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DOWNING FAMILY ANDREW DOWNING
Born in Mt. Carroll, Ill., on March 11, 1838 he fell but a few weeks short of rounding out a full four score years. It was in western Pennsylvania that he married Laura Chase (Case). Who came on down through the succeeding years, a loving companion and a devoted wife. It was from western Pennsylvania that he went forth at the call of his country to spend four long years as an infantryman that the cause of the Union and doctrine of Abraham Lincoln might prevail.
Soon after the close of the Civil War he engaged in newspaper work in Kansas and Iowa and later was named a special agent of the pension department. In that capacity he journeyed from one end of the United States to another. Particularly he was charged with the investigation of claims for pension and he succeeded in unearthing endless spurious applications. His success in this work won for him recognition from the hands of the department and he might have been continued as such special agent indefinitely had not bronchial inflammation made it necessary for him to come to the south-west.
About the time of his arrival here, Andrew Downing, always a bookman, and Mrs. Downing, also a woman of letters and literature, took a most active interest in the organization then in existence known as the Friday club. As the interest of the members in general grew bookcases were secured and a small library begun. Soon it was seen that this small library had created a want not filled in Phoenix and the movement that followed, engineered by Mr. Downing to no small extent culminated in the naming of a public library board in 1903 and the ultimate securing for Phoenix of the handsome Carnegie library building. Mr. Downing was a member of the library board from the first and acted as its secretary. His work for the library consisted almost wholly in the selection of literature, biography, history and some fiction. He realized that the task of selecting all the reading for 50,000 people was more than a one-man task and he devoted himself to those branches with which he was particularly conversant. How well his work was performed is indicated by the fact that Phoenix today has one of the best balanced and most complete libraries in the use of smaller cities in the country.
During their residence here Mr. and Mrs. Downing distinguished themselves as writers of pleasing verses and some ten years ago these were collected and published. A subsequent edition of poems by Mr. Downing under the title of "The Trumpeters" was published and went to the third edition. This collection also represented his best Arizona verses. Since the death of his wife Mr. Downing had written much. (Note: Laura Case Downing’s book is titled "Poem Pictures" and was published by The Gorham Press, Boston, in 1904.) Many of his verses, most of them in fact, especially those relating to Arizona have appeared in the Republican. This work of Mr. and Mrs. Downing has received favorable attention of the critics throughout the country. It is marked by grace and humor of a high order and seldom or never fell below a high level.
Since the death of his wife, Mr. Downing had not been in good health. But in spite of his bereavement and affliction his cheerfulness was unremitting. Two years ago he took an extended journey through the middle states visiting relatives and another last summer. He returned from the last, apparently benefited in health. A short time ago he suffered a recurrence of his bronchial trouble and he was removed to the Arizona Deaconess hospital where he passed away yesterday afternoon.
Mr. Downing was an active member of J. W. Owen Post G. A. R. And for several years had served as post adjutant. He was also closely identified with the First Methodist Episcopal church. No children came to bless the home of the Downings but some years ago they adopted a boy who is now living in the east. A sister from Kansas City and a brother, a prominent orchardist of Attica, Kansas will arrive here this morning to make funeral arrangements. His was a most lovable character. There were few men in Phoenix whose death would be so widely and sincerely mourned. In some of his later writings he seemed to feel that the end was coming. In one poem, written for Memorial Day, he said:
The shadow Twilight steals across the land-- Her somber robes about her softly flowing-- And from her rosary, at Love’s command Tells dewy hands, the shining pearls bestowing On leaf and flower, with rev’rent, Tender hand." "Twilight" -- by Andrew Downing 
BESSIE ROSE MARIE (HARTMAN) DOWNING
age 90, of Mt. Carroll, Illinois, passed away Thursday, January 6, 2011 at Mercy Medical Center, Clinton, Iowa. A funeral service will be held 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 10, 2011 at the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mt. Carroll with Reverend Elizabeth Mascal officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery, Mt. Carroll. Visitation will be held 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 10, 2011 at the Church prior to the service. Memorials may be given in Bessie’s memory for the Mt. Carroll Ambulance Association or the First Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Bessie was born May 24, 1920 in Fairhaven Township, the daughter of Edward and Mary (Knoess) Hartman. She is a graduate of the Hartman Country School, Fairhaven. On April 2, 1940 Bessie married Preston Woodbridge Downing. They farmed many years together near Mt. Carroll.
