ANCESTOR NO. 5: HERBERT EUGENE DOWNS

My mother’s father was Herbert Eugene Downs. After her divorce, he stepped in to assume the role of a father figure for my brother and me. This is his story.

Herbert E. Downs was the fourth child and only son of Eugene Loomis Downs, a salesman, and his wife Laura Eloise Ludlow Downs. I haven’t found anyone else named Herbert in the family. The name is almost unused today but when he was born it was the 34^th most popular name for boys.[1] On April 2, 1903, he was born at home at 22 Ninth Ave. in Newark, N.J.,[2] today a long, narrow, brick two story house.[3] The family was listed at that address from 1902-1904 in the city directories.[4] The 1906 directory showed they were living at 42 North Eleventh Street. Eugene’s widowed mother Margaret Timmons Downs and sister Eleanor Margaret Downs also lived with them.[5]

Herbert’s older sisters were Mabel Edna, born May 30, 1892, Ethel May, born June 16, 1894, and Dorothy Eloise (Dot), born Dec. 15, 1897.[6] Eugene must have earned a decent living, because there are at least five photos of my grandfather as a small child, at a time when many people couldn’t afford photos. This one looks like a home photo taken in front of a fence. Little boys wore dresses for the first few years or so.

The next photo is my favorite, of him with the most popular new toy of the era:

And here is one of him as a boy who clearly doesn’t want his picture taken. He’s with his mother at a nearby beach. Notice that she is not wearing a bathing suit. At that time, very few women wore a bathing suit in public. 

A favorite of mine is of him blowing bubbles, with a couple of friends (or cousins?): 

On the back of the next one, my grandmother has written “Herbert E. Downs, about 7 years old.” Sailor suits were very popular for little boys. This would be about 1910.

 

Judging from the expressions on everyone’s faces, and the fact that the father is not in this photo, it may have been taken when Herbert’s father Eugene left on a three- or four-month business trip. Later he separated from his wife. Divorce was not common in the early 1900s as there was a social stigma to failing at one’s marriage. The family moved from 16 South Sixth St., Newark,[7] in Newark’s eleventh ward in the 1915 state census[8] to 144 North Twelfth St. in the 1920 census.[9] My grandfather told me that when still in school he begged his father to be allowed to live with him, but that his father said he could not afford it. See the blog called “Eugene Loomis Downs – the Rest of the Story” to see what was really going on with my grandfather’s father.

After Eugene stopped supporting the family, Herbert dropped out of Barringer High School to support his mother and sisters. He worked as a janitor at the Fidelity Union Trust Company, a commercial bank.

Here is another photo of Herbert as a very young man. He appears to be wearing a Red Cross pin.

 

When I knew him, his eyes were more squinty than this, so much so that it was hard to tell exactly what color they were, except they were not brown. I remember him coming home from a visit to the eye doctor, saying his doctor said he had one blue eye and one green eye, and that he had never noticed that. He stood about five foot ten and had broad fingers. He was very clean and tidy.

By 1924 he had risen to be a bank clerk at the same bank where he started sweeping floors as a teenager and lived with his Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Harry Housel at their house at 115 South Eleventh St. in Newark.[10]

Television had not been invented yet, and community theater was a popular entertainment activity. Here is an undated photograph of him apparently taking a curtain call. He’s the second from the right. Judging from his appearance, it was probably taken in the 1920s.

 

My grandfather also played baseball for his company team. Here he is in the front row, third from the left, with a catcher’s glove by his feet. The logo on their uniforms is for Fidelity Union Trust. This was probably also in the 1920s, since he was 17 in 1920 and 27 in 1930.

 

In the mid-1920s he met Viola Elizabeth Bertha Bruguier, who lived with her family at 887 South 19^th St.[11] She was dancing with another man and Herbert “cut in”. My grandmother said she thought they would never get married because Herbert waited until he had enough money saved to furnish their entire home, leading me to believe they married relatively late. In fact, they were only 23 years old when they married on March 19, 1926, at her home; the officiant was Rev. Folsom[12] of the Clinton Ave. Presbyterian Church.[13] This photo was probably taken for her wedding.

