BIOGRAPHIES: C. H. DOWNING, Wheeler, Dunn County, WI ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Laura Abood 4 June 2003 ==================================================================== C. H. Downing, a worthy pioneer of Dunn County, who came to this region 61 years ago, and is now living retired in Wheeler, after a long career of agricultural activity, was born in the state of Vermont, Feb. 5, 1849, son of Oliver and Sally (Annis) Downing. The parents, who also were natives of the Green Mountain State, and thoroughly conversant with its colonial and Revolutionary traditions and history, nevertheless were not insensible to the advantages of self advancement offered by the thinly settled West, and so in 1853 they said goodbye to old friends and the scenes of their childhood, and turned their faces toward the setting sun, pursuing their journey until they reached Ripon, Wis., where they halted and remained subsequently for two years, Oliver Downing following mason work and farming. Then, at the end of the time mentioned, they moved with their family to Juneau County, where some years were spent, and where Mrs. Sally Downing died in 1857. About five or six years later, in 1863, when almost every newspaper contained the account of battles lost or won in the great war between the Northern and Southern states, Oliver Downing came with the surviving members of his family to Dunn County and took a homestead in the town of Stanton. He had time to do but little on it, however, as death called him in the following year. C. H. Downing, the direct subject of this memoir, who was 14 years old when he came to Dunn County, attended school for a short time in Knapp, but soon began working out. After some years had passed over his head, he engaged in farming for himself, renting a farm for several years on Rusk Prairie in the town of Red Cedar. In 1880 he took a homestead of 160 acres in the town of Otter Creek and began to improve it, the land being all wild when it came into his possession. His operations from the first were as thorough as he could afford to make them, for he built a frame house and frame barns, with some other good out- buildings, and soon had enough land broken to begin farming. There he remained until 1890, in which year he traded that farm for one on Rusk Prairie in the town of Red Cedar, and on this latter place he successfully followed agricultural pursuits for 13 years, or until 1903, when he rented his farm and moved to the village of Cedar Falls, where he and his wife made their home for 17 years. His marriage, which had occurred Oct. 11, 1868, had united him with Jane Cameron of Eau Galle, and with her at the end of the time mentioned he came to Wheeler, where Mrs. Downing lived a few years longer, passing away on Jan. 8 of the year, 1924. To her husband and the six children she left behind, as well as to numerous friends and acquaintances throughout the county, and elsewhere, it was a sad bereavement, for she was a woman of high qualities, well educated and refined, just, kind and hospitable- the sort of woman to make and keep friends and be beloved by her relations. Mr. Downing now resides in a house which he purchased when he came to the village, and he also owns his old farm in the town of Red Cedar, which he rents out. It is a fine farm of 160 acres, the land being fertile and the buildings substantial and in good condition. The six children born to Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Downing are Martha H., Nellie M., Daniel O., Mary E., Milton C. and Sadie J., of whom the following is a further record. Martha H., born Sept. 30, 1869, is the wife of Arthur G. Butterfield, a merchant and one of the leading business men of Wheeler, and she and her husband reside with Mr. Downing. They have one child, Sadie, born Nov. 6, 1891, who is now the wife of T. S. Lefstad, Mr. Butterfield's partner in the mercantile business. Mr. and Mrs. Butterfield also adopted a boy, Vernoid, who resides with them. In addition to his business activities already alluded to, Mr. Butterfield is a member of the Wheeler Commercial Club, and is now serving as village assessor. Nellie M., born April 13, 1872, is the wife of T. J. Converse of Draper, Wis. Daniel O., born Jan. 30, 1874, is now living in Mt. Vernon, Wash., where he holds a government position as sealer of weights and measures. He married Grace Rork, and has one child, Evelyn. Mary E., born April 9, 1876, married B. J. Benson, a hardware merchant of McHenry, North Dakota, where she and her husband are now living; they have one child, Vera E. Milton C., born July 18, 1878, is a farmer in the town of Otter Creek. He married Lillian Utz, and has three children, Violet, Helen and Dorothy. Sadie J., born March 10, 1882, is the wife of W. W. Rubyor of Rice Lake, Wisconsin. The Downing family are affiliated religiously with the Presbyterian Church. In view of Mr. Downing's lack of early opportunities, he has made a very good record. Losing his mother when only eight years old, and his father when 15, he had to depend chiefly upon himself, and so learned those lessons of industry and thrift that are so essential to material advancement, and with out which even a good education may be found insufficient. He and his wife brought up a creditable family of children whose personal characters are an asset to the respective communities in which they dwell. His financial resources are ample for his needs and include those of a stockholder in the Rusk Cooperative Creamery. --No source cited