John Downing 
      Sex: M
Individual Information 
     Birth Date: 3 Aug 1744 - Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania 2
    Christening: 
          Death: May 1802 -  ( at age 57) 3
         Burial: in Fishing Creek Presbyterian Cem., Chester Co., SC
 Cause of Death:
Spouses and Children 
1. *Mary Pagan (Abt 1746 - 19 Mar 1832) 1 
       Marriage: 13 Mar 1764 - Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania 4 5
       Children:
                1. Elizabeth Downing (Abt 1765-1855)
                2. Ann Downing (Abt 1769-Abt 1843)
                3. Andrew Downing (1771-1844)
                4. John Downing (1776-1870)
                5. Mary Downing (      -      )
                6. Robert Downing (Abt 1780-      )
                7. William Downing (1775/1784-      )
                8. Jane Downing (1785-Abt 1870)
                9. Sarah "Sally" Downing (Abt 1790-1840/1850)
Notes
General:
CENSUS:

<pre>1790 Chester Co., South Carolina; pg 180
John Downing 226; no slaves
males >= 16 2
males < 16 2
females 6 </pre>

His son Andrew Downing is the next entry, and Jesse Hinkle lives 6 entries away. Widow Gill, Widow Pagan, Robert Gill, and Thomas Gill live not far away. Other Gills are on the same page.

<pre>1800 Chester Co., South Carolina
John Downing 00301 -- 03201; no slaves
male female
<10
10-15 3
3 16-25 2
26-44
1 >45 1 </pre>

<pre>1810 Chester Co., South Carolina; pg 517
Mary Downing 00110 -- 01111; no slaves
male female
<10
10-15 1
1 16-25 1
1 26-44 1
>45 1 </pre>

John Downing (presumably her son) lives 3 entries away. They are in the sequence Mary Downing, 2x, John Downing, 2x, Bersheba Jones, Nancy Jones, 6x, Leonard Jones, Wm Jones.

PARENTS:

An unpublished research study, compiled mostly by Roland Downing, states the following:

"The documentation for our John Downing in America is the record of his marriage to Mary Pagan (sometimes spelled Pagen or Pegan.) Their marriage on 13 March 1764 is recorded at St. James Episcopal Church in Lancaster Co, PA.

"There were plenty of Downings in Pennsylvania at that time; however, most of them were English Quakers and not Irish. Downingtown, PA was named after Thomas Downing, an Englishman, who bought land at Mill Crossing on the Brandywine Creek and became so successful that the place was renamed for him. His lineage is well worked out, and "our" John Downing, b. 1740, is of the age to be one of his children. But, there is no connection. The Downingtown Downings were Quakers and were in Chester County, PA before the Scotch-Irish in started around 1729.

"DNA evidence proves our Downing line is not linked at all to the Downings of Quaker ancestry in the Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania. More than likely, our John Downing settled in the backwoods with other Scotch-Irish immigrants, making them dif to trace. History does show that most migrants to the northwestern part of South Carolina actually came from the York, Lancaster, and Chester County area of Pennsylvania. The Pagan and Downing families were part of a larger ethnic migration of Scotch-Irish. Many of the families were linked by marriages, place of origin, and port of arrival, as well as religious beliefs, physical traits, and personal convictions."

CHILDREN:

The following is from an e-mail message sent to Judy Damewood (see database 'jdamewood' in http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com) on August 18, 2004 by Stephen Dow Beckham, Pamplin Professor of History, Lewis & Clark College, Portland, Oregon, and a ggg grandson of Sarah Downing Hinkle.

"Catharine Hinkle was born in 1819 in Madison County, Alabama. She was the daughter of William Hinkle (7 Dec. 1792-15 April 1867) and Sarah Downing (1790-1854). William and Sarah (Downing) Hinkle and several of their children and grandchildren moved in 1845 to farms on Rocky Bayou near Mountain View, Arkansas. Two of their children--Jesse Hinkle and John Downing Hinkle (who married Arena Beckham)--settled north of White River in Melbourne and Evening Shade, small communities in Izard Co., Ark.