Herbert’s father died on July 24, 1929, and was buried at the Ludlow family plot in Rahway, N.J.[14] In 1930 Herbert, now a bank teller, and his wife were living with Viola’s parents at their house on 887 South 19^th St. in Newark,[15] seen in this vintage photo:

It was unusual in those days for a young married couple to be without children after a year or two, so they may have wondered if they were going to be childless. But almost five years after their wedding, they became the parents of a daughter, Suzanne Bruguier Downs, born January 16, 1931.[16] They were already living in their own house, at 741 Midland Blvd. in Elizabeth (now Union), only about five miles away from Newark. You can see what it looked like in 2013 when it was for sale, on Google Maps.[17]Their first daughter was joined by another, Joyce Diane Downs, born 7 February 1933.[18]

The family stayed at the Midland Blvd. house through at least 1941.[19] Herbert had a good singing voice and went to audition for a job singing live on the radio. But waiting to be called to sing, he thought better of it. He had family responsibilities and jobs were hard to come by during the Depression. He left without auditioning. I remember him often singing a song of that era that started “I had a dream, dear, you had one too.” You can hear that song on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi1S_r4AY9c&list=PL17F2260859B56623. It was called “You Tell Me Your Dream, I’ll Tell You Mine.”

The 1940 census for the family reported Herbert was a bank teller living at 741 Midland Blvd., Union Township, who had completed two years of high school.[20] That supports the story that he had dropped out of high school to help support his mother and sisters. His wife Viola and two daughters lived with him.

The United States entered World War II on December 8, 1941. Herbert had only been fourteen when World War I ended. He was now thirty-seven years old and the father of two children. He was rejected for military service due to his age and flat feet, so he served on the draft board.[21] By 1944 Herbert had bought a house at 25 Inwood Road in the more prosperous town of Chatham, where he and Viola celebrated their eighteenth wedding anniversary with a buffet supper for eighteen.[22] They were a gregarious couple. My mother said all her friends enjoyed talking with her father. Viola hosted meetings of various groups of parishioners of Stanley Congregational Church at their home, such as the Friendly Committee.[23] Herbert was treasurer for that church’s men’s club.[24] Below are photos of Herbert about that time, and of the Chatham house:

 

On June 11, 1946, Herbert’s sister Ethel Downer died and was buried with her husband’s parents.[25] My mother called Ethel her father’s favorite sister. 

His mother Laura Eloise Ludlow Downs died on April 10, 1950, in Bloomfield, N.J.[26] After her divorce she had done housework for hire for a few years, then she would stay with each of her four children for three months apiece, according to my mother. However, the death certificate says Laura had lived in Bloomfield, the residence of her eldest daughter Mabel Downs Riker, for the last twenty years.

I have a yellowed newspaper clipping about my grandfather titled “Meet Mr. Downs.” Some excerpts of it say, “Herbert E. Downs, manager of the North End branch of the Fidelity Union Trust Co….is treasurer of the current drive of the Sister Kenny Polio Foundation to raise $50,000 in Essex County…He is a friendly and genial man who gets along fine with merchants and other business men in the area around the bank, which is located at Broadway and Bloomfield avenue.   Born in Newark 46 years ago, Downs went to work at Fidelity Union when he was 18 years old. He rose to his present post seven years ago from the rank of teller. He is listed now as assistant secretary-treasurer of the parent bank. Downs moved to Chatham six years ago and is a member of the Chatham Congregational Church Men’s Club. He is a director of the Broadway Mutual Savings and Loan Association and is a weekly attendant at luncheons of the North Newark Kiwanis Club. During World War II Downs was a member of Newark Draft Board 20. Downs is married to the former Viola Bruguiere of Newark. They have two daughters, Joyce, a junior at Chatham High School, and Suzanne, a sophomore at Madison College in Virginia.”[27]

Below is a photo of him and also one of his secretary that were featured in the Summer 1945 issue of the Fidelity Union Trust company magazine:[28]

In 1955, after their children had left home, Herbert and Viola sold their home in Chatham and moved about 45 miles south, to Lincroft, N.J.[29] The local newspaper, the Red Bank Register, made it front page news on June 6, 1955, as much of that page consisted of descriptions of various real estate closings. It reported: “The other sale was the new ranch home in Lincroft to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert E. Downs of Chatham. The wooded plot has 125 feet on the south side of Pine st., with a depth of 200 feet. The house, built by Hartung and Farro, contains a 22-foot living room with Tennessee stone fireplace, dining room, spacious knotty pine kitchen, three bedrooms, 1 ½ tiled baths, laundry room and attached garage. The features are a knotty pine den and large screened porch. Mr. Downs is assistant secretary and treasurer and has been affiliated with the Fidelity union Trust company of Newark for many years. He and Mrs. Downs are occupying their new home.”[30] Herbert did not change jobs, but he could take the train to Newark. This was a red brick house. There’s a photo of me as a baby with my mother and grandparents in front of this house.

