PAUL H. DOWNING

Paul H. Downing, one of the popular citizens and successful business men of Tipton, capably controlling and managing large interests, was born in Greene county, Indiana, October 8, 1851, but has spent almost his entire life in Iowa, having been brought to Cedar county in1854 by his parents, Albert and Sarah (Moore) Downing, both of whom were natives of Virginia. The father was born September 15, 1815, and was only two years of age when his parents removed with their family to Jackson county, Indiana, where he resided until after he had attained his majority. He was married in Greene county, Indiana, on the 25th day of January, 1847, to Miss Sarah Moore, who was born in Virginia, April 13, 1821. They came to Iowa in 1854 and Mr. Downing secured a tract of land from the government, upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. At once he began to till and improve this farm and extended its boundaries until it comprised five hundred and twenty acres. His original holdings were only two hundred and forty acres. Year by year he carried on the work of improvement and progress and became one of the prosperous agriculturists of the community. He died July 14, 1877, and his wife, surviving him for about sixteen years, passed away on the 12th of February, 1893.

They were the parents of six children: Alexander G., now living in Des Moines; John, a resident of Springdale township; Albert, whose home is in Corning, Iowa; George, also of Springdale township; Paul H., of this review; and Andrew, who is living in Corning. The eldest son, Alexander, enlisted on the 15th of August, 1861, in defense of the Union cause, becoming a member of Company E, Eleventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry, when only eighteen years of age. He afterward veteranized and was mustered out July 22, 1865, following the close of hostilities. He is now actively connected with Drake University at Des Moines.

The family home following the removal of the parents to Iowa was established about two miles north of Bennett in Springfield township, from which point they looked abroad over a wild and unimproved prairie. Comparatively few settlements had been made in this district and the hardships and privations of pioneer life confronted them. Paul H. Downing bore his part in the work of early development and improvement as the years passed on and when he started out in life on his own account chose the occupation to which he had been reared. For a long period he carried on general agricultural pursuits with good success, giving his attention to the work of tilling the soil until he removed to Tipton in 1893.

Mr. Downing has since been active along other lines, having been elected county auditor in1896, while re-election continued him in the office for three consecutive terms or for six years. He has been a lifelong republican, unswerving in his allegiance to the party, and is now serving for his third term as a member of the city council. After leaving the auditor’s office he turned his attention to the real-estate business, in which he has since been engaged, and aside from representing others in the purchase and sale of property he is the owner of two hundred acres of valuable land in Springdale township and six hundred and forty acres in the eastern part of South Dakota. He is likewise a director of the Cedar County State Bank and was director and vice president of the original Savings Bank of Tipton, thus continuing until it was sold and surrendered its charter.

On the 29th of January, 1890, Mr. Downing was united in marriage to Miss Marian M. Gemmill, who was born in La Salle county, Illinois, December 14, 1860, and went with her parents to Ida county, Iowa, where she was married. She is a daughter of William and Jean (Patten) Gemmill, both of whom were natives of Scotland. They were married in that land, after which they came to Illinois in 1856 with two daughters. Mr. Gemmill died in Illinois in1875, and his widow afterward removed to Ida county, Iowa, with her family in 1889. There she passed away May 1, 1904. Of her children two were born in Scotland and nine in Illinois, while eight are yet living. Mr. and Mrs. Downing have no children of their own but have reared as an adopted daughter, Margaret, the niece of Mrs. Downing.

In 1898 Mr. Downing erected a fine residence on Seventh street, where the family are most comfortably and attractively located. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Knights of Pythias lodge, loyal to the teachings of those orders and exemplifying in his life their helpful and beneficent spirit.

Mr. Downing has witnessed many changes since he came to this county more than fifty-six years ago. There was only one house between his boyhood home and Tipton, a distance of eight and a half miles. The journey westward was made with ox-teams, after which the oxen were used in breaking prairie. There was not a tree in sight of the home and the closest one was in a grove about four miles away. The produce had to be hauled to Davenport, thirty miles distant, and in the early spring and fall, when there were heavy rains, the roads were often almost impassable. Time and man, however, have wrought many changes and Mr. Downing has lived to see a wonderful transformation here for the wild land has all been converted into fine farms containing splendidly developed fields and rich pastures in which high grade stock is fed. The pioneer log cabins and little frame dwellings have also been replaced by commodious and substantial residences and the county bears every evidence of prosperity and progress.