Know your roots?

[Bobl]

European. Irish and German. Never really traced back, but might use the sources suggested here. One quick anecdote: Grandpa Hughes, a local excavating contractor, refused to mechanize in the 1920s while his competitors purchased power equipment. He questioned the need when he could "hire some hard working Irish guys". His story was that his business continued while many others failed before WWII because he never went into debt, before or after the depression.

[todd_654]

Hey Ray, are you still checking this post?
I live in California now and pass Downing Road quite often, so I started investigating who it was named after. It was William Fresh Downing in the late 1800s. I got a bit obsessed by it since some of his relatives are in the Pioneer Cemetery in the town I live in. Turns out, those are your relatives! I'm still digging [[not literally), but let me know if you are interested in what I have found.
Todd

[jiminnm]

That angle of DNA searching for ancestoral roots is fascinating. I sent in my 'Cheek Swabs" a couple years ago and got the Haplotype of R1b1b2. Unfortunately, so far it doesn't exactly match with the other Downings of the same numbers, always a few factors different. But my line came from Devon, and most of the Downing came from further north of the island. Maybe if I go back to BC I'll find a great gramps who worked on Stonehenge...... LOL

That's interesting. I had the 23andme DNA test and my haplogroup is R1a1a and FamilyTreeDNA was R-M198 [[a similar group with, as I understand, new nomenclature). My dad's roots are eastern Europe and my mother's are the British Isles [[with maybe an errant Dutch or German).

[Bigb23]

Unfortunately, the history of my dad's side of the family died with him and his siblings. They never talked about it. Some unspoken thing there I guess. I could do the Ancestry search or maybe the Mormons, but they, [[the siblings) really wanted something buried with their father and stepmothers.

I still have my Irish surname, which I study as much as I can on Google. Rich history.

[Ray1936]

Hey Ray, are you still checking this post?
I live in California now and pass Downing Road quite often, so I started investigating who it was named after. It was William Fresh Downing in the late 1800s. I got a bit obsessed by it since some of his relatives are in the Pioneer Cemetery in the town I live in. Turns out, those are your relatives! I'm still digging [[not literally), but let me know if you are interested in what I have found.
Todd

Thanks for the shout, Todd, but sorry to report that they are not of my line. The main line of the Downing surname comes from Sir George Downing, of London, after whom "Downing Street" in Whitehall is named. They are the majority of the Downing line in the US. However, my line originated in Devon, England, in the 1400's, with the immigrant Thomas Downing [[1691-1772) sailing to Pennsylvania and being the namesake of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. No known connection between the two lines. Original spelling was Downynge in Devon. I have a couple of my line buried in California, but William Fresh Downing is not one. [[Jeez, don't get me going on this; I can talk forever!!!!) -- Ray

[todd_654]

I could very easily be wrong, but William Fresh Downing traces back to Thomas Jr, Thomas and Edward... and so on. I just don't see the Joseph Downing so that's probably my problem. And yes, I confirmed for myself that Sir George is not part of the William F. line. I didn't mean *that* Downing Street, I meant a tiny little side road called Downing Road in Milpitas, California.
Which of your Downings are buried out here?

[Ray1936]

I could very easily be wrong, but William Fresh Downing traces back to Thomas Jr, Thomas and Edward... and so on. I just don't see the Joseph Downing.
Which of your Downings are buried out here?

My Gt Grandfather, Benjamin H. Downing, had a sister, Ann Downing [[1879 - 1963). She married James Black Hunter in Wichita in 1909 and moved to the L. A. area. She is buried in Rose Hills Cemetery in Whittier, along with her son and his family, James Black Hunter Jr. [[1924 - 1995). He was retired from the LA county FD, and I've visited the grave sites and photographed them all. Gt. Grandpa's other sister, Emily, who married Horace Alspaugh, had twins [[boy and girl). The son is buried in San Diego county, and the girl [[Dorothy Alspaugh Popkess), born in 1915, is still alive in Irvine, CA, to the best of my knowledge. Hey....told ya I could ramble on and on.........