William Major Downing

ID: I27394

Name: William Major Downing

Sex: M

Birth: ABT 1824

Ancestral File #: C554-39

_UID: EF15E3EEFAD0844394F1B59D8FBD73201CD5

Change Date: 8 DEC 2001 at 11:52:55

Marriage 1 Eleanor C. Willard b: 31 DEC 1828 in Platteville, Iowa Co., WI

Married: 29 FEB 1856 in Yolo Co, California

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William M. "Major" Downing Memorial Photos Flowers Edit Share Learn about upgrading this memorial... Birth: Mar. 21, 1824 Kentucky, USA Death: Mar. 3, 1898 Bisbee Cochise County Arizona, USA

Inscription:

1st Large Stone: Sacred to the Memory of MAJOR WM. M. DOWNING WIFE AND DAUGHTER

Not dead - but sleeping the peaceful sleep which knows: No dreary sad awakning to earthly cares or woes.

2nd Small Stone: WM. M. DOWNING DIED MAR. 3, 1898 AGED 73 YEARS. 11 MOS. 10 DAYS.

As a young man William M. Downing joined the flood of immigrants to California during the Gold Rush. He married Eleanor "Ellen" Christina Willard in Yolo County, California, February 29, 1856, and their daughter Delia was born there in 1858. In the 1870's he relocated his family to Arizona, where William, Eleanor, and Delia became residents at Tombstone in Cochise County (1880 US Census). At the time of the census William was operating a sawmill at Tombstone. William later established a home at Dos Cabezas in Cochise County where he remained the rest of his life. William died at the Copper Queen hospital in Bisbee and his remains were returned to Dos Cabezas for burial. The title "major" must have been bestowed upon him by his friends, a common practice at that time, since there is no evidence of any military service.

Courtesy of Contributor Steve 47394147

Family links:

Spouse:

 Ellen Christina Willard Downing (1828 - 1910)

Children:

 Delia Downing Hopkins (1858 - 1887)*

• Calculated relationship

Burial: Dos Cabezas Pioneer Cemetery Dos Cabezas Cochise County Arizona, USA