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 Downs Family of Kent Co., Delaware
 by James M. Downs
Global TreeClubsMy GenCirclesSmartMatching
Ida Barabara Hower( twin) 1
Birth:19 Feb 1877 in Sand Hill community near Macy, Indiana 1
Death:27 Feb 1968 in Rochester Indiana 1
Sex:F
Father:Henry Hower b. 3 Mar 1837
Mother:Leah Weaver(Weber) b. 14 Mar 1840 in Stark County Ohio
  
Burial: 29 Feb 1968 IOOF Rochester, Indiana 1

Spouses & Children 
James Morton Downs I (Husband) b. 28 Oct 1873 in Rochester In.-two miles south of courthouse on 25
1
Marriage: 24 OCT 1900 in Fulton County Indiana
Children: 
  1. DescendantsEllsworth Morton Downs b. 24 Feb 1914 in Rochester Indiana
  2. James Clifford Downs b. 17 Nov 1903
  3. DescendantsLeah Generiere Downs b. 15 Apr 1907
  4. DescendantsMarjorie Isabel Downs b. 10 Jan 1909 in Fulton County Indiana
  5. DescendantsNellie Ruth Downs b. 14 Mar 1902 in Fulton County Indiana
 
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Notes 
Individual:
[DOWNSOF DELAWARE2005GED.FBK.FBK.FBK.FBK]

SAWMILL SCHOOL
By Shirley Willard
Sawmill School got its name from being next to the sawmill a mile south of Rochester on
[SR-25]. The sawmill was built by Rueben and Calvin Van Trump before the Civil War and
purchased by William Downs and wife Susan Brown Downs in 1866. The first school there was
a wooden structure located on the west side of [SR-25] where the south edge of New US-31
crosses over now. It was probably built about 1850, but being in a low spot, it often was
surrounded by water. So in about 1870 they built a brick schoolhouse on the rise north of the
present highway garage on the east side of SR-25. It is shown as school no. 8 in the 1876 and
1883 atlases of Fulton County.
All of William Down's children went to Sawmill School between 1870 and 1890. Lilly Maude
Daowns Lowe, Almeda Downs Blackburn, John Downs, James Downs, and Kenneth Downs.
Other families whose children attended were Beecrafts, George Black, Enoch Mow, Andrew
Jackson Haimbaugh, and Jacob Stevens. Nellie Stevens, born in 1868, attended Sawmill and
later married dentist James Leonard Babcock, who was mayor of Rochester 1934-38. At his
death Nellie became Rochester's only lady mayor, serving to the end of her husband's term,
Oct.-Dec. 1938. Estella Mitchell (Mrs. R. P. True) taught there. Bell Bernetha, sister of Judge
[Harry] Bernetha, taught at Sawmill for a time before she became chief operator at Rochester
Telephone 1896.
From Rochester Sentinel, Oct. 20, 1877: "Sidney Moon was engaged to teach the winter term of
school at the Sawmill schoolhouse just south of town. Sid is a good practical teacher and an
accomplished manipulator of the rod in dusting the boys' breeches."
Rochester Union-Spy, Feb. 28, 1879: "Ex-sheriff S. R. Moon, teacher of the sawmill School
south of town, will celebrate the last day of school with a public dinner and a dramatic
entertainment. 'Paddy Mile's Boy' is the play named, and prospects are that the entertainment
will be highly entertaining. None but those invited will be expected to partake of the public
dinner."
Sawmill School was closed and torn down around 1900. Otto McMahan taught at No. 8 or
Sawmill School 1899-1900 and may have been the last teacher. James Downs took over the
sawmill and paid tuition for his children, Warren Downs, Ruth Downs Richardson, Clifford
Downs, Leah Downs Smiley, Marjorie Downs Fred, and Morton Downs to go to South School
(later called Columbia) in Rochester.
The sawmill too has disappeared. . . . The sawmill closed in 1949 when James Downs died. . . .
[FCHS Quarterly No. 71, pp 20-21]

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Sources 
  1. Title: DOWNSOF DELAWARE2005GED.FBK.FBK.FBK.FBK
    Media: Other
    Text: Date of Import: Mar 1, 2005
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