Genealogy Data Page 422 (Notes Pages)

JAMES MARSHALL DOWNARD

Born on a small farm near Potosi, Missouri in Washington County, JamesMarshall Downard was th e eldest of nine children born to Volney andMinerva Jamison Downard. James was of small statu re by today's standards.He stood 5 feet, 8 inches in height, with blue eyes and sandy hair. I nhis later years, he wore a long white beard. I am told that he was apleasant man by all wh o remember him.
The Downard family lived on Breton Creek near Potosi at the time theUnited States was embroil ed in a bitter Civil War that most of thepopulace of this country hated. This war pitted brot her against brotherand divided families and the Downards were no exception. With Missouribein g considered a neutral state in this conflict between the North andSouth, James decided to en list in the Union Army. He volunteered and wasmustered into the First Missouri Artillery at P ilot Knob, Missouri, onJanuary 9, 1862, at the age of 20. There were few people at that timet hat had any formal education and James was literate and could write andsign his own inductio n papers. He was attached to the First MissouriLight Artillery and stayed with this same regi ment during the entirethree and one half years this bloody conflict was being fought.
James's regiment, Battery A, was organized in St. Louis in January 1862,and the Regiment sa w duty in southeast Missouri until March 1862. For hisservices in the Union Army, James was p aid $26.92 per month by the UnitedStates Government and was required to furnish his own hors e which wasmandatory with the Artillery regiments. He was promoted from Private toSergeant o n April 24, 1864. He fought campaigns in Cache River, Arkansas;Shiloh, Tennessee, Jackson, Mi ssissippi; and Vicksburg and ChampionHills, Mississippi, and Algiers and New Orleans, Louisia na.
The regiment moved into New Orleans in June of 1864. There, James wasconfined to hard labor f or 15 days for being AWOL for a period of 3weeks. He turned himself over to Stillman 0. Fish , who had been a friendof his back in Missouri when he first had joined the regiment. By Octo ber20, 1864, James had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant, having startedto regain his hea lth from a battle of scurvy in the winter of 1862 and about with pneumonia while he was incar cerated in the New OrleansStockade. He was mustered out of the Union Army on January 14, 1865 , atAlgiers, Louisiana, by virtue of expiration of service. He promptlyre-enlisted at Greenvi lle., Louisiana, and was paid the sum advance of$600 in advance for this re-enlistment of on e year. He was only to servefour months of this re-enlistment.
With the end of the Civil War in August 1865, James began his longjourney back to his home i n Washington County, Missouri. This often tooksoldiers several years and James Marshall Downa rd was no exception. Thistrek took him approximately 18 months to travel for the soldiers wer eobligated to find their way home from the detachment camps - more oftenthan not, this journe y was made on foot.
James Marshall Downard was married to Amanda Archer in 1867 in WashingtonCounty, MO. Amanda w as the daughter of James and Ann Archer, prominentcitizens of the county. James had two child ren; a daughter, Hetty, and ason James. Amanda and Hefty both died in the spring of 1874. I n August of1876, James was married to Mary Catherine Robinson, daughter of CatherineDickey Ro binson of Palmer. They then moved to Mills Springs, Missouri,where James found work in a sawm ill. Their first child, Cora was threeyears old and son Harry was born there in 1879. The saw mill caught fireand burned and James was out of work, so they moved back to WashingtonCount y in 1880. James, once again, became a farmer. His Declaration forPension papers state he liv ed in Washington County, MO until 1886 andthen he moved to Iron County MO where he lived th e rest of his life. Twosons, Will, and Jesse, were born to James and Mary while living atPalm er. They left Washington County in 1886 and moved to a 70 acre farmon Big River. This farm wa s located in the northeastern portion of IronCounty. They became the parents of four more chi ldren, Sarah, Clara Lee,Charles, and Marshall. In 1896, they bought a much smaller farm fromt heir neighbor, Mr. Loomis, which is now the site of the Council BluffLake and Dam.
James's health began to fail, and he could no longer work. His bout withscurvy during the win ter of 1862-63 was taking its toll. In 1912, hisfamily doctor, J.D. Robinson told James tha t his heart was bad.
James Marshall Downard died on December 7, 1916, of La Grippe(influenza). He is buried in Sun light Cemetery near Belgrade in theDownard family plot. His monument is one of the largest i n that smallcemetery, which is situated on a hill overlooking small farms such as theone Jame s had known and loved all his life. He belonged to the GeorgeBryan Grand Army of the Republi c Post 284 in Belgrade, MO and hisgranddaughter still has his GAR medal. This information i s in print inthe book entitled "Bellevue Valley - A Beautiful View - 1980" and thisarticle wa s authored by granddaughter, Pat Downard Miller
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OBITUARY

James Marshall Downard, son of Volney and Minerva (Jamison) Downard wasborn 16 September 184 2 at Potosi, MO in Washington County. He departedthis life at his home near Peoria MO on 7 De cember 1916. He was marriedto Amanda Archer at Potosi on 7 November 1869. To this union wer e borntwo children, namely James and Hetty. After the death of his wife, he wasmarried to Mar y Catherine Robinson at Palmer MO on 24 August 1876. He issurvived by his wife and nine child ren, namely James, Harry, Will, Jesse,Charles, and Marshall, and Cora, Sarah, and Clara Lee . He was preceded indeath by his parents, his first wife Amanda, daughter Hetty, and twobroth ers, Joseph and Imo Downard, and two sisters, Mary Eliza Downard andJane Bell Farrar. He als o leaves brothers and sisters, George IsrealDownard, William Isaac Downard, John Hutchens Dow nard, and CorneliousDownard. Mr Downard was a Union soldier during the Civil War. He enlisted at Pilot Knob MO on 9 January 1862. Fought at Helena AR, Champion Hills,MS, Vicksburg, MS, Sh iloh, TN. Mustered out August 1865 in New Orleans,LA. He was with the 1st Missouri Light Arti llery. Family lore states hedrove an ammunitions wagon. He belonged to the George Bryan Pos t 284 ofthe GAR in Belgrade MO which was organized in September 1886. His GARmedal is in poss ession of his granddaughter as well as a reference bookhe owned.

James was a man of small stature, 5 ft 8 inches in height, blue eyes andsandy hair. In late r years, he wore glasses and had a very long whitebeard. The Downard family still lived on Br eton Creek in the 1860saccording to the 1860 census.