and ever stands ready to exercise the
functions of his high office as a clergyman of the Christian Church.

The marriage of our honored subject was solemnized in 1849, when he led to
the altar Miss Telitha Stark, youngest daughter of Abner and Persis (Boone)
Stark, the latter of whom was a second cousin of that celebrated figure in
American history, Daniel Boone. Mrs. Downing was born in Henry county, Kentucky.
By her marriage to our subject she became the mother of ten children, and
concerning them we incorporate the following epitomized record: John W. is a
prosperous farmer of Davis county; Abner has been superintendent of the county
farm in this county for the past ten years and is the owner of a good farm to
whose cultivation he devotes his attention; William Lincoln is a physician
located at Moulton, Iowa; Sherman Grant, resides on the old homestead;
Temperance is the wife of C. J. Moss, of Drakeville, Iowa; Indiana V. is the
wife of John M. Kutch, of Fox township, this county; Roanna is the wife of Perry
Rallston, of the same township; Ida Iowa is the wife of Charles R. Jones, a
farmer of this county; May, who remains beneath the parental roof, is an
accomplished musician, being a graduate of the normal school at Bloomfield,
Iowa, and devotes her time to teaching this art; and Lillie J. is the wife of
Elmer Morris, of Davis county.

In political matters Mr. Downing has taken an active interest and has been
conspicuous in public affairs in Davis county. In 1879 and 1881 he represented
the county in the State Legislature, having been the candidate of the Greenback
party, of which he was a stalwart supporter from the time of its organization
until its final disintegration. In this official position he proved a wise and
able legislator and his fidelity to the trust imposed gained him the endorsement
of the people regardless of party lines. Further recognition of his ability and
sterling worth of character was that accorded in 1890, when the Greenback party
of the State made him its candidate for Governor, and though his party was much
in the minority he made a strong candidate and secured a distinctive endorsement
at the polls, though failing of election, as he had anticipated. Mr. Downing is
still prominent in political affairs, and gives his support to the Populist
party. For the past thirty-eight years he has been actively engaged in the work
of the ministry, and his labors have been blessed and prolific of much good. At
the present time he officiates in the pulpit each Sunday, having four distinct
charges, and zealously laboring to promote the spiritual and temporal welfare of
each. In his fraternal relations Mr. Downing has been for many years identified
with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His cherished
and devoted wife has been his earnest coadjutor and true companion during all
the long years of their married life and she has been a member of the Christian
Church for a full half century.

Mr. Downing stands forth as a distinctive type of the self-made man, since he
started with very limited financial resources and has by industry and judicious
management accumulated a competency. During the war of the Rebellion he was
engaged quite extensively in the sheep business, and at one time was the owner
of a flock comprising 800 head. In this connection he recalls the fact that at
that time he received fifty-four cents per pound for his wool.

A man of unblemished honor, a pioneer of the State, and one who has made his
life a power for good, Mr. Downing well merits the confidence and the high
esteem in which he is held, and his large circle of friends can only hope that
his days may be prolonged and that "the peace which the world can not give" may
continue to be his.

Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA

ILLUSTRATED

"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will
never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote
descendants."'柚ACAULAY.

"Biography is by nature the must universally profitable, universally pleasant,
of all things."佑ARLYLE

"History is only biography on a large scale"有AMARTINE.

CHICAGO: THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1896

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