For a list of those interred at Downsville, click here.

Downsville's namesake is Asa Downs.

1883 biography: Mr. Asa Downs was born March 3, 1816, in Indiana, son of Ezekiel and Charlotte (Rowlands) Downs, natives of Indiana. Mr, Asa Downs began life as a farmer in Illinois, where he remained twelve years; then, in 1851, he came to Iowa and bought a claim near Weston, of Absalom Smith, a Mormon. This farm is still owned by Mrs. Downs. When the farm was first purchased, there was a saw and grist mill upon it, which was among the first mills of the county, and it was known as the Downs Mill, and was situated on Mosquito Creek, ten miles from Council Bluffs. The mill was destroyed by high water in 1852.

Mr. and Mrs. Downs were married, in Illinois, December 7, 1845. They had thirteen children, one of whom is dead. They are Mary E., born January 1, 1844; William, October 7, 1848; Emily, April 7, 1840; Anthony W., June 16, 1850; Willis E., June 5, 1852; Marion J., June 5, 1854; Alice J., April 28, 1856; Caroline, March 6, 1858; Thomas, November 11, 1800; George, September 17, 1862; Sidney, February 27, 1864; Albert, November 12, 1806; Charles, April 28, 1868; and Amy E., December 22, 1809.

November 3, 1879, Mr. Downs died, in Downsville, a village in Norwalk Township named in honor of him, and where he had lived many years. Mr. Downs was much esteemed by all who knew him, and in his death the county lost one of its best and most useful citizens.

Biography of Asa Downs from  History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Published in 1883 by O. L. Baskin & Co.
Photograph of entrance to Downsville Cemetery courtesy of the Winter Quarters Project