Bessie was a member of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Mt. Carroll. She enjoyed gardening, her cats, collecting Mickey Mouse dolls, and most of all, visiting with friends and neighbors.Bessie is survived and will be dearly missed by several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her husband, Preston in 2001.
CLIFFORD (SUMNER) DOWNING
was born February 4, 1879, in Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Ill. He was the youngest of three children, the first of whom died in early childhood. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Downing, and a brother, H. Loomer Downing, survive him.
Clifford came from a family noted for good health and he was always the picture of good health. Combining with his great strength a singular gentleness and consideration for others he was noted, even in boyhood as a protector of children. Many of his boyhood companions bear testimony to the manliness which seemed his very nature even in his earlier years. He attended the common schools, and for one season, the Frances Shimer Academy. In some unaccountable manner he was troubled when about fourteen with an abcess of the hip and was confined for two months to the hospital, undergoing an operation. For two years thereafter he felt the set-back to his health, and ever since, for all that he has seemed of giant strength, usually taking the heavy end of every task calling for severe exertion, he has known, although without complaint, the lingering after-effects of that boyhood operation and sickness.
He married Jennie White Ross October 1, 1902. To this happy union two children were born: Hazel, aged ten, and Eleanor, aged four. His home life was very happy. He was indulgent, patient and he made a great deal of his family. Indeed, it was a characteristic of his wholesome nature hardly to know how to care for himself if anyone needed him. He took great pleasure in beautifying and increasing the comfort of the home about him. His generous nature showed itself in the care of the stock about the place. Dumb animals were more than chattels to him. He would let no creature suffer for the want of kindness. He was possessed of various talents. He was a reader and a lover of music, thoroughly alive to things going on about him in the country and nation at large. However, by desire and training he learned to focus his attention upon the things of the farm. He was a farmer from choice and his efforts both here and in stock-raising were successful and worthy of praise. But while successful, his life was above envy. He was a neighbor in the largest sense. He had the faculty for being friendly and courteous to everybody. His fund of humor made him welcome everywhere and seldom is it given to one man to achieve such a number of friends as he had.
In town and in the country his sudden illness aroused deep concern and his death came as a loss to many. "We cannot afford to lose him" was the almost universal feeling. It is hard to express the feelings of regret held by his community. He was a respected member of the Woodmen, also of the Knights of Pythias.
In his character, Clifford Downing was of more than standard excellence. He had no use for any base thing and those who knew him bear testimony to his whole-hearted choice of things honorable and fair. At the same time it was his principle also to endure quietly any injustice that might come to him. His sole remark was "I am sorry anyone thinks he must act this way." Except in their outward influence, whatever religious feels he had were without demonstration. He was modest, seeing nothing unusual in himself and not given to talking about his feelings. In the last days of his life, however, he talked freely of the comfort of his family, about his Christian hope and he died looking forward to a better Country. No one but himself knew much about his state of health. Even to his family he had very little to say, so it cannot be determined why his final illness should have been so dangerous and apparently sudden. Made aware of his condition he made a brave stand for life, only to succumb Sunday afternoon, May 24, 1914. So passed a lovable man and a most useful citizen, one whom it was a privilege to claim as a friend. He lived a large life and for the wholesome effect of it, his memory will be cherished. The funeral cortege of the late Clifford Downing was one of the largest which ever followed a corpse to the cemetery. There were over a half hundred carriages in the procession, and nearly a hundred Knights of Pythias. It was a mute testimony of the esteem in which he was held by his neighbors and friends.
ELLEN (PRESTON) DOWNING
:Funeral services were held this afternoon for Mrs. Harvey Downing, 101, this city’s oldest resident, who died quietly in her sleep at 4 p.m. Monday (19 January 1948) at her home where she lived with a son Loomer. She had been bedfast nearly seven years as a result of injuries received in a fall. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery.
