Z 2099.000 Downs (James Tickell) and Family Papers

Z 2099.000
DOWNS (JAMES TICKELL) AND FAMILY PAPERS

James Tickell Downs (1841-1928) was the third child and eldest son of John Lewis and Sarah Tickell Downs of Fort Adams, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. The family owned several plantations in Wilkinson County that were just north of the Louisiana state line and near the Mississippi River. The other children in the family included Emily Leonora (1837-1883), Susannah Ann (1839-1899), Robert Willis (1844-1865), Rebecca H. (1846-1924), William H. (1848-1853), and John Stephen (1850-1928). James Tickell Downs attended Mississippi College at Clinton, and he taught school briefly in 1861.

When the Civil War began, John Lewis Downs served with the Buttermilk Rangers, a home-guard unit that maintained civil order, prevented cotton and other stores from falling into enemy hands, and assisted with the mail service. James Tickell Downs joined Company D, Twenty-first Regiment, Mississippi Infantry. His brother, Robert Willis Downs, soon joined the same unit. They were both wounded in the Seven Days Battles in Virginia (June 25-July 1, 1862), but not seriously. James Tickell Downs was again wounded at Chancellorsville, Virginia, on May 1, 1863. He was captured and sent to a military hospital in Washington, D.C., where one of his legs was amputated. After he recovered, he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at Elmira, New York. Robert Willis Downs was again wounded, but he returned to duty and served until he was captured on April 6, 1865. He became ill with dysentery and was sent to the prison hospital at Point Lookout, Maryland. Robert Willis Downs was released on June 6, 1865, but he was too ill to travel. He died on June 27, 1865. After his release, James Tickell Downs returned to Mississippi where he ran a general store. He later attended the University of Mississippi, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 1869.

The Downs family moved to Dallas, Texas, in the early 1870s. There, John Lewis Downs opened a general store. The Downs family also joined the First Baptist Church of Dallas, but they soon left to help found the Ervay Street Baptist Church. Emily Downs married Henry Keller, and Susannah Downs married Alexander Calhoun Ardrey before they left Mississippi and moved to Dallas with the rest of the Downs family. James Tickell Downs assisted his father with the general store, but he also read law and passed the bar examination within a year. He served one term as treasurer of Dallas County and one term as a Dallas County representative to the Texas legislature. Downs married Matilda Jane Collings, daughter of John Henry and Louise Graham Day Collings of Bayou Sara, Louisiana. They had three sons, but only James Tickell Downs, Jr., survived to adulthood. He later served as an examining physician for the Dallas draft board during World War I. He married Elizabeth Erich, and they had two children, James Tickell Downs III and Erich Downs. Both of these sons later served in the military during World War II.

This collection contains a considerable amount of correspondence of various Downs family members of Wilkinson County, Mississippi, and Dallas, Texas, as well as their friends and business associates. There are two lengthy genealogies for the Downs and allied families. The remainder of the collection consists of a variety of materials related to Downs family members and their friends.

1. Correspondence (Original). 1843-1895. 0.17 cubic ft.

This series includes incoming and outgoing correspondence of many Downs family members, along with a few letters from friends or business associates. The earliest letter is from Stephen Tickell, the brother of Sarah Tickell Downs, describing his recent conversion and baptism into an unspecified evangelical church. The next letter is from Abraham B. Collings, Monticello, Piatt County, Illinois, to his brother, John H. Collings, Poydras Bayou, Louisiana, relating family news and market prices for crops and livestock. Most of the letters were written by James Tickell Downs and Robert Willis Downs while they were serving in the Twenty-First Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, in Virginia, and after they were wounded or captured by Union forces. Locations of their different bivouacs include Bull Run, Camp Pickens, Chattanooga, Culpepper Court House, Fredericksburg, Leesburg, Manassas, Rapidan River, and Richmond, as well as the prisoner-of-war hospital of James Tickell Downs. The last two items in this series are a business letter from R. G. Tabor to James Tickell Downs and a personal letter from "Uncle Bud" to James Tickell Downs, Jr.

Box 1

2. Correspondence (Transcriptions). 1843-1929; n.d. 2 folders.

This series includes typewritten transcriptions of many original letters found in Series 1. The letters are divided into volumes entitled "Downs Family Letters" and "Downs Family Civil War Letters." Both volumes are arranged chronologically. The "Downs Family Letters" are divided into three sections; the first and the third sections contain family correspondence, while the second section is entitled "The Claim." It covers the years 1840 to 1876 and concerns the military service of Jeremiah Downs, father of John Lewis Downs. At the end of this volume is an undated open letter entitled "Memorial Address to the First Baptist Church at Dallas, Texas." The volume containing Civil War letters covers the years 1861 to 1865 and is limited to transcriptions of letters written by various family members during the war. At the end of this volume is a memoir entitled "Remarks and Meditations on Life in a Military Prison" by James Tickell Downs. Series 1 contains more original 1861 letters than are transcribed here.

Box 2

3. Notebook and New Testament. 1862-1865. 3 items.

This series includes a pocket notebook, a New Testament, and a carrying case belonging to Robert Willis Downs. The notebook includes a roster of Company D, Twenty-First Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, dated October 25, 1864, and a list of letters received and sent. The New Testament, published in 1862, contains inscriptions dating between 1863 and 1865.

Box 2

4. Genealogical Materials (Downs and Allied Families). 1880-1973; n.d. 2 folders.

This series contains two different genealogies with historical notes for the Downs and allied Collings, Day, Erich, Mayes, and Tickell families. Included is a record of the War of 1812 military service of Captain Jeremiah Downs, as well as a scrapbook containing pages from a family Bible, baptismal and marriage certificates, correspondence, genealogical notes, newsclippings, and a plat map.

Box 2

5. Military Records (Civil War). 1966. 2 items.

This series contains a photocopy of the compiled service record of Confederate soldier John T. Downs, Jr., from the National Archives. The copies were made in May of 1966.

Box 1

6. Miscellany. 1863-1864; 1867-1896; n.d. 7 folders.

This series contains a variety of items such as manuscript lyrics for an October 1863 song entitled "The Rebel Girls Song"; a May 1, 1864, fragment from the Army and Navy Herald; several obituaries of family friend William J. Keller (d. 1893); a July 1, 1867, voter-registration receipt; a December 26, 1872, list of creditors for the H. M. Feltus estate; February 4, 1896, and April 4, 1896, municipal tax receipts for Dallas, Texas; and undated notes on family history.

Box 1