#hagram

[sailorbowie]

made in honor of this great silly automaton and the 5 other people who are playing this game (that I love so much)

[kinfolk]

Another day, another roadblock

Joseph W Downard was born 25 October 1841 (according to his death certificate, which as I've [noted before](http://kinfolk.tumblr.com/post/8800951819/on-inference-and-the-nature-of-proof) isn't a good primary source for that sort of information), somewhere in Ohio. Likely he was born in Jefferson County (more on this later), but it might have been Scioto county (or somewhere in between). He died June 2, 1915 of liver cancer, in Wakefield, Scioto Township, Pike County Ohio. His father is listed as "Samuel Doward" and mother is "unknown". Joseph served in Company H, 194th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, during the Civil War (also known as Joseph W Downer). When he returned to Ohio, he married Mary Ann Minard on 25 March 1866 in Scioto County, Ohio. Mary Ann's last name has also been "Minerd" "Miniard" "Maynard" (with two different spellings on her marriage license). Joseph's father, Samuel is a bit of a puzzle. Downards are all over south and eastern Ohio, and there are very few different names used. Joshua, John, Joseph, Samuel, George... However, I think I found the right Samuel, starting in 1880. In 1880, a Samuel Downard, age 69, was living in Valley Twp, Scioto County, Ohio with his wife Catharine (64) and grandchildren Joseph Kirk (15) and Rosa Kirk (10). In 1870, Samuel (age 64) was living in Valley, Scioto, Ohio with his wife Catharine (54), daughter Mary Kirkpatrick (31) and her children Catharine (11), Susanna (10), Elizabeth (7), Joseph (5) and Rosa M (3/4). This means that there must be a family sometime before 1866 that has Samuel, Catherine, Joseph and Mary in it. In 1860, Sam Downard (57) was living in Jefferson Township, Scioto County, Ohio. Valley township split off from Jefferson in 1860, but not before the Census. His household included his wife Catherine (43), and son Joseph (18). Next door was Mary Kirkpatric (21), Ellen (3) and Susan (6/12). I found a birth certificate for Cath. E. Kirkpatrick, b. 1857-06-29 to H. Kirkpatrick and Mary N "Drunard" (it looks like Downard to me but it's a very bad copy/scan). I also found a death certificate for Susan Kirkpatrick, b. 1860 in Valley Twp, Scioto, Ohio; d. 1876-01-05 in Valley Twp. Father Henry Kirkpatrick, mother "May Donner". I have no idea where Henry was at any of these, but he and Mary seemed to be regularly having children. It's interesting to me that Joseph and Rosa shortened their name to "Kirk". I haven't found anything on Rosa, but Joseph married twice (Lilly Martin in 1899, Jane Rose in 1907) and died in 1924. So... Now I have no real information on who Samuel's parents were, or even when he was born. He's pretty consistent with naming Ohio as his place of birth, but his age is all over the place! One thing I did find: a Samuel Downard married a Catharine Hagram in Jefferson County Ohio on January 17, 1839, so in theory I should be able to find their family in 1850 (and maybe even 1840), but I haven't been able to. They've not been indexed as far as I can tell, which makes it very hard to know where even to start looking. The Downards could have stayed in Jefferson County after their marriage in 1839, or they might have moved quickly to Scioto County where they are found in 1860. This sounds like a visit to Steubenville is in order, and maybe Portsmouth. Nothing like a little Ohio River cruise in the summer...