They decided not to stay at that house and moved a few miles away, to 40 Silverbrook Road in Shrewsbury by 1958.[31] That was my home away from home until they moved to Florida about 1967. You can see a photo of it on Google Maps (use the link in the footnote).[32] My grandfather was a very neat man, and I remember him shining his shoes in preparation for the week’s work. He also used to paint one side of this house himself every year.

It was only about five miles to the beach town of Sea Bright, where Viola (Nana) took us most summer days to the Sand Lass Beach Club. Herbert (or Hub, as my grandmother called him then) took the train to the bank in Newark every day, retiring at about age 65. After my mother remarried in August 1967, my grandparents moved to 711 Ocean Inlet Drive in Boynton Beach, Florida. Herb was done with the snow and ice of New Jersey. He was a pretty good golfer and played shuffleboard. They were active in the Presbyterian Church all through their lives, and entertained friends almost daily.

In those days almost everyone smoked. Herb smoked cherry tobacco in a pipe, and although sweet smelling, it ruined his health, eventually leading to emphysema. He died from its complications on his birthday, April 2. 1982, at the hospital near his Boynton Beach home.[33] He lives on in the fond memories of his grandchildren.

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[1] “Popularity in the United States,” search for Herbert and United States and 1903, Behind the Name, (https://www.behindthename.com/name/herbert/top: accessed 26 July 2025).

[2] State of New Jersey, certificate of birth, 17748 (1903), Herbert Eugene Downes; New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton.

[3] Google, "Streetview," images, Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps/: accessed 10 February 2017), photograph of 22 Ninth Avenue, Newark, New Jersey, taken August 2015.

[4] Holbrook’s, compiler, Holbrook’s Newark City Directory (Newark: Newark Directory Publishing & Printing Co., 1902), p. 419, Downs surname, also subsequent years by the same title: (1903) 424, (1904) 400; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2017), New Jersey > Newark > 1902.

[5] "New Jersey State Census, 1905," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMW5-5S9: accessed 26 July 2025), Herbert E Dounes in household of Eugene L Dounes, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing p. 27, line 96, Department of State, Trenton; FHL microfilm 1,688,600. (Eleanor M. Dounes, 31, and Margaret Dounes, 70, were included in the household).

[6] "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZCF-TK3 : accessed 26 July 2025), Mabel E. Downs, 30 May 1892; citing Newark, Essex, New Jersey, reference ; FHL microfilm 494,222. "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FZCH-RN5 : accessed 26 July 2025), Ethel M. Downs, 16 Jun 1894; citing Newark, Essex, New Jersey, reference ; FHL microfilm 494,228. "New Jersey Births and Christenings, 1660-1980," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCGH-ZW5?lang=en: accessed 23 July 2025), Dorothy Downs, 15 Dec. 1897; citing Newark, Essex, New Jersey.

[7] "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MKTK-S8B : accessed 26 July 2025), Herbert E Downes in household of Eugene L Downes, Newark Ward 6, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 45, sheet 3B, family 59, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 878; FHL microfilm 1,374,891.

[8] "New Jersey State Census, 1915," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9Q-7MKF?lang=en: accessed 23 July 2025), Herbert Downes in entry for Eugene Downes, 1915.

[9] "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4R9-NHB?lang=en: accessed 26 July 2025), Herbert E Downes in household of Eugene Downes, Newark Ward 11, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing ED 223, sheet 14A, line 49, family 244, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 1035; FHL microfilm 1,821,035.

[10] Price and Lee Company, compiler, Newark (1925) Directory (New Haven, Connecticut: The Price and Lee Company, 1925), p. 929, Downs surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2017) >  New Jersey > Newark > 1925. Google, "Streetview," images, Google Maps ( https://www.google.com/maps/:  accessed 15 February 2017), photograph of 115 South 11^th St., Newark, New Jersey, taken August 2015. For marriage: New Jersey State Archives, “New Jersey, Marriage Index, 1901-1914,” database, Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 4 March 2017), entry for Eleanor Downs, 17264 (1913). For relationship to Eugene Downs: "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M9JW-MYS : accessed 4 March 2017), Elenor Downs in household of Eugene Downs, District 8 Newark city Ward 11, Essex, New Jersey, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 113, sheet 19B, family 408, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,966. For home ownership: "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4DY-CF2 : accessed 26 July 2025), Harry Housel, Newark (Districts 1-250), Essex, New Jersey, United States; ED 174, sheet 6B, line 68, family 140, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1338; FHL microfilm 2,341,073.