"As best as I have been able to reconstruct with assistance from Janice Knight and other researchers, including the late Henry W. Hinkle of Bartlesville, OK., the parents and family of Sarah (Downing) Hinkle were as follows:

"John Downing (ca. 1740-1802, Fishing Creek, SC) married Mary Pagan (1742-19 March 1832, Fishing Creek, SC). The children of John and Mary (Pagan) Downing were the following:
1. Elizabeth Downing (1765-1855) married Jonathan Jones
2. Ann Downing (ca. 1769-1843)
3. Andrew Downing (15 April 1771-21 April 1844) married Elizabeth Jones
4. John Downing (7 Dec. 1776-12 May 1870) married Margaret Ferris
5. Mary Downing married John Gill
6. Robert Downing (1780-?) married Sarah A. Gill
7. Jane Downing (28 Nov. 1785-ca. 1870) married William Gilmore
8. Sarah Downing (1790-1854) married William Hinkle and emigrated in 1845 to Izard/Stone County, Arkansas with most of their children and several grandchildren"


Comments: 1) William Hinkle's wife is not in the 1850 census. She probably died before 1850.
2) Mary Pagan was born about 1746, not in 1742, according to the Cemetery Roster in "Early Records of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, Chester County, South Carolina 1799-1859" compiled by Brent H. Holcomb and Elmer O. Parker, 1980. On page 158 it says that Mary Downing died March 19, 1832, aged 86, and that John Downing died May 1802, aged 62 yrs. Relative to the claim that Mary's youngest child Sally was born in 1790, it is important that she was born in 1746 rather than in 1742. 44 is a plausible age to bear a last child. 48 is probably not.
3) There is another child, William Downing, who Judy Damewood believes is the eldest son and the second child.

A Chester Co., South Carolina, deed (Deed Book Q, pg 281) provides additional information about the children. The buyer is William Downing, and the sellers are listed in order as follows:

Mary Downing
Jonathan Jones
Ann Downing
Andrew Downing
John Downing
John Gill
Robt Downing
Wm Gilmore
Sally Downing

All are of the South Carolina Chester District except for Robert Downing and Wm Gilmore, who are of the State of Tennessee. They are selling a tract of 529 3/4 acres on Fishing Creek in the Chester District, which was granted in 1772 by Lord Charles Greville Montague, Governor, to John Downing, now deceased, who is said to be the husband and father of the conveyers. The deed says that a plat is attached, but there is no map in the Deed Book. The purchase price was $598.62, and the deed was signed on January 12, 1811 by all of the above with the exception of Wm Gilmore. Since he lived in Tennessee, he was probably not available. The deed was signed by 3 other people not listed in the body of the deed. Under the signature of Jonathan Jones is that of Betsy (her O mark) Jones, presumably his wife. Below that of John Gill is that of Polly (her O mark) Gill, presumably his wife, and below that of Andrew Downing is that of Betsy (her | mark) Downing. The witnesses were Wm Jones Junior and Leander Downing. The deed was signed by

Mary Downing (LS)
Jonathan Jones (LS)
Betsy (her O mark) Jones (LS)
Ann (her | mark) Downing (LS)
Andrew Downing (LS)
Betsy her | mark) Downing (LS)
John Gill B.S. (LS)
Polly (her O mark) Gill (LS)
John Downing (LS)
__________ (LS)
Sally Downing (LS)
Robert Downing (LS)

in the indicated order.

The deed is easy to read. William Downing is also of the Chester District. The deed does not specify his relationship to the sellers.

Stephen Beckham's list of 8 children is a perfect match with the sellers as to number and order. Of course, his ordering may be based partly on the deed, but he provides birth dates for several of the children, and his list is in birth date order. Thus it is reasonable to believe that the children were listed in the deed in the order of their age, and it is notable that Sally is last. Thus a birth date of 1790 is reasonable. According to the census William Hinkle's wife was born about 1790. Stephen Beckham may or may not have independent evidence that she was born in 1790.
picture

Sources

1 Brent H. Holcomb and Elmer O. Paker, Early Records of Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church, Chester County, South Carolina, 1799-1859, 1980, pg 158. Repository: Clayton Library, Houston, Texas.

2 U.S., Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935, Pennsylvania > Lancaster >Sadsbury Monthly Meeting > Records of the Births and Burials of Friends Children; pg 30; image 31/72. Repository: http://www.ancestry.com.

3 "Find-a-Grave," Memorial # 14433476.

4 Pennsylvania, Church Records - Adams, Berks, and Lancaster Counties, 1729-1881, Repository: http://www.ancestry.com.

5 "Familysearch.org," "Pennsylvania, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Marriage Records, 1512-1989", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6CYF-HGS2 : 13 January 2021), Mary Pagan in entry for John Downing, 1764.

6 http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com db: jdamewood.

7 "Downing Bible," http://www.biblerecords.com/downing.html.

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