| Henry Downs, Sr. of England and his wife
Lady Jane Douglas of Scotland emigrated to America early in the eighteenth
century. In 1728 he received a land grant of 1000 acres in Virginia, signed by
Robert Carter. He eventually received approximately 57,000 acres in Virginia and
the Carolinas. He served as vestryman and Church Recorder of St. Thomas Church,
Orange County, Virginia. In 1728, his son Henry Downs, Jr., was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. In 1750 Henry Downs, Jr. married Frames Chew, daughter of Thomas Chew and his wife, Martha Taylor. Henry Downs, Jr. and his wife moved to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where they raised a large family. He was Captain of Colonial Militia and fought against the Cherokee Indians in 1763. He served as Justice of the Peace in his district and was a signer of the famous Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775. He was also a member of the Committee of Safety. He had four brothers who fought in the American Revolution. One of them, William, was Adjutant Colonel in the Revolutionary Army, serving under General Gates, and he was also one of the officers who founded the Order of the Cincinnati. Henry Downs, Jr. died in 1798 and he and his wife are buried in the Providence Presbyterian Churchyard, twelve miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. Mrs. Josie Downs Marshall, Charter Member and first regent of Henry Downs Chapter, represented the fifth Generation from this illustrious patriot. Peggy Scott Duty, a current member of the Chapter, is a seventh generation descendant of Henry Downs, Jr.
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