[11] Price and Lee Company, compiler, Newark Directory (1925) (Newark, New Jersey : The Price and Lee Company, 1926), p. 826, Bruguier surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2017) >  New Jersey > Newark > 1925.

[12] State of New Jersey, certificate and record of marriage, 677 (written), 664 (stamped) (1926), Herbert E. Downs and Viola E. Bruguier, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Trenton.

[13] Price and Lee Company, compiler, Newark Directory (1926) (Newark, New Jersey : The Price and Lee Company, 1926), p. 462, Folsom surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 February 2017) > New Jersey > Newark > 1926.

[14] Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com: accessed 18 February 2017), Eugene Loomis Downs (May 20, 1869-July 24, 1929), Memorial no. 97989747, Hazel Wood Cemetery, Rahway, Union County, New Jersey.

[15] Price and Lee Company, compiler, Newark Directory (1930) (Newark, New Jersey : The Price and Lee Company, 1930), p. 438, Downs surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 February 2017) > New Jersey > Newark > 1930.

[16] State of New Jersey, certificate of birth, 311 (1931), Suzanne Downs; New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services, Trenton.

[17] Google, "Streetview," images, Google Maps ( https://www.google.com/maps/:  accessed 19 February 2017), photograph of 741 Midland Blvd., Union, New Jersey, taken September 2013.

[18] U.S. Social Security Administration, "U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com: accessed 20 February 2017), entry for Joyce D. Parker.

[19] Price and Lee Company, compiler, Newark Directory (1941) (Newark, New Jersey : The Price and Lee Company, 1941), p. 461, Downs surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 March 2017) > New Jersey > Newark > 1941.

[20] "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4Y6-1LF: accessed 26 July 2025), Herbert E Downs, Union Township, Union, New Jersey, United States; ED 20-185, sheet 63B, line 65, family 62, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2390.

[21] Newspaper clipping, no identifying information, “Meet Mr. Downs,” col. 1, privately held. Not online as of this writing.

[22] “Along the Way,” The Chatham Press (Chatham, N.J.), 24 March 1944, images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 20 February 2017) p. 3, col. 2.

[23] “Church Notes: Stanley Congregational,” The Chatham Press (Chatham, N.J.), 11 January 1946, images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 3 March 2017) p. 6, col. 2.

[24] “Stanley Congregational Men’s Club Picnic,” The Chatham Press (Chatham, N.J.), 21 June 1946, images, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com: accessed 3 March 2017) p. 4, col. 5.

[25] Find A Grave, database and images (http://findagrave.com :accessed 21 February 2017), Ethel M. Downer (June 16, 1895-June 11, 1946), Memorial no. 147692070, Rosedale Cemetery, Orange, Essex County, New Jersey.

[26] State Department of Health of New Jersey, death certificate, 13883 (1950), Laura Eloise Downs; New Jersey State Bureau of Vital Statistics, Trenton.

 

[27] Newspaper clipping, no identifying information, “Meet Mr. Downs,” col. 1, privately held. Not online at of this writing.

[28] “Here Are the North Enders at the Junction,” Fidelion (Summer 1945):10.

[29] "Virginians Move to Little Silver,” Red Bank Register (Red Bank, New Jersey), June 9, 1955, images, “Red Bank Register Newspaper Archives,” Middletown Township Public Library (https://www.digifind-it.com/IDIViewer/web/viewer.html?file=/redbank/data/newspapers/register/reg-1878-1969/1955/1955-06-09.pdf: accessed 26 July 2025) section 2, p. 1, col. 2 (image 13).

[30] Mrs. Edmund Clarke, "Along the Way," The Chatham Press, (Chatham, New Jersey), May 6, 1955, images, Newpapers.com (http://www.newpapers.com: accessed 23 February 2017) p. 3, col. 5, para. 9.

[31] R.L. Polk & Company, publisher, Polk’s Red Bank City Directory Including Little Silver, Fair Haven, River Plaza and Part of Shrewsbury (1958-59) (Pittsburgh, Pa., : R.L. Polk & Company, 1959), p. 140, Downs surname; digitized in “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995,” database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 February 2017) >  New Jersey > Red Bank > 1958.

[32] Google, "Streetview," images, Google Maps ( https://www.google.com/maps/:  accessed 25 February 2017), photograph of 40 Silverbrook Rd., Shrewsbury, New Jersey, taken August 2013.

[33] Florida Department of Health, death certificate 82-035543 (1982), Herbert E. Downs; Office of Vital Statistics, Jacksonville.