Husband James Niblock Downie 1 2
Born: 25 Mar or 25 May 1825 - County Down, Ireland 1 2
Christened:
Died: Nov 1907 1
Buried: - Mars Cemetery, Butler Co, PA
Father: John Downie (1804-1888) 2 3
Mother: Mary Niblock (1805-1868) 2 3
Marriage: 13 Oct 1852 4 5
Wife Jane Boyle Magee 4 5
Born:
Christened:
Died: Abt 1917
Buried: - Mars Cemetery, Butler Co, PA
Father: Robert Magee (1800-1844) 4 5 6 7
Mother: Martha Douthett (Abt 1797-1850) 8
Children
1 M Robert Magee Downie 2 9
Born: 21 Aug 1853 - Adams Twp, Butler Co, PA 9
Christened:
Died: 23 Oct 1924 10
Buried:
Spouse: Martha Margaret Vale ( -1908) 10 11
Marr: 23 Nov 1883 11
Spouse: Margaret Greer Dick ( -Aft 1924) 10 11
Marr: 1909 10 11
2 M John Galbraith Downie 5 9
Born: 4 Feb 1855 9
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Ada Louise Neal ( - ) 9
Marr: 12 Aug 1884 9
3 F Martha Jane Downie 5 9
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Edward T. Hays ( - ) 9
Marr: 11 Oct 1894 9
4 M James Livingston Downie 5 9
Born: 25 Mar 1860 9
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Elizabeth Simpson Kennedy ( - ) 9
Marr: 26 Nov 1884 9
5 F Mary Ann Elizabeth Downie 5
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: William Cook ( - ) 9
Marr: 17 Apr 1895 9
General Notes: Husband - James Niblock Downie
He was born in County Down, Ireland, and came with his father and other members of the family to America when he was a boy of seventeen. He helped clear the tract of land on Glade Run in Butler County, Pennsylvania, where the family settled, and shared in all the hardships and responsibilities of pioneer life. About 1850 he entered the employ of the owner of a large tract of land on the site of what is now Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and by 1859 he was able to purchase what became the Downie farm at Downieville, Butler County. He was a farmer all his life. Like his father, he had strong anti-slavery sympathies, and for some years the Downie house was a station on the underground railway for runaway slaves on their way to Canada, and later, during the Civil War, he left his family and enlisted for service.
He was born near Belfast, County Down, Ireland. He was a lad of seventeen years when the trip to the United States was undertaken, having been educated in Ireland. After the family settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he did not tarry long in that locality, but went to Butler County, engaging in farm labor wherever his assistance was needed. He saved enough from his earnings to purchase a farm, later the site of a village called Downieville, and there lived until his death, agriculture being his life-long calling. He was a strong advocate of abolition, and in the antebellum days his farm was a stopping place on the famous "underground railroad," that for a time offered a refuge to many runaway slaves. At the time of Lee's northern invasion he enlisted in the "Home Guards," but was never called into active service. He was a member of the Reformed Presbyterian church, prominent in all its affairs and abiding strictly to the rules that it laid down for the observance of its members, having as much regard for the spirit as for the letter of its precepts. Public questions also claimed a generous part of his attention and he was besides, a tireless reader, possessing a keen, well-informed mind that was stored with interesting and useful information on a variety of topics.
General Notes: Wife - Jane Boyle Magee
from Harmony, Jackson Twp, Butler Co, PA