She was born June 7, 1846, Ellen E. Preston, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Preston, in a long cabin on Preston Prairie, rural community west of Mt. Carroll. She received her education in the local schools and Mt. Carroll Seminary, now known as Frances Shimer college, and taught school six years in Bureau and Carroll counties. She was married to Harvey L. Downing of Mt. Carroll, who died in 1925. They were the parents of three children, Norman who died two years ago (Incorrect- Norman died September 23, 1873 when he was 2 years old); Clifford who died in 1914; and Loomer who survives. Other survivors include 9 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Downing’s life was associated closely with the founding and growth of this community. Her father, Samuel Preston, and his father, Samuel, in 1836 constructed the first log cabin in Mt. Carroll township and established the settlement still known as Preston Prairie. She was a pupil in the first school held in her father’s cabin. Born during the last year of the Mexican war, she had vivid memories of the California gold rush, the birth of the Republican party, the famous Dred Scott decision and other history-making events preceding and during the Civil War. In a tornado in 1898 her home was destroyed and she escaped death by going to the cellar. The family then returned to the farm on which Mrs. Downing was born and lived there until 1907 when she and her husband moved to Mt. Carroll. Oil paintings were her hobby and many of her works hang in her home, the last one having been executed when she was 80 years old.
EVA (BICKELHAUPT) DOWNING
, 67, a correspondent for both the Mirror and the Democrat prior to the consolidation of the two papers and a correspondent since the consolidation, serving for a period of over 50 years, passed away at her home on Preston Prairie Monday evening (23 July 1945) at about 10 o’clock. Eva Belle Bickelhaupt, daughter of George F. and Louisa M. Lambert Bickelhaupt, was born Oct. 29, 1877, at Cednter Hill and later moved to Preston Prairie with her parents. She attended the rural schools at Center Hill and Preston Prairie and also Northern Illinois Normal School at Fulton, after which she taught for six years in the rural schools of the county. She began corresponding for the Mirror and Democrat shortly before she was 17 years old and at least a part of every year following until shortly before her death served in such capacity continuously. She had been a member of the Methodist Church of Mount Carroll since early girlhood.
One June 25, 1901, she was united in marriage to Loomer Downing of Preston Prairie and the couple moved to the farm where they have always made their home. To this union was born eight children: Grace (Mrs. Lawrence Getz) Savanna; Florence (Mrs. H Reid Horner) Freeport; Harvey of Lanark; Eva (Mrs. Paul Metz) of Savanna; Preston, Mount Carroll; Georgia (Mrs. Henry Stubbe) of Freeport; Vivian (Mrs. David Goldy) Freeport. A son, Clarence, died in infancy. In 1936 Mrs. Downing suffered a paralytic stroke from which she never fully recovered. She is survived by her husband, the seven children 13 grandchildren, one great grand-daughter, two brothers, Charles Bickelhaupt of Mount Carroll, and Earl Bickelhaupt of Clinton, Iowa. Her father and mother preceded her in death.
HARVEY LOOMER DOWNING
, was born in a log cabin on Preston Prairie near Mount Carroll, Illinois April 6, 1844. He was the second son of Sumner and Isabel Downing, his brother Norman S. having preceded him in death in 1865. On this homestead he grew to manhood and resided here until the great cyclone of May 18, 1898 destroyed his home. He then moved to another farm but a short distance away and continued farming until 1907 when he retired to Mount Carroll. He was united in marriage to Ellen E. Preston December 8, 1869. Three sons were born to them, Norman who died in infancy, Harvey Loomer who resides near Mount Carroll, and Clifford S. who died May 24, 1914. This husband, father, and grandfather passed away at his home in Mount Carroll January 15, 1925. He is survived by his wife, son, and nine grandchildren.
HARVEY "LOOMER" DOWNING
, 80, Mount Carroll farmer died at 6 p.m. Sunday at the home of his son Preston, southwest of Mount Carroll where he resided. (Note: Actual date of death was November 15, 1953 and his full name was Harvey Loomer Downing.) Funeral services were held Wednesday in the Christian funeral home. Rev. O. L. Barker, United Brethren pastor officiated and Internment was in the mausoleum at Oak Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Downing was born July 26, 1873 in Mount Carroll, the son of Harvey and Ellen E. Preston Downing. He was married June 25, 1901 to Eva Bickelhaupt who died July 23, 1945. Surviving are five daughters, Mrs. Lawrence Getz, Savanna, Mrs. Reid Horner, Freeport, Mrs. Paul Metz, Mount Carroll, Mrs. Henry Stubbe, Pico, Calif. and Mrs. Clifford Luettig, Pearl City; two sons, Harvey of Lanark and Preston of Mount Carroll; 17 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. His wife, two brothers and infant son preceded him in death.
