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ANCESTOR NO. 23: MARGARET E. TIMMONS (c. 1832/33–1907)

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 Margaret E. Timmons left behind no diary, no photograph, and no obituary that has yet been found, but she left a paper trail across three states and more than fifty years. Piecing those documents together tells the story of a woman who moved often, who at times managed property and money in her own name at a time when few women did, and who lost a husband and three sons before she died. A Connecticut Household, 1850 The earliest record found for Margaret is the 1850 federal census, taken in Milford, New Haven County, Connecticut. She was seventeen years old, living in the household of Archibald Timmons, a 47-year-old plater, and Eliza Timmons, 45. Also in the household were William Timmons, 18, a carriage maker, and Daniel, age 3. [1] Archibald and Eliza were Margaret's parents, and William and Daniel her brothers. [2] The 1850 census listed Margaret's birthplace as New Jersey, which, combined with her age, suggests she was born around 1832 or 1833. The family attended a...
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ANCESTOR NO. 22: EDWIN BARLOW DOWNS (1833-1901)

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 My grandfather’s grandfather was Edwin Barlow Downs. I found no document during his lifetime that called him that, and he was often called E. B. Downs (in the late 19 th century most records of men used only their initials), but his daughter Eleanor recorded that his middle name was Barlow. [1] Although he lived when photographs were common, I have never seen a picture of him. Almost all of my ancestors lived in the same place for their whole lives, but not Edwin! He crisscrossed the U.S. Edwin Barlow Downs was born on August 21,1833 in Connecticut, the son of George Downs, a shoemaker and grocer, and his wife Sophia Plumb Downs. [2] He grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where his family lived on George Street from at least 1840 until 1845, later moving to Dow Street in the early 1850s. Edwin had two sisters, Ann Augusta and Harriet Brooks, and three half-brothers, Henry S., George N., and Newton W. Downs, from his father's first marriage. [3] The earliest record I found f...
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