HARVEY "LOOMER" DOWNING III
, 87, of Lanark, lifetime farmer and horse trainer, died Friday morning, Feb. 2, 1996 at Villas of Shannon Nursing Home in Shannon. Son of Harvey L. and Eva (Bickelhaupt) Downing, he was born Aug. 16, 1908 at Mount Carroll and attended Mount Carroll High School. He and Ruth Metz were married Sept. 18, 1929 in Mount Carroll. He farmed in Carroll County and did carpenter work as well. He was a member of Lanark United Methodist Church for 50 years and had served as chairman of the church board.
Surviving family members include his wife; one son, Harvey L (Olga) Downing of Elgin; two granddaughters, Scarlet (Gerry) Browne of Naperville and Desiree Castignora of Springfield; two great-granddaughters, Emily and Erin Browne of Naperville; four sisters, Florence Horner of Freeport, Eva Metz of Mount Carroll, Georgia Stubbe of Anaheim, Calif., and Vivian (Clifford) Luettig of Pearl City; and one brother, Preston (Bessie) Downing of Mount Carroll. Preceding him in death was one sister, Grace Getz, and one brother, Clarence Downing in infancy. Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday at Russell Frank Funeral Home in Lanark with the Rev. Linda Eller of Lanark United Methodist Church officiating. Burial will be in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Freeport. Friends may call from 10 a .m. Monday to time of service at the funeral home. A memorial fund has been established by his family.
PRESTON WOODBRIDGE DOWNING
, age 86, of rural Mount Carroll , died Friday, June 22, 2001 at the Freeport Memorial Hospital , Freeport , Illinois . Funeral services were held 11 a.m. Tuesday June 26, 2001 at the Frank-Law-Jones Funeral Home with Pastor Robert Schubert officiating. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery , Mt. Carroll . Visitation was held from 10 am to 11 am Tuesday, June 26, prior to the service. Memorials may be given in Preston ’s name to the Mt. Carroll Ambulance Association and the Good Samaritan Bus Fund. Preston was born August 21, 1914 in Mt. Carroll Township , the son of Harvey Loomer and Eva Belle (Bickelhaupt) Downing. He attended the Preston Prairie Country School , rural Mt. Carroll , and graduated from Mt. Carroll High School in 1932. Preston married Bessie Rosie Hartman April 2, 1940 in Clinton , Iowa . Preston and Bessie farmed all their life, living in the same house where Preston was born. Preston raised cattle, specializing in bulls. They also raised chickens, and as a hobby Preston was a beekeeper for many years. He was a member of the Carroll County Farm Bureau. Preston’s family includes his wife, Bessie of rural Mt. Carroll ; two sisters, Georgia Stubbe of Anaheim , California and Vivian (Clifford) Luettig of Pearl City, Illinois; and many nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were both parents, three sisters, and two brothers.
SUMNER DOWNING
, was born in South Hadley, Mass. May 15, 1817. He was one of a family of seven children, of which a sister, Mrs. S. Kneale of this city, alone survives him. He came to Carroll County, at the age of twenty one, and was one of the earliest settlers; there are but very few living now who were here when he came. In early times he was a somewhat noted hunter, when deer and other wild game was plentiful. He and his father took up a claim and engaged in farming, which occupation he followed until a few years of his death. He was the second sheriff elected in this county and called the first court ever held in the old court house. He afterwards held the offices of assessor and collector.
On March 10, 1842 he married Isabel Thomson, of Green County, N. Y. who died Nov. 2, 1891. They had two children, Norman S. who died October 9, 1864 and Harvey L. who still survives him. The subject of this sketch died March 15, 1897, aged 79 years and 10 months. The funeral occurred March 17, at his home on Preston Prairie, Rev. J. P. Philips officiating. His health has been failing for several years and during the last eight weeks of his life he was confined to his bed, and although a great sufferer, was patient and uncomplaining.
Mr. Downing was one of the most respected citizens of this vicinity, and had a host of warm friends. He was a man of undoubted integrity and trustworthiness and shared the full confidence of all who knew him. Our loved friend has gone to his long home, but he has left us here for a short time, then "in that land of joy and song, we’ll never say good